Quote:
Originally posted by Misanthrope
Did you even read what I wrote? Did you even try to get what I was saying or did you just see the overall sentiment, get red, and respond feverishly trying to tell me why im wrong and the album is a masterpiece? I like it, I like Britney, its in the trinity of britney albums for me. However, just because some stan critic from Rolling Stone, who really has no business critiquing anything Britneys done; its irresponsible on the magazines part considering how obsessed he is with her (Rob Sheffield), went on a stan rant about how brilliant the album is doesn't actually make it a revelation. You have to have a mind of your own and not just rely on critical reception. Ultimately they made an urban tinged pop record. It went accordingly with what was popular at the time, Danja is one of Timbalands right hand men and Timbaland was recording everything on pop radio at that time and the album reflects that sound of the time. What makes it her personal best is the fact that it went as grimy as possible so unabashedly and completely aligned with her aura and the general aura of the time period. I can't with people trying to act like it re-aligned modern pop music, I really cant roll my eyes hard enough when I read that or when people like you try to argue about her involvement in the record like she was right there at the helm of it all creating a masterpiece when we all know she wasn't. What makes the album so great wasn't as calculated as you all think, its dopeness unintentional which is probably the best kind of dopeness but regardless its not a groundbreaking modern pop record. Its just a great reflection of a certain time period in popular culture which it encapsulated.
|
Thank you for that lengthy essay. Let me respond in kind.
First of all, Rob Sheffield was not the only critic who noted Blackout's influence on pop music and culture. Many critics pointed out that, seeing as Britney had nothing to lose at the point of her life, she decided to push the envelope and make an unconventional album. Why would she play it safe with all of the controversy already surrounding her? Yes, Danja was one of the primary producers on the album and he was one of Timbaland's protégés, but I can't help but roll my eyes when people automatically assume that Blackout just went along with popular music at the time just because it was produced by one of Timbaland's pupils. Timbaland is nowhere on Blackout, and doesn't it make more sense that Danja would want to do something experimental and different now that he didn't have his boss Timbaland breathing down his neck? You say that Blackout sends like everything else at the time, yet it barely shares any similarities to Nelly Furtado's
Loose, which was primarily produced by Timbaland and Danja. Danja has his own style separate from Timbaland, which he was able to freely explore on Blackout, where he did not work with Timbaland. Not to mention that Danja produced less than half the album. You're completely ignoring work done by producers like Bloodshy & Avant, Kara DioGuardi, and The Clutch. You say that Blackout "went accordingly with what was popular at the time," but can you name songs released during that time that sound anything like Heaven on Earth or Freakshow? Sure, Blackout is an urban influenced album and urban was popular during the time that it was released, but that doesn't automatically mean that it is like every album released during that time. It was still experimental and different. Was Britney orchestrating every detail of this album? Probably not. But every producer, songwriter, A&R executive, etc. that she worked with said how involved and hardworking Britney was. If she was really as uninvolved as you say, why would she have bothered executive producing the album? She could have saved herself a lot of time and effort by just having someone else handle that for her. And obviously the album wasn't "calculated" to be a game changer or influence on future music, that's just something that happened organically. Britney just wanted to make something different, and people liked it and started pulling ideas from it. No artist goes into an album thinking "hmmm... I want this album to completely change the landscape of pop music and have it be a huge influence on future artists for years to come." You're saying that the album was meant to capture Britney's "aura" and the culture of the times, yet how would that be possible unless Britney was involved on the album and made it a reflection of herself?
But, ultimately, this all doesn't have any bearing on the question at hand, which is whether Blackout or BEYONCÉ is more overrated. I don't see how an album that was completely overshadowed by Britney's personal life at the time of release can be called overrated. It has only recently gotten the praise that it deserved upon release.
Neither album is overrated, they're both incredible.
