Editorial
Reviews
Amazon.com
Britney
Where Britney Spears's first two albums hewed to the early-'60s
formula of one strong single plus a stack of filler--a
fair bit of which ended up on the radio anyway--her third
justifies itself as a full-length listen. Led by the single
"I'm a Slave 4 U," a Neptunes-helmed piece of
electrofunk that promises she'll do anything you want
as long as it's dancing, the album continues through superior
versions of Spears's poses. Calculated frustration with
the adult world? Calculated independence? Sheer celebration?
Check, check, and check: "Overprotected," "Let
Me Be," and a cover of "I Love Rock & Roll"
that brings to mind its bubblegum roots. Even without
the joyous disco tribute of "Anticipating" and
the not-icky ballad "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman"
providing symbolic respite from the rest of this machine-tooled
music, Britney is one of the most human discs of the current
teen-pop boom. If it spins off the deserved string of
radio/video smashes, it may even buy this superstar a
second 15 minutes. --Rickey Wright
Oops!..
I Did It Again
Yes, she did. Even if the title track's chorus is a blatant
rip-off of the Barbra Streisand/Barry Gibb duet, "Woman
in Love," it's still darn catchy--much more than
anything from 1999's ...Baby One More Time (save the album's
fab title tune, of course). With the rest of the 12 songs
here, the teen queen pretty much delivers a remake of
her last album. Songs like "What U See (Is What U
Get)" and "Stronger" show Swedish songwriter-producer
Max Martin in his element, churning out another and yet
another slick smash with staccato synth beats and heavily
overproduced melodies. But even at his strongest points,
he can't bury Britney's voice far enough below the virtual
guitars--and it's obvious this girl ain't no Celine. Except
for the horrendous ballads, however, that doesn't make
a stitch of a difference. The pop songs have all the qualities
of memorable tunes--the choruses are clear and catchy,
the beats are bouncy enough to make you shake your bonbon,
and the singer is about as randy for love as Austin Powers
is for a shag. Edit out the low-water mark--when Britney
mutilates the Rolling Stones' misogynist anthem, "Satisfaction,"
by oversexualizing it with inserted "uh"s ("I
can't get no, uh, satisfaction")--and you've got
a hit-packed album that's as guilty a pleasure as reruns
of Beverly Hills 90210. --Heidi Sherman
Britney
Spears - Live from Las Vegas
With a November 2001 Las Vegas performance that became
an HBO special, Britney Spears headlines a visual spectacle
that surpasses even Vegas's stage shows. From the opening
"Oops! I Did It Again" to the closing "I'm
a Slave 4 U," Spears and her dance troupe athletically
romp through a live, life-size, 90-minute music video.
There's no musical emphasis (usually the original recordings
play while Spears nominally pays attention to what she's
supposed to be singing), but that's not the point.
Soft-spoken offstage, Spears becomes someone else entirely
in front of an audience: numerous costume changes, a plethora
of filmed footage, awesome acrobatics, and a gigantic
stage set create the ultimate triumph of visuals over
music. During the encore, "Baby One More Time,"
rain drenches Spears, giving a born entertainer one final
opportunity to leave her fans awestruck. The concert was
broadcast live to four military bases, and Spears acknowledges
the soldiers' service in the wake of the September 11
terrorist attacks. --Kevin Filipski
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Official Interview CD
Britney Spears - Live from Las Vegas
DVD
Britney Spears - Time Out With Britney...
DVD
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