Almost everyone will agree that Britney Spears’ greatest album is Blackout.
When Britney Jean came out, it felt like Brit-brit’s sound is making a farewell. It was panned by critics and fans alike, so when news broke out that the ‘Toxic” singer is hitting the studio again to work on a new project, everyone held their breath. Can Britney sustain another flop? Is her sound still relevant in the era where the younger generation of female pop stars who can sing really well have patterned their success on career?
Britney’s ninth studio album Glory not only flips the middle finger on the people thinking she’s done for, but also showing the young ones that she still has a few tricks up her sleeve.
Her iconic albums Blackout, Femme Fatale and In The Zone have an impressive opening tracks. Britney Jean tried to go a different route and went for a mellow opening and trying to showcase Ms. Spears’ softer side. Glory’s opening track ‘Invitation’ sort of marries the two. It’s still a danceable tune but at the same time with Britney’s soft vocals on the foreground, the title does its job and invites you into her album.
Speaking of vocals, while it’s true that Britney is not a top notch vocalist in the pop scene, there is a reason why her voice still continues to standout. Her previous albums capitalized on her ‘little girl’ voice in a sexy dance song.
In this album, songs like ‘Make Me…’ and ‘Clumsy’ allowed her voice to shine. Yes, her voice is still filtered and sometimes sounds perfectly digitized but this time there’s a feeling of being present and engaging in every song. And it’s not just her voice that has taken a positive turn in this album. While her last album had a very heavy EDM influence, this only made Britney’s voice not only robotic but killed its message about being her most personal musical endeavor. Her producers made the right decision to have Britney go back to sounding pop and the result is a very “on trend” Britney.
Songs like ‘Just Luv Me’ and ‘Better’ sounds like a song that could be done by this generation’s pop singers, but under Britney’s voice, the songs are given an experienced and authentic voice about vulnerability, wanting love, and getting it. These little deviations and experiments sonically could’ve made her previous album work.
While it might take a while for some fans to grasp the direction of Britney’s sound, they’d be happy to know that Britney’s back b*****s.
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