Blackout Stalls a Career Comeback
Over-Produced Vocals, Superficial Lyrics, and Britney Spears
Nov 7, 2007
Britney Spears' fifth studio album entitled Blackout had undeniably stellar production at the hands of Timbaland protégé Nate "Danja" Hills but carefully planned production was unfortunately countered by a veiled recycling of some of today's most popular dance hits from the likes of Gwen Stefani and Missy Elliott (just to name a couple).
As a result, the dance beats on Blackout are something the “tweenies” can enjoy, but lyrics such as "If I get on top, you're gonna lose your mind" in "Get Naked (I Got A Plan)" are adamantly self-absorbed and basically just have Britney saying, “I’m hot. Do you want to sleep with me?” Therefore, it becomes difficult to take Britney seriously on an artistic level. It could be argued that most of the credit for the overall quality of the album should be given to the producers who carefully disguised Britney’s minimal vocal talent by over-synthesizing and muting her voice and letting Britney stand in as the image of all their hard work.
Critical Acclaim and a Tarnished Image
Blackout debuted with an array of positive reviews but with understandably low expectations due to her constant career disappointments (such as her performance at the VMA’s), anything better than Britney strangling a chicken for 1 hour could be deemed brilliant. Britney needed to find a way of addressing what has become of her public image while at the same time, finding a way to make people like her again.
Having your first musical declaration to the world after 4 years of hard partying, head shaving, panty-flashing escapades be, “It’s Britney bitch” doesn’t address either of those issues and only fuels an apparent lack of self awareness on Britney’s part.
Can Britney Get Away With It?
Let’s face the facts. Britney Spears was never known for creating deeply inspired lyrical and vocal masterpieces. She was always known for her high-energy performances and sexually charged music videos. She used to be able to get away with having minimal vocal talent never singing live.
But with an apparent lack of desire to even do the minimum amount of work she used to get away with, it’s no wonder the album had very little promotion and didn’t debut as highly as predicted by the likes of Britney's album label Jive/Zomba (whom were quoted in Geoff Mayfield's October 31 Billboard article as saying that Spears' album could debut with sales between 330,000 and 350,000).
Was Blackout Doomed To Fail?
Even if Britney had managed to create the greatest pop album in music history, would that have really been enough to put her back on top? Would it have erased her past? Based on the fact that Britney seems to refuse to make an attempt at cleaning up her public image; it doesn't seem likely. If she makes a great song, it will be suffused by the next big scandal in the saga of Britney Spears. Plus, if Britney cleans up her act, would she still continue to be interesting?
Is There Still Hope for Remaining Fans?
For those Britney fans that still decide to cling to hope, remember this. The way Britney handles her personal life will be the way she handles her career. If her personal life is a mess and she isn’t doing anything to fix it, that is how her career will pan out. Root for her, only when she gives you something to root for.
