Britney Spears Blackout CD

Issued in late 2007, BLACKOUT is the much-touted comeback album that was designed to pull Britney Spears out from under the considerably large personal and professional shadows that had crept into her life. From Spears's bizarre head-shaving incident to her parental custody struggles to her critically reviled MTV Video Music Awards performance, most of the year was an exceedingly long train wreck for the pop superstar, and those events, to some degree, inform BLACKOUT, which stands out as a defiantly bold dance-pop offering.

Buoyed by the massive club-oriented hit "Gimme More," the record sports a slick, nearly armor-like techno veneer that extends to every track, from the pulsing above-mentioned single to the tinny "Toy Soldier" to the R&B-tinged "Why Should I Be Sad." While Spears takes on media criticism most directly on the Vocoder-laced "Piece of Me," she also offers up some giddy escapism, most notably on the floating synth-pop of "Heaven on Earth," a strong contender for BLACKOUT's finest moment. Although the album doesn't erase many of Britney's woes, it arguably serves as her best record since OOPS!... I DID IT AGAIN, and that alone should make it a delight for many fans.

Recording information: Bloodshy & Avant Studios, Stockholm, Sweden; Chalice Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA; Silent Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; South Beach Studios, Miami, FL; Studio At The Palms, Las Vegas, NV; The Hit Factory, Miami, FL.

Editor: Ron Taylor .

Photographer: Ellen Von Unwerth.

Personnel: T-Pain (vocals); Bloodshy, Avant (guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, programming); Fred Wreck (guitar, keyboards); Erik "Baby Jesus" Coomes (guitar, bass guitar); Klas Åhlund (bass guitar); Mango (programming); Corte "The Author" Ellis, Nicole Morier, Windy Wagner (background vocals); Jim Beanz (vocals, background vocals); Henrik Jonback (guitar); Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica (programming); Candice Nelson, Ezekiel Lewis, Robyn Carlsson, Kara DioGuardi, Pharrell Williams, Sean Garrett, Keri Hilson (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Chad Hugo; Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica; Niklas Flyckt; Tony Maserati.

Rolling Stone (p.194) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "BLACKOUT is the first time in her career that she's voiced any real thoughts about her life..."
Rolling Stone (p.116) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007".
Entertainment Weekly (p.62) - "BLACKOUT -- a collection of well-produced, thoroughly enjoyable dance songs -- may just put this once-celebrated pop star back on top." -- Grade: B+
Blender (Magazine) (p.149) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] seamlessly entertaining collection of bright, brash electropop....Spears sounds both more knowing and more sympathetic than she ever has."