http://popledge.co.uk/album-review-b...ersonal-guide/
From UK blog -
We take a ‘personal’ microscope to ‘Britney Jean’, is this really her most intimate album to date?
The rankings at the end of the song are a ‘personal’ rating, i.e. do they actually relate to Britney? There is then a general overall score at the end of the album!
Alien – where do I start with this song? I have to start with 2.14 minutes into the track, because on a Britney Spears album the producers Will.i.am and Hygrade have failed to recognise that there is a mistake in this the final edit of the track, that’s right on a massive worldwide release there is a drop in Britney’s vocals in the song, one word – embarrassing.
I really hope this song gets the single treatment and they fix this error because for me it’s one of the strongest tracks on the album, you can easily relate the lyrics to Britney’s strange position in the world, feeling not quite part of it because of her celebrity status from a really early age. The track mixes some space sounds into a simple electronic beat and ultimately a message of hope, whether that be from God, your parents, kids, her fans it doesn’t matter you can put your own spin on it.
The section where she sings ‘but the stars in the sky’ really suits her vocals but I do think they pushed her voice too low in some parts (especially when she sings ‘home’ and then ‘alone’) and the clarity of the words gets lost. The ‘wooo ooooo ooo oooohhh’ bits remain genius on the production front.
If you enjoyed ‘He About To Lose Me’ from Femme Fatale you will dig this. Remember we’re not alone
Personal rating – 9/10 (and apparently Britney’s favourite track)
Work Bitch – you wanna Ford Focus? You wanna KFC bucket? Then you’d better Work Bitch! Not Britney’s best lead single to date (it failed to make much of a chart impact) but it ticked some boxes for me – hilarious lyrics (in a good way) and a great club track. I think the key to this song is to not take it too seriously, have some fun with it and again the beat and let your hair down. The video was brilliant too, #sharkney!
Personal rating – Britney does work, even when she’s not ‘on duty’ just popping to the shops she’s still Britney Spears and getting her photo taken surrounded by bodyguards, but does she really believe the word ‘bitch’ is a term of endearment and does she work as hard as say Lady Gaga, me thinks not – 4/10
Perfume – the second single from ‘Britney Jean’, video coming soon and written with pop majesty Sia this has all the hallmarks of a great pop song but unfortunately doesn’t quite reach that mark. Featuring the best pop line of the year ‘I’m gonna mark my territory’ Britney sings about marking her boyfriend with her perfume in the hope that his ex smells her scent on him. Lyrically and vocals-wise this hits all the point, talk of insecurities, paranoia and the story of the song are all present. Perfume sits as a mid-tempo song and I think this is where it failed as a single choice, it’s not a club-hit like Work Bitch or a full out ballad as say ‘Everytime’ was, so it just sits in the middle and indeed that’s what it did on the charts too…
Personal rating – I’m sure Britney has feelings of jealously and insecurities just like everyone and you can almost imagine her spritzing a bit of ‘Midnight Fantasy‘ over her man’s hoody, good song-writing ladies – 10/10
It Should Be Easy – Robo-Britney is back on some lack lustre lyrics ‘you make me feel like a million billion’ as one example; more off-putting is the entrance of Will.i.am….not content with his executive producer status he also jumps in for a guest vocal on this track. This is disposable pop in its worst form, lot of odd dance noises, auto-tune and lyrics that don’t really make sense. In my eyes love isn’t easy it’s messy and complicated and hard work but ultimately if it is true love then you survive all the ups and downs, this seems to paint a picture of once you are in love that is it – easy street. You can imagine this being a Black Eyed Peas cast-off.
Personal rating – maybe Britney is seeking an easy love but I can’t see the connection – 2/10 (David Guetta and Will.i.am cast off)
Tik Tik Boom – up next a song about orgasms! Personally Bitch! Unfortunately this is in the same vein as the previous track, banal lyric such as ’let me get up on it’ repeat and TI’s input on the song passes by without any fuss and you instantly forget he was even there. On the plus side the ‘Tik Tik’ bits really do get stuck in your head, I will admit a few repeats listens and this will end up imprinted on my psyche.
Personal rating – can you see Britney as a bedroom minx now? Telling David to make her Tik Tik Boom? Not convinced again…2/10
Body Ache – another song about turning people on, Sexney is all over this record when in real life Britney has admitted she feels uncomfortable acting the ‘Sexbot’ and that isn’t her behind the scenes. The aspect that saves this song in connection to Britney is the mentioned of dancing, in ‘For the Record’ she mentions that she doesn’t go in for traditional therapy but instead ‘dances it out’. That to me would have been a better song – ‘I’m going to dance till you are off my mind, till my troubles float away’ (honestly it’s not that difficult to put a personal spin on these records if you have followed Britney, I just wrote those two lines in a second) Musically it falls into the same pattern as the two previous tracks, it is generic dance material with nothing new about it.
Personal rating – the dancing link saves it for me, a generous - 6/10 (additional fact David Guetta gets a writing credit)
Til It’s Gone – this will according to NRJ in France be the third single in Europe, it’s an interesting choice, heavy on the EDM influences and the first on the record in which I questioned who actually sung the vocals, there is a lady called Myah Marie who does a lot of backing vocals for Britney and who sounds pretty much exactly like her, some of the verses just don’t sound like Britney’s style of delivering vocals. Again I’m listening to this thinking does this represent and suit Britney, ultimately the answer is no, I understand that she is a dance artist who suits more upbeat singles but the direction they have taken this record in isn’t new enough or in reverse traditional enough for Britney, it just puts her straight in the middle of the EDM-fashion that seems to be en vogue, she did that well on Hold it Against Me, for this record it was time to push out of the pack to add something new to the pop world, this type of single just doesn’t achieve it.
Personal rating – pretty low again, you could link it to her split all those years ago with Justin Timberlake, the Jason Trawick split didn’t seem to hit her hard and relating ‘Til It’s Gone’ to losing her ‘normal’ life just seems to be clutching at straws – 3/10
Passenger – a left-over from Katy Perry’s ‘Prism’ album this song is about relinquishing control to someone, perhaps a boyfriend or even God..in Britney’s world it would be her conservatorship holder Jamie Spears aka her Dad. Again it is very hard to relate the message to Britney’s world, some people have touted this as a possible single but I don’t think it is worth that, it passes by and I wouldn’t rush to listen to it again or put it on a play-list, it would have suited Katy more or even someone like Kelly Clarkson, it’s a pity Britney’s team picked up this otherwise discarded song.
Personal rating – a generous 4/10 because I think she could relate to some of the lyrics but marks taken away for having Katy Perry on the writing credits but not Britney!
Chillin’ With You – confession, I quite like this song! It is a bit sickly sweet in places but I love the drum beat on the choruses, Jamie Lynn who sings with her is a sweet addition to the album and yes this does immediately make it a more ‘personal’ track by having Britney sing with her sister. Jamie has a pleasant voice and she doesn’t over-shadow her big sister, it’s nice to have a song about just hanging out with her siblings with a slightly modern chorus to it. It would be lovely to see an acoustic performance of this song with Jamie but I won’t hold my breath.
Personal rating – 10/10
Don’t Cry – finally a song that might just relate to her break-up with Jason Trawick and actually a really touching one at that. Great lyrics about the start and end of a relationship and the different emotions you experience, Britney sings about their ‘last goodbye’ and not wanting to see her beau crying as she walks out. The song is simple yet highly effective, great vocal delivery and just a pleasure to listen to.
Personal rating – 10/10
Brightest Morning Star – another confession I’m a sucker for songs about her children which I am interpreting this to be, don’t worry though it’s a lot better than ‘My Baby’. ’I lift my hands and pray, coz life is tough somedays’ sings Britney before counteracting that by singing that her children are ‘my light when it gets dark’. I think it’s an almost spiritual song and when you think of her two boys and her it is hard not to feel touched by the song. The chorus is pop-perfection in my eyes, easy to pick up and sing-a-long to with a strong and persistent beat running through it.
Personal rating – 10/10
Hold on Tight – honestly it is well worth getting the deluxe version of this CD, I’m not sure why but they have kept all the more ‘personal’ songs till the end of the CD. This again is about hanging onto someone in times of trouble (this could be God for her) with lyrics such as ‘he guides me to the light’. This is another one that is easy to relate to a section of Britney’s life, that awful period for her around 2007 as she sings ‘I just want someone to tell me I’ll be alright’ and the talk of ‘bad dreams’ and just having to hold on tight to life when everything around you seems to be going wrong.
Personal rating – 10/10
Now That I Found You – a BLATANT rip off of Avicii’s recent music here but I will forgive Will.i.am for this one because unsurprisingly like Avicii’s track this one is also very catchy. This is a joyously upbeat dance number with Nyan Cat influences running through it (don’t let that put you off!) again I find it hard to see Britney singing and performing this number but to listen to it’s just pure fun and is one of my ‘most played’ from Britney Jean.
Personal rating – you could relate this to her new ‘love’ David – 7/10
Perfume (The Dreaming mix) – I don’t think this album needs two version of Perfume on it, it’s not a big enough hit to warrant it. I would have rather had another new track, it is interesting to hear the more original mix of the song which is more a traditional piano-led ballad with some guitars around the chorus and some additional backing vocals towards the end. Should have been part of the ‘Perfume’ single bundle though.
Personal rating – they should have included Radar as a running joke for Britney fans.
OVERALL ALBUM RATING – 5/10 – half thriller and half killer
Britney fans! Have I missed any Britney links to the songs? Were you happy with this ‘personal’ album that Britney and Will delivered to us or like me are you still wishing this was Blackout 2.0.
