Reviews: Britney can't sing, and INC is still Marxist
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
Britney Spears
“Circus”
3 stars
Britney Spears turned 27 on Tuesday, the day “Circus,” her second “comeback” record, was released.
Not that anyone heard much of last year’s “Blackout,” which was supposed to be the album that refocused attention on Spears’ music. Her personal traumas kept the media focused on legal entanglements and speculation about her mental health. Few paid attention to the record.
Now settled down and receiving better guidance than she had in the previous two or three years, Spears is trying again with a disc that is clearly crafted to return her music to the dance clubs and appeal to fans by returning to the Swedish dance-pop mixture that connected a decade ago.
“Circus” is also about providing her perspective on parts of her tabloid life, trying a little musical ju jitsu by turning the negative publicity to her advantage.
On the title track, she proclaims, “There’s only two types of people in the world/The ones that entertain and the ones that observe/I’m a put-on-a-show kind of girl,” and proceeds to try to put on that show.
That song claims she’s now in control of the three rings of chaos that is her life. “Womanizer” is a repetitive slap at her ex; “Kill the Lights” is her biting take on the photographers that pursue her; and “If U Seek Amy” appears to address the disasters of young celebrity.
But I’d hesitate to read too much into any of the seemingly autobiographical tracks. Spears is credited with co-writing just three of the songs on “Circus.” Only one of them, the touching “My Baby,” addressing one of her sons, really addresses her life.
The remainder of the tunes come from professional songwriters who, like the rest of us, can watch Spears and get paid to sympathize with her in their lyrics.
But it’s impossible to know if she’s singing about paparazzi and her personal woes with tongue in cheek, seriously or simply because she’s been told this is the direction she needed to go to salvage her musical career.
Therein lies the biggest problem for Spears, now and into whatever future she may have.
She’s not much of a singer, and all the ProTools tricks in the world can’t mask that.
Across “Circus,” her vocals are thin and, in comparison to others in the dance/R&B world, relatively unexpressive. That doesn’t matter in teen idol land. But as Spears becomes an adult — a little late at 27, but give her credit for trying — some vocal talent is required.
Spears’ limitations don’t detract much from the up-tempo songs on “Circus.” Those are instantly dance-floor friendly and a digital cribsheet for aspiring producers. But on slower numbers like “My Baby,” it’s almost painful to hear her try to put more power into her limited instrument.
With “Womanizer” already a hit and her comeback at full speed, it looks like “Circus” has a chance to bring Spears back as an entertainer. But don’t expect her ever to return to her 1998-2003 peak.
Such is the nature of the straight-up-straight-back-down teen-idol career trajectory. Whatever she is or will become, Spears is trapped as the girl who captivated us with “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” and she’ll never fully escape from it, regardless of the “Circus” that is her life.
— L. Kent WolgamottThe (International) Noise Conspiracy The politically charged Swedish rockers return for their fifth full-length. As with any INC album, it’s a potent mix of solid ’70s-era rock ’n’ roll and far-left Marxist politics. They once described themselves as “a cross between Elvis Presley and Che Guevara.”
“The Cross of My Calling”
4 stars
“Calling” is probably INC’s most accessible album yet, in no small part because of the presence of legendary producer Rick Rubin (Metallica, Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash, to name a few). But if the music’s especially inviting, frontman Dennis Lyxzén’s lyrics are as subversive as ever. The guys thrash through anthems to atheism, harangues against the Bush administration, consumerism and oil-dependent cultures.
You don’t have to be sympathetic to a Marxist ideology to enjoy this album, but it would probably help.
— Micah MertesThe Hives and Cyndi LauperHere’s a great Christmas song for people who hate Christmas music and an even better song for people who hate the holiday altogether.
“A Christmas Duel”
4 stars
Using the template of a modern Christmas rocker, Pelle Almqvist, vocalist for the Swedish rockers The Hives, and ’80s darling Cyndi Lauper duet out an acidic string of confessions over the burning yule log. “I bought no gift this year, and I slept with your sister,” Almqvist croons to Lauper, “I know I should have thought twice before I kissed her.”
Misanthropes dreading the season, head to iTunes as soon as possible.
— Micah Mertes
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