
What I think by that is Spears's presence on the songs themselves seems like almost an afterthought. Her voice has never been among the elect in the industry, and has become less of the focal point of her albums with each passing release, but on "Femme Fatale" it almost seems like the end was to minimize Britney's contribution as often as possible to let the producers shine instead.
Now, if you're a fan of dance/club music, then that may be a safe thing. The beats are thoroughly well-produced and strong throughout. However, they feel entirely homogenous. Rather than there being a tonal ebb and flowing to the album, there's hardly a never-ending pulse, as if the end of the medicine was to get the hearer to hold a 200 bpm heartrate for the entire listening experience.
It's possible that in this post-Rebecca Black world, my allowance for meaningless, overly-robotizedvocals has been lessened, but it's also possible that Britney is something of a guest star on her own album. Which gets me back to my initial question: If you made this same exact album, with the same exact production and vocal quality, but rather of Britney Spears it was from an unknown artist (let's call her "Becky White"), would it be successful? Which song would be the breakaway hit? Sure, "Hold it Against Me" performed well on iTunes, but again I look like that success is more due to the Britney Spears "brand" than the music itself. And in the end the album feels like a compendium of talented producers using the Britney brand to encourage their own works, at the disbursement of Spears's music herself.
There are a pair of songs that I can see myself listening to repeatedly, led by "Criminal", which is likely the least dance-y song on the album. The Max Martin/Shellback production duo (the same pair responsible for "If U Seek Amy" and "3") seemed to run WITH Britney's vocals on this one, rather than over them. "Seal it with a Kiss" has lyrics that may as easily have been written by a 4th grader, but curse it if it isn't catchy as all hell. On the alternate side, there's "Big Fat Bass", the Will I Am collaboration which may be the seventh sign of the Apocalypse.
Overall, my feeling of the album "Femme Fatale" probably leans toward the positive. However, the verdict is still out on Britney Spears's "Femme Fatale" - if there still is such a thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment