previous albums Blackout (2007) and Circus (2008) were progressive dance-pop albums in their own right. Producers like Bloodshy & Avant and Danja found the perfect match to Spears’ physicality, pairing her with liquid beats and ingenious sound collages that drew out the lascivious force in Spears’ voice, always her most defining asset and the key to an otherwise lackluster vocal presence. Britney Jean almost completely abandons any pretense of breaking musical ground, instead wrapping itself in microwaved Dutch house that would have sounded old-fashioned two years ago and splicing in guest spots that feel like will.i.am simply called in whoever happened to be working in another part of the studio that day.
Spears goes off to Vegas now, on a two-year residency that seems more like Spears waving the white flag at the rest of the music industry than any real career plan
