Artist: Britney Spears
Album: Circus
Release Date: 12.2.08

I was really hoping Britney could have gotten herself together; the way she has just lost value right in front of the whole world is just pitiful. Unfortunately Circus is not the album to do that for her. With a title as such, I expected this album to be more personal, considering the fact that her life has been reduced to one. My journey through this album was not easy, and it was especially difficult to take this project serious. On first listen, I actually thought some of the songs were parodies and someone was making fun of her!

Initially, the only tracks I considered decent were Blur and the title track Circus, and again, they’re just decent. Circus is a classic Britney dance track while Blur finds a potty-mouthed Spears waking up after a night of drugged out partying in some unknown man’s bed – not knowing what she did to get there. The most favorable offering is Out From Under, a sensitive ballad where Britney’s voice sounds the most natural, albeit limited.

My Baby is a soft ballad that’s obviously dedicated to her kids, but it’s so bad, I wouldn’t even dedicate that song to MY kids. Besides the awkward voice distortion, the lyrics just don’t flow, and there’s no sense of poetry about any of it. The remaining tracks will have you lost within studio-created vocals with distortion so bad you can’t tell whether it’s Miley or Madonna on the other end.

I’m usually the one to back the underdog, which Britney has unquestionably become thanks to her astonishing fall from grace. However putting out an album with 13 tracks, of which only 1/3 are worth a listen is not the way to resuscitate an exhausted and dying career. I’d rather her just gracefully bow out, go raise her kids and focus on being a good mom. The rest of the world has abandoned all hope that she'll ever become a good musician. This album is one of the worst I’ve heard all year, and that’s no exaggeration.

-Mack-