There are some very dedicated Britney Spears fans who read this blog. They seem to be expecting a review of the pop star’s seventh studio album Femme Fatale, which is particularly funny since I haven’t written a single album review since early January.
Why? Because they consume a whole lot of time and energy for something that only appeals to a certain demographic of this blog. In all honesty? They don’t get a lot of traffic. For the few times they do get a decent amount of comments, it’s usually to tell me how I have terrible taste in music and I’m in no way qualified to critique your favorite artist. How atrociously fun!
In any case, I thought I’d give the hardcore Brit fans a chance to air out their feelings on her latest release. This is your chance to post your own reviews, comment on specific tracks and vote on your choice for the next single. And who knows? Rumor has it that Britney follows us on Twitter… Maybe she’ll read your feedback?
– Dewitt
To vote on your pick for Femme Fatale‘s next single, follow the JUMP:
Hehe Dewitt. Nice review 🙂 Honestly 🙂
In any case, like I promised, I’ll write my own. But it’ll take the space of more than 1 comment most likely, hehe. So here we go.
I’m not a fan of those glamorous reviews that concentrate on singers’ personal life or go through their entire catalogue, choose fancy words to describe simple things etc etc. So I’ll just write a short track by track review.
Femme Fatale.
Hold It Against Me – a monster track, in the ranks of Womanizer, Toxic, 3, etc. Awesome first single. Some called it her best song ever, others hated it. I’d call it ONE of the best Britney song.
Till The World Ends – a great multi-layered track. Amazing verse & pre-chorus. Epic Chorus no.2. A good song overall, got a very Kesha vibe to it, still very Britney, but something is definitely missing: a harder beat I’d say.
Inside Out – nice mid-tempo. Lots of references to Baby one more time & You drive me crazy. Very good overall. Tempo change is also refreshing.
I Wanna Go – another monster track. Definitely the 3rd single material. Not only a monster, but also a fun song with great hooks. One of the best songs on the album.
How I Roll – a ‘wtf’ feeling at first, but surprisingly a great track on further listens: grows on you pretty well. Great album cut, not a single material though.
Drop Dead Beautiful – a very nice song. Strong verse, nice vocals. Quite a plain chorus, but very charming nonetheless. Lil rappin in the middle. Very very catchy overall.
Seal It With a Kiss – amazing pop tune. Has everything a pop song needs. Very light chorus. Nice album cut. Best pop song on the album.
Big Fat Base – a standout track, not for being particularly great, but definitely for being different. At 4:45 it’s the only track above 4 mins on the album. Nice melody. Could have been better, considering it’s a will.i.am track, but at least he didn’t make it another BEP song.
Trouble for me – quite a good track. Kinda catchy and grows on you. Not a highlight of the album, but not bad either.
Trip to your heart – ok song, personally my least favourite cut. Something you’d expect to hear on a Katy Perry album, not on Britney’s. Not as good as the rest of the album, but in the album-mood nonetheless.
Gasoline – not a bad song, nice verse, but a vocally weird chorus. Highly praised by critics, not sure why.
Criminal – the only ballad-ish track. Pretty outstanding. Nice vocals & lyrics. Even sad at some points. Might be released as a single at some point.
Bonus Tracks:
Up n’ Down – wow, this track is outstanding. It’s just plain great. Should have been on the main album. It’s a bit different from the rest of the album, I guess that’s why it was not included. It has some familiar vibe which and I’m not sure what it is yet. Awesome track, the deluxe edition is worth getting for this track alone.
He About to Lose Me – a very interesting track. The vocals are so different, the emotion is great too. Kylie Minogue expressed her love for this track and I can see why. Could have done better on the chorus though.
Selfish – an ok song. Nothing outstanding. Proper bonus track.
Don’t keep me waiting – crap. not worth reviewing.
An amazing album overall. Pure pop perfection. It really delivers. All tracks are really good almost without exceptions. It’s just consistently good, something which rarely happens. Well done.
The album is probably her best work ever. All the songs are solid and single worthy. The album flows well and the songs compliment each other without a real “concept”.
Stand Out Tracks:
Inside Out, Criminal, Trip To Your Heart, He About To Lose Me!
You did it again Brit!
i love Britney and have since i was 14 im so excited to get her cd today 🙂
hahaha.. loving the Billboard review they just posted. So similar to mine:
http://www.billboard.com/features/britney-spears-femme-fatale-track-by-track-1005098152.story#/features/britney-spears-femme-fatale-track-by-track-1005098152.story
LOL, you’re right Dewitt, I would’ve given you a piece of my mind if you decided to write a not so nice review. Hopefully this means the same will apply to other artists. Now for the ‘review’.
Solid album from start to finish, there’s a definite theme going on just like Blackout, flows very well just like Blackout. Better than Blackout? Only time will tell I guess.
Standouts for me
-the first two singles. seriously, they were on the spot. I still adore HIAM to death and TTWE is almost as great, if only they fixed up the chorus a bit.
-Inside Out. This song just has that vibe going on for it. Britney just knows how to make great sex music. (Breathe on Me, And Then We Kiss…anyone?!)
-I Wanna Go. Seems to be a fan favorite, very radio friendly, catchy hook, infectious whistle. My choice for next single.
-Seal It With a Kiss. THE pop song on the record, much like Circus/Amy for Circu (album). Just a fun fun fun song. My choice for the next single, if not then maybe 4th or 5th.
-Trip to Your Heart. If I HAD to pick a favorite, this would be a VERY close second behind HIAM. It’s like a mashup between Unusual You, Heaven on Earth and That’s Where You Take Me. Loves it.
-Criminal. Wasn’t crazy about it at first, but it definitely grew on me. If the whole song was as good as the bridge at the end, it would’ve been my favorite.
The Good
-How I Roll. Like a lot of fans, I was confused at first listen. Then the line ‘You can be my fuck tonight’ reached my ears and I KNEW I had to listen to it again. A definite grower. It’s like Anticipating (Britney album) but fast forward 10 years and slap on a 18+ rating.
-The Big Fat Bass. Good song overall, some parts do get annoying, but when it shines it really shines –> the last two minutes
The Not so Good
-(Drop Dead) Beautiful. It’s just alright, chorus sucks (reminds me of Beautiful Dirty Rich by Gaga) Sabi added…nothing, I actually found her part very irritating. The pre-chorus though is on the spot…if only..
-Gasoline. My least favorite. It’s definitely more well put together than Drop Dead Beautiful but this song just do nothing for me. Partly because I find the lyrics a bit cringe worthy.
oh crap I forgot…
-Trouble for Me. Love the vocals and a great song. Single worthy? Not so much.
@Nex, it seems we share very similar taste. Besides (Drop Dead) Beautiful and Trip to Your heart (HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE IT?!) lol
She won’t ever be Gaga she should stop trying
Honestly, I’m not really into Britney. But if people got over their faith to particular artists, and really gave this album a listen, they’d find that Britney’s producers worked incredibly hard to make a song for every pop sensibility. After realizing this, I finally decided to get over my irrational, “Britney is too gay for me,” stint. Personally, I think “How I Roll” was tailored to those of my musical persuasion. And I must admit, it’s probably going to become something of a guilty pleasure.
She has never been trying to be someone else beside herself. Britney is the best, why try to be other.
@Jay
I think Breathe on Me is her best unreleased song. It had such a great single potential. I think I like it more than Toxic or any other track from In the Zone.
I also think And Then We Kiss is one of her most amazing tracks which didn’t get any promo. The song is just beyond great. No wonder it spent 16 week at no.1 in Israel and had to be removed from the countdown for being so popular.
Trip to your heart just doesn’t do it for me. Not sure why. I’d happily replace it with one of the bonus tracks.
Drop Dead is catchy, pre-chorus is spot on like u said. The chorus (or the 2nd one) is definitely over-processed and could be reworked. Sabi didn’t really help much, Britney could have rapped as good. But it’s catchy overall and I love the lyrics (with all the dicks & asses flying around).
On How I Roll she says ‘you can be my thug’, but it sure as hell sounds like ‘fuck’ lol.
Still feeling so sad about He About To Lose Me. Such a great song, such a crap chorus. It would be one of the album’s best if they worked on a chorus a bit more.
Her best album to date and it’s the BEST DANCE ALBUM in a long time!! I’m in love with this album, i cant get over the sound and her voice just captures me. Femme Fatale is my oxygen for life now and Britney is my bass….Haha
this album sux! it is the worst material her PEOPLE have written. she should just go back to stuff like “blackout” and “circus”…those were GREAT albums. i hate this auto-tune mess.
I love this album, defo one Britney’s best offerings. Im just gone put out my fave songs from the record.
Trouble for me – An interesting dub step kind of sound to this one.I love the chorus and there is almost a disco feel to this one.
He about to lose me – Love,Love,Love it such a good song.interesting chorus and the vocals arent over produced on the verses.
I wanna go – This one grew on me, ive gone from loathing it to fricking loving it. Can see why its a fan fave.
Big Fat Bass – An interesting song. Not that amazing but very infectious, sounds like it should build to something but it just dosent.
Till the world ends / Hold it against me – Both Brilliant songs, not much needs to be said here except there awesome.
Trip to your heart / Criminal – Both electro ballards. I like them both, my fave song of circus was “unsual you” and these two songs are very similar, perhaps not as good.
The rest of the album is growing on me, but overall a really good pop record very Britney, but also very current.
@JayBoy
hehe, I have to agree with you on Big Fat Bass. Brit & will.i.am chanting together that the bass is getting bigger & bigger & bigger, but it doesn’t really build to anything special. the bass is still the same from start to finish.
I wish I hadn’t seen her on TV this morning… taped beforehand at night in SF. It’s not humanly possible to duplicate the sound of Her(?) voice live, so she has to sing along with herself or mouth the words. This I expect and can live with. But for a 29 year old she dances like an old lady with arthritis! The album should have been called ROBOT and then it all might have worked on stage. HOWEVER I LOVE THE ALBUM’S PRODUCTION! Great sounds… manipulated voice and all! My favorites being…”I Wanna Go’… ‘Big Fat Bass’… ‘Don’t Keep me Waiting’ and ‘How I Roll’. I just have to get the visuals from this morning’s show out of my head.
really positive reviews all over the web, and here as well, except for a few gaga trolls who try to bring brit down.
seriously, a gaga fan saying that brit should stop trying to be gaga? come on, gaga was still at school when brit was rocking the world. gaga admitted many times herself that she is an admirer of brit. she even wrote a few songs for brit. Quicksand – quite a good song (which is a bonus track on circus) & the famous Telephone (which britney declined for whatever reasons).
##################
Though I must agree with @bodysurfin that her recent performances in vegas & LA were lackluster. I blame the stupid outfit, especially those stupid high hill shoes. i mean who could possible dance in those ginormous things??????
I love her music, but as a performer these days, she fails. The lipsynching was acceptable when she was dancing… but when for the most part these days she just stands there, does some arm choreography, and tosses her hair back and forth it’s not. Her tragic “Gimme More” performance had more energy then what she brought to the GMA performances. SHE SAT DOWN DURING THE DANCE BREAKDOWNS. I understand that she has gone through a lot. But this is her fucking job. At least walk around in circles pointing like you did on the Circus tour.
I like the new album, my favorite album of hers is still Blackout though.
huge brit fan here, however my feelings on the album are mixed. every song is only ok for me, even the first 2 singles. I need some Gimme More, Toxic or even Everytime sounding stuff… the girl is not 19 anymore, so her dancing is not top notch anymore ether. I have to say I am happy she is still into working after everything she has gone through in her personal life, but again this album is only “so-so” for me… BUT I AM HOPING IT GROWS ON ME!!! And one last thought, why cant artist share ideas? Sure some things Brit is doing these days is very Lady Gaga, but hell Lady Gaga looks to brit for inspiration 2!! I love them both! Both very amazing and talented! PS: I met Britney a few months ago, super sweet, super cool and I only wish her all the success in the world 🙂
I would like to see How I Roll be release as a single, just because it’s really different from anything Britney has release as a single.
Downloaded the album from itunes today against my better judgement. It has been getting great reviews. Here is what I think for each song in a word or 2.
Hold It Against Me – Good (video ruined it for me though)
Till The World Ends – Boring/ok
Inside Out – Very Boring (should be song #10, not #3)
I Wanna Go – GREAT!
How I Roll – GREAT!
Drop Dead Beautiful – GREAT!
Seal It With a Kiss – Cheesy (Mickey Mouse Days)
Big Fat Base – GREAT!
Trouble for me – Good (but a complete copy of all the club tribal songs that are djs are spinning)
Trip to your heart – VERY BORING!
Gasoline – Good
Criminal – Are you fucking kidding me? Horrible.
So out of 12 songs:
4 Great (33%)
3 Good (17%)
1 Boring/OK (7%)
4 Horrible (33%)
So I would give this album 3 out of 5 stars. The reason I am not giving it 2 stars is because the tracks that are great are indeed very good. It feels a bit rushed to me. You have these awesome songs mixed in with cheese, horrible lyrics, mid tempo ballads, and other shit.
Before you download, preview the tracks. I would highly recommend that you DO NOT download:
-Inside Out
-Seal It With A Kiss
-Trip To Your Heart
-Criminal
-Til The World Ends
The rest of the album I would highly recommend downloading (reg album, not deluxe).
@LEO – for sure not a Blackout album. That was her best work hands down!
Congratulations! You win THIS: *facepalm*
Ignorance is bliss.
Up and Down is hands down, my favorite track. I think this is a good step for Brit, indeed.
And that explains the lack of Lykke Li’s album review…and many others besides that. I really wanted to know what you thought of it, though….oh well…
I was given this CD today as a gift. Didn’t open it and return it. Frankly, it’s the same old sound by Britney. Nothing innovating about her persona or her concept as an artist. Although I must say, Till The World Ends is very good single and I have only liked 3 other songs from here in her entire career.
I love this CD i got the Deluxe version yesterday and it’s amazing! Brit promised a superior, fierce dance record and she didn’t disappoint!
Whilst the album is primarily a dance record for the clubs there’s a mix of songs that slow the pace a bit this for me is definately one of her superior albums for sure!
Some of my favourite tracks:
I Wanna Go, Inside Out, Till The World Ends, HIAM, Seal It With A Kiss & Up N’ Down!
Also an extra special mention for the awesome Japanese bonus track that is Scary, this along with Up N’ Down definately belonged on the standard edition! 🙂
who gives a shit! Its Britney, she needs to go away already.
Hey Anthony! While I don’t have the time to go into the particulars, I can tell you that I have listened to the Lykke Li album and enjoyed it very much. “Love Out Of Lust” has been on repeat, as part of my relaxation playlist. 😛
uhm… it’s amazing!!!
The album is great. One of my favorites of the year so far, and definitely gets me up and moving. Definitely a hit.
That being said, it is definitely the CD where she gave up singing, she gave up trying, and finally let the producers do the work for her. Her voice oftentimes gets lost in some of the songs. The lyrics don’t match the sex appeal that she is “bringing” to the stage and certainly isn’t living up to the hype that true Brit fans think that she has. This CD should really be by The Producers Present… Britney Spears, because none of this reads Britney. Sorry 🙁
When she comes out with another song where SHE leads the track, then I will say Brit is back. Until then, thanks for being the back up singer to the beats.
It’s a shiny, bright, radio-friendly remake of ‘Blackout’ (it wasn’t one of those). It’s an average album. If I wrote a review, I wouldn’t go above 6, 6.5 at most (out of 10).
She’s barely there tho. Considering what she’s gone through, she hasn’t made much about it. It’s gleeful denial of her life. Almost every song is about dancing and partying, none of which she does in real life.
The best songs are “How I Roll” and “Trip to Your Heart”. “Inside Out” and “I Wanna Go” are pretty catchy, especially the whistle in the pre-chorus. “Hold It Against Me” of course still sounds great.
But there’s plenty of bland pop here: “(Drop Dead) Beautiful” and “Seal It with a Kiss” are incredibly generic, boring and forgettable. The rap in the former is totally random, weird and just out of place. Why even bother? and “Big Fat Bass” is a Fergie track on a Britney album.
My main quibble – the tracklist could have been bettered with “Selfish” replacing “(Drop Dead) Beautiful” and “He About to Lose Me” replacing “Gasoline”, probably the dullest of the bunch (well, it’s on tie with “Seal It with a Kiss”).
“How I Roll” FTW! Very reminiscent of the general weirdness of Blackout’s “Get Naked” and “Freakshow”. “Trip to Your Heart” is a remake of Blackout’s “Heaven on Earth” as well.
Because ‘Blackout’ was so successful (although a commercial low for Brit), the producers tried to remake that, just decided to write in a bright, sunny disposition, and not the dark place Britney was during ‘Blackout’.
@Dan
@Zane
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Plus can anyone say autotune? I mean peeps on this site complain and dis the BEP cuz they use autotune too much. This record is all autotune – every single song!
At least will.i.am says that he loves autotune and that is how he wants to make records. He puts it out there that the BEP use it for most songs.
I can honestly say I have tried. I listened to the CD to and from work today. I listened to it on my ipod while working out at the gym, and I just cannot get into it. Something is off and after reading what Dan and Zane said, I now know what.
@Zane what did you expect her to sing about?
Staying home over the weekend and taking her boys out for ice cream during the week? No thx.
By that logic Madonna should be making records about going to an elderly house.
It’s pop music, it’s fantasy, it’s fun.
@Nathan, go away already please. You are just one of those gaga fans pretending to kinda like britney, but then bash her anytime there’s an opportunity for it.
@Nex
I like some Gaga songs and I like some Britney songs. I hate some Gaga songs and I hate some Britney songs.
I paid for this album when it came out legit, and I listened to it over and over. I wanted to like it, I just dont. It is all autotune and easily forgettable. You cannot get mad at someone for not liking this album. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You have yours, I have mine.
And to quote Madonna: “If you read and listen to the good reviews and take them in, then you also have to read and listen to the bad reviews. You cannot shut yourself off to 1/2 of the audience. That is why I choose not to read reviews.” – 1993 an interview after the Erotica album.
Not a horrible album, but far from good. All very forgettable music. It sounds like none of the producers ever met or worked together. It’s like they each did a song or two for her with no theme linking the songs together. There seems to be no communication, hence there is no flow to this album at all.
@Nathan
auto-tune is just a way of polishing up the music. every single artist is using some sort of digital editing. like gaga deepens her voice on bad romance and BTW. was Just Dance by gaga forgettable cos it used auto-tune? How about Believe by Cher? it’s a silly argument u r trying to make.
Changed my mind about Selfish bonus track. It’s actually a great track. Could have been included on the album.
Boom boom baby pick you up in my Mercedes I’mma be a little selfish…
shitty album.
i want my $10.99 back please.
does itunes offer refunds?
@Kirk when u illegally download stuff they don’t offer you money for that.
And plz disappear from Britney related posts, we all know you hate her.
Btw, Dewitt, you say that these type of articles don’t generate enough traffic and stuff, but look at the number of comments on this page, it’s probably top 3 most discussed topic this week.
The power of Britney!
Anyway, my favourite tracks: I Wanna Go, Criminal, Hold it against me.
Least favourite: Trip to your heart, Gasoline.
Overall a very very nice album. Almost excellent like the Billboard review says.
And man, may I point out how great bonus tracks are. Up n’ Down, Lose me & Selfish are really amazing and deserved to be on the main album. They should have just made a 15-track album.
I seem to be the only one who hasn’t listened to it :’-( It still hasn’t been released in my country. I’ll have to wait for it to come here.
Britney is so damn sexy! She looks amazing! So the question needs to be asked: why is this album so damn unsexy? She is gorgeous and her body still rocks. Where has the sex appeal of her music gone? “How I Roll” is the one exception. That is a damn sexy song and I hope and pray it is released as a single. The rest of the album is kinda dull to me. I want her to bring sexy music back and stay away from dull safe tunes.
When Kesha (who is not attractive or sexy at all) can come up with music that is sexy, I am sure Brit can do. I can’t believe that Kesha’s music right now is more cutting edge, sexier, and better than Britney’s music. I am shocked that I had to admit that.
@Chris I actually think that Brit lost most of her sexiness and needs to get in shape, where as her music stayed as sexy as ever. Wasn’t there someone on this page who said that her music is a complete denial of her life and wanted her to sing about spending time with her babies?
anyway, after a further listen i think that this is her best album yet or at least on par with blackout. just like on blackout, there isn’t a single weak track, no fillers.
For example Circus had loads of weak tracks like MMM Papi and Manniquin and some more. But here even bonus tracks are amazing.
I would say “Gasoline” “Criminal” “Seal It With A Kiss” are all fillers on this album.
“How I Roll” is the standout track.
I agree that it is MUCH better than Circus, but it is nowhere near Blackout. Blackout had an edginess and a flow to it. This doesnt as much. A couple good songs, but not up to the standards I was expecting.
This was unexpectidly good. I honestly hate and never believe when artists say ‘this is my best work/album yet’, but to be honest it is her best album so far. Blackout was great and had a dark edge to it. This album is great, had light edge to it, but also has quite a lot of standout ‘monster’ tracks like I wanna go, Hold it against me, something which Blacout didn’t have. Gimme more & Piece of me were great tracks, but not superhits.
Favourite track so far: Criminal. The bridge on that song is just insanely good.
where did my comment go?
anyways, i’ll repeat what i said in 2 words: her best album, cos of monster tracks.
fav song: criminal, amazing bridge on there.
oh lol. it was on the second page. sorry for double post
look at the number of comments on this page. and someone said music articles aren’t popular.
great album
dewitt, are you running different version of the website for US & the rest of the world? I just discovered that you can have ‘likes’ & ‘dislikes’ as well as replies on your comments. that’s unfair. give!
as a dance record its good but not as good as rhhiana loud the sad thing is the best song tilkl the end of the world sounds like keisha
the music is good, now if she only had the passion she had before.