britney spears

This review may not be timely, but for many, a Britney Spears album has roughly the same cultural impact as the moon landings. It's hard to approach Spears' music without all of the peripheral baggage of her public persona. Lyrics such as "You say I'm crazy?/I got your crazy" from the first single "Womanizer" invite consideration of her tabloid antics rather than her music. Beyond that, each song is distinct, if imperfect. "Shattered Glass" has a certain tension about it, revisiting the heavy production values from the middle of her career. This is frustrating when the vocals are constantly interrupted by reverb.

Unfortunately, Spears is barely artistically culpable for the material. She had "a hand" in writing three of the album's 12 songs, and that's being generous. There are more than 20 writers and 10 producers, forcing the listener to question Spears' focus. Circus covers a lot of territory, stylistically if not thematically. "Out From Under" is her failed attempt at a ballad. "If U Seek Amy" has no loftier aspirations than its travesty of a title denotes.

However, "Unusual You" is a refreshing change, mellowed out like a lobotomized basket-case. These attempts at expanding her musical horizons are wasted, though, because this range is not why people would buy this disc. Circus is being hailed as a comeback album because it recaptures the essence of why people liked, or at least were intrigued by, Britney Spears' music to begin with-it's substanceless and crass but undeniably catchy and listenable.