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sparkly_girls.
A review of In the Zone from the
Britney Spears, "In the Zone"
2 1/2 stars [out of five]
The girl's gone wild here, answering Xtina's "Dirrty" genitalia-piercing with a self-help hook that makes her tongue dance with Madonna seem like something from her Mouseketeer days. And it's not that overhyped duet, a faux-robotic, so-today-it's-old-already grind that only serves to prove your mother right when she tells you Madonna at 40-whatever still sounds sexier moaning "Uh-huh" than most tramps half her age.
The smut to beat on "In the Zone" is "Touch of My Hand," a steamy ode to shutting the world out, drawing the blinds and teaching herself to fly -- without a lover, "flirting," as she points out, "with the verge of the obscene." In two short albums, Britney's gone from coyly telling boys "I'm not that innocent" to coyly telling everyone in the sexiest little whispered purr I've heard from a celebrity all year, "I love myself/It's not a sin/I can't control what's happenin'." And when she finishes the part about coming "to understand the touch of my hand," the grinding stops and someone cues the strings. It's a brilliant moment, blurring the line between pop-art and pop-pornography.
If nothing else on "In the Zone" comes close to achieving the climax of "Touch of My Hand," it's not for lack of trying. She whispers as much as she sings here, old enough to understand that whispering is sexier. On "Showdown," for instance, she whispers "You're lookin' good when you're half-dressed/Just lemme give you one last test/Is that a sin?" On "Breathe On Me," a Donna Summer retread with a little extra rubber in the bass, she starts with whispered "Love to Love You Baby" sighs, then whisper-moans, "Uhhhhh, it's so hot in here ... and I need some air/And boy, don't stop, 'cause I'm halfway there." On the Moby-produced "Early Morning" (with strings the cue-ball clearly cribbed from a '70s hit I can't quite place), Britney starts off whisper-admitting, "I was out a little late last night. Got a little messy. I can't be like that anymore." But she certainly doesn't sound like she's repenting when the song kicks in and she finally opens up her voice to boast, "I was shakin' my [bottom] in the streets and moanin'/Just walked in and it's early mornin'."
With folks like Moby, Madonna and Tricky in her corner, Britney underscores the drawn-blind sex-talk with an album as stylistically diverse as, well, the pop charts she's hoping to conquer again, allowing room for both "Toxic," a cut that gets "Bollywood" strings in its spaghetti western riff, and a pair of sappy breakup songs for those times when a girl just feels the need to get in touch with her inner Shania. It's rare -- and refreshing -- to hear an album by a manufactured pop star where you never know what's coming next (except, of course, more sexed-up whispers). Even when the Ying Yang Twins drop in to "get crunk" on the album's weakest cut, a shameless, hopeless bid for hip-hop credibility, producer Roy "Royalty" Hamilton drops in a banjo break.
Xtina? It's your move.
-- Ed Masley
-pittsburgh post gazette posted by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
xodirtypop
BRITNEY SPEARS In The Zone (Jive/BMG)
http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2003/11/1801.cfm
Britney Spears just doesn’t get it. The pop princess’ contemporaries — Pink, Justin Timberlake and, in her own special way, Christina Aguilera — all understand that music is cyclical and it’s time to focus on the "real" (even if by "real" you mean "Avril Lavigne" . Subsequently, they’ve all become monstrously successful. Spears, however, knowing that she had to evolve in some direction, has gone even less "real," opting instead to go even slicker, forgoing any of the teenage charm that made her earlier albums fun. Even with a stable of hit-makers (R. Kelly, The Matrix, Moby) on her side, Brit’s old danceable melodies and silly, but infectious, lyrics have been replaced by heavy breathing, tired club beats, increasingly suggestive (and stupid) lyrics and embarrassing Madonna cameos. Tellingly, the production credits on this baby are longer than the lists of musicians, and while no one expects Britney to transform into Joni Mitchell — or even Michelle Branch — it would be nice if she came up with something that didn’t sound so completely plastic.
Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
-INZ review posted byilovethebooti
Oops! It's Album Time Again, Britney
By KELEFA SANNEH
nytimes.com
Published: November 17, 2003
Is it possible to take dance-pop seriously? Three singers find three different ways to say no.
`In the Zone'
Britney Spears
No one ever tells you how much work pop stardom is going to be. Oh, they tell you about the photo shoots and the interviews, the paparazzi and the fans, the music videos and the promotional tours. But no one tells you about the albums.
For some reason, your record company will want new product every two years or so, and that can be a huge hassle: you have to stop what you're doing and go into a studio and record enough stuff for a 70-minute CD. O.K., a 50-minute CD. That's what, 13 songs? O.K., 12, plus a remix. Still, that's a lot of singing — or if you're trying to remind listeners of your newfound maturity, a lot of moaning and whispering.
It's tempting to imagine that the new Britney Spears album, "In the Zone" (Jive), is a protest against this antiquated tradition. Throughout the disc, Ms. Spears sounds more dazed than zoned, as if making it clear that she's a less-than-willing participant. Her befuddlement becomes obvious within the first few seconds, when she whispers: "It's just me against the music. It's just me." Madonna pipes up to correct her, "And me." Ms. Spears responds, sounding a bit distracted, "Yeah."
This exchange introduces "Me Against the Music," Ms. Spears's duet with Madonna. It's an odd, overstuffed track, not so much a song as a series of party chants, and in his excellent "Desi Kulcha Remix," Rishi Rich eliminates the melody entirely, adding a clattering backbeat and what the liner notes describe as "Punjabi shouts." It's so frenetic you barely notice Ms. Spears and Madonna — it's odd to hear two such ubiquitous figures sounding so anonymous.
Maybe this, too, is part of Ms. Spears's subtle protest. Since singing seems not to be her main interest (or to be sure, strength), she lets the beats do most of the work. When she's not whispering or moaning, she's disfiguring her voice with electronic effects or hiding behind a pack of back-up singers.
Big-name guest stars add to the album's energetic incoherence. Moby produced "Early Mornin'," a tuneless ode to after-parties. The Atlanta rap duo Ying Yang Twins contribute "(I Got That) Boom Boom," a high-spirited club track enlivened by a snippet of banjo. There's "Shadow," a sweeping ballad by the Matrix, and "Outrageous," an R. Kelly composition that cruises along on autopilot for two minutes and then suddenly switches gears with a delectable Michael Jackson-inspired bridge.
All the while, Ms. Spears works hard to prove that she's hot-blooded, although she sounds colder than ever. The album is almost perversely devoid of personality — a final act of rebellion, perhaps, against the music industry. Ms. Spears will cobble together an album, if she absolutely has to, but don't think she's going to get all personal. That's what television specials are for.
There is precisely one great pop song on "In the Zone": it's called "Brave New Girl," it was produced by the team known as Brian and Josh, and for some reason, it's buried near the end of the album. Over a sharp, bubbly synthesizer beat, Ms. Spears raps a little bit and then sings a robo-voiced ode to the girl in the title. The chorus is a euphoric dose of pop empowerment, and when Ms. Spears asks, "Ain't it good to be a brave girl tonight?," it's possible to believe — just for a moment — that she knows what she's singing about.
-nytimes online review posted byilovethebooti
Review: Spears' 'In the Zone' Insipid
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=495&ncid=689&e=2&u=/ap/20031117/ap_en_mu/music_review_britney_spears
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
It happens to all Barbies at some point. The little girls who once idolized them grow up and lose interest, leaving them on the shelf as a reminder of quaint, pre-teen days gone by.
Seeking to avoid that fate with her fourth album, "In the Zone," Britney Spears (news) is now in search of a new, edgier identity. But while trying to recapture fans who have moved on to newer, edgier pop stars — Pink, Avril Lavigne (news), even ex Justin Timberlake (news) — Spears ends up sounding more juvenile than ever.
The former Queen of Teen Pop, who on her last album reminded us that she was "not yet a girl, not yet a woman," is going out of her way to show us she's all grown up. We've seen the 21-year-old Spears undressed so often, it's become shocking to see a clothed Britney.
Add her lip-lock with Madonna (news - web sites), cigarette smoking and tales of wild party escapades, and the former Mousekeeter seems to have turned into a Girl Gone Buck Wild.
"In the Zone," being released Tuesday by Jive Records, is a celebration of her newfound freedom and debauchery, with Spears sounding like a college freshman who's just discovered the party house on sorority row.
"Passed out on the couch and yawnin', just walked in and it's three in the mornin'" she coos on "Early Mornin'," while on "(I Got That) Boom Boom," the Ying Yang Twins shout, "We're going to the club to get crunk with Britney!"
Too bad it's not as fun listening to this album as making it.
Though there are a few entertaining parts, the majority of the disc is pretty insipid. That's not any different from any other Britney album, but with all the heavy hitters involved — including R. Kelly, Moby and Madonna — this time the disappointment is more of a surprise.
Part of the reason why the album fails is because for all her proclamations about being an adult, Spears still sounds like she hasn't grown up very much — emotionally, vocally and most importantly, artistically.
There are great, sensual, driving dance beats that pick up where 2001's "I'm a Slave 4 U," left off. But it's hard to get into the any of those grooves with Spears singing — or more accurately, whispering — like a little girl trying to act sexy. While Spears may not be the most talented singer, she still has some semblance of a voice, and comes off stronger when she tries to use it, like on the entrancing "Toxic" with its catchy string arrangement.
Instead, she resorts to moaning and heavy breathing on the bump-and-grind trance grooves "Breathe on Me" and "Touch of My Hand," a tender love story between a girl and her hand. The end result sounds artificial and forced.
But it's not always Spears' fault when the songs go bad. The R. Kelly-penned song "Outrageous" is outrageously silly. "Outrageous! My sex drive! Outrageous! My shopping spree! Outrageous! We're on a world tour!" Spears warbles, sounding like a "Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV)" parody, or maybe the theme song for Paris Hilton.
And Spears and Madonna generated more heat smooching on the MTV Awards than they do on the vapid "Me Against the Music," proving that simply throwing two superstars together isn't enough to make a hit.
There's also a sappy ballad, "Everytime," which is only worthwhile listening for tabloid fans playing pop psychologist, trying to discern if it's the epilogue of her much-dissected breakup with Timberlake.
Making the transition from teen star to adult performer is always a tricky adjustment, and plenty of singers have stumbled along the way — we need only look back to Christina Aguilera (news)'s embarrassing peep video "Dirrty" to be reminded of that.
But Spears seems unable to make the leap from child's play to adult fare. She seems stuck in Barbie mode, unable to morph into a three-dimensional artist with anything more to offer than pretty poses.
-yahoonews review posted byilovethebooti
Rolling Stone's ITZ Review:
Britney Spears In the Zone (Jive)
Say goodbye to Britney the virginal tease, and say hello, bay-bee, to Britney the freakazoid. None of that "not yet a woman" stuff this time around. There's no question that Spears wants In the Zone to be erogenous, so she lays on the heavy breathing and offers herself for hookups on and off the dance floor. Madonna shows up in the album's first song, "Me Against the Music," as if endorsing Spears' foray into come-hither posing and club-land beats. Nearly every song on In the Zone is a brittle, programmed rhythm track. This time, Spears promises to follow through on her come-ons: "I'll let you touch me if you want," she husks in the clever pop-dancehall "Showdown." High-risk behavior is fine with Spears. In "Brave New Girl," she borrows Madonna's "Material Girl" to praise a girl who goes out to get picked up. Spears succumbs to sexy guys in "The Hook Up," "Breathe on Me," "(I Got That) Boom Boom" and "Early Mornin'," which has throbbing Moby production. And if there's no lover available, there's always "Touch of My Hand," an ode to masturbation.
But the harder Spears tries to be Madonna or Janet Jackson, the less convincing she is. Her voice is so processed, its physicality almost disappears. R. Kelly can't resist mocking her in his "Outrageous," letting her boast about "my sex drive" and "my shopping sprees" with equal emphasis. In the Zone offers strip-club, 1-900 sex, accommodating and hollow. Beyond the glittering beats, Spears sounds about as intimate as a blowup doll. (JON PARELES)
-rolling stone's review posted byilovethebooti
sparkly_girls. A review of In the Zone from the
Britney Spears, "In the Zone"
2 1/2 stars [out of five]
The girl's gone wild here, answering Xtina's "Dirrty" genitalia-piercing with a self-help hook that makes her tongue dance with Madonna seem like something from her Mouseketeer days. And it's not that overhyped duet, a faux-robotic, so-today-it's-old-already grind that only serves to prove your mother right when she tells you Madonna at 40-whatever still sounds sexier moaning "Uh-huh" than most tramps half her age.
The smut to beat on "In the Zone" is "Touch of My Hand," a steamy ode to shutting the world out, drawing the blinds and teaching herself to fly -- without a lover, "flirting," as she points out, "with the verge of the obscene." In two short albums, Britney's gone from coyly telling boys "I'm not that innocent" to coyly telling everyone in the sexiest little whispered purr I've heard from a celebrity all year, "I love myself/It's not a sin/I can't control what's happenin'." And when she finishes the part about coming "to understand the touch of my hand," the grinding stops and someone cues the strings. It's a brilliant moment, blurring the line between pop-art and pop-pornography.
If nothing else on "In the Zone" comes close to achieving the climax of "Touch of My Hand," it's not for lack of trying. She whispers as much as she sings here, old enough to understand that whispering is sexier. On "Showdown," for instance, she whispers "You're lookin' good when you're half-dressed/Just lemme give you one last test/Is that a sin?" On "Breathe On Me," a Donna Summer retread with a little extra rubber in the bass, she starts with whispered "Love to Love You Baby" sighs, then whisper-moans, "Uhhhhh, it's so hot in here ... and I need some air/And boy, don't stop, 'cause I'm halfway there." On the Moby-produced "Early Morning" (with strings the cue-ball clearly cribbed from a '70s hit I can't quite place), Britney starts off whisper-admitting, "I was out a little late last night. Got a little messy. I can't be like that anymore." But she certainly doesn't sound like she's repenting when the song kicks in and she finally opens up her voice to boast, "I was shakin' my [bottom] in the streets and moanin'/Just walked in and it's early mornin'."
With folks like Moby, Madonna and Tricky in her corner, Britney underscores the drawn-blind sex-talk with an album as stylistically diverse as, well, the pop charts she's hoping to conquer again, allowing room for both "Toxic," a cut that gets "Bollywood" strings in its spaghetti western riff, and a pair of sappy breakup songs for those times when a girl just feels the need to get in touch with her inner Shania. It's rare -- and refreshing -- to hear an album by a manufactured pop star where you never know what's coming next (except, of course, more sexed-up whispers). Even when the Ying Yang Twins drop in to "get crunk" on the album's weakest cut, a shameless, hopeless bid for hip-hop credibility, producer Roy "Royalty" Hamilton drops in a banjo break.
Xtina? It's your move.
-- Ed Masley
-pittsburgh post gazette posted by
xodirtypopBRITNEY SPEARS In The Zone (Jive/BMG)
http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2003/11/1801.cfm
Britney Spears just doesn’t get it. The pop princess’ contemporaries — Pink, Justin Timberlake and, in her own special way, Christina Aguilera — all understand that music is cyclical and it’s time to focus on the "real" (even if by "real" you mean "Avril Lavigne" . Subsequently, they’ve all become monstrously successful. Spears, however, knowing that she had to evolve in some direction, has gone even less "real," opting instead to go even slicker, forgoing any of the teenage charm that made her earlier albums fun. Even with a stable of hit-makers (R. Kelly, The Matrix, Moby) on her side, Brit’s old danceable melodies and silly, but infectious, lyrics have been replaced by heavy breathing, tired club beats, increasingly suggestive (and stupid) lyrics and embarrassing Madonna cameos. Tellingly, the production credits on this baby are longer than the lists of musicians, and while no one expects Britney to transform into Joni Mitchell — or even Michelle Branch — it would be nice if she came up with something that didn’t sound so completely plastic.
Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
-INZ review posted by
ilovethebootiOops! It's Album Time Again, Britney
By KELEFA SANNEH
nytimes.com
Published: November 17, 2003
Is it possible to take dance-pop seriously? Three singers find three different ways to say no.
`In the Zone'
Britney Spears
No one ever tells you how much work pop stardom is going to be. Oh, they tell you about the photo shoots and the interviews, the paparazzi and the fans, the music videos and the promotional tours. But no one tells you about the albums.
For some reason, your record company will want new product every two years or so, and that can be a huge hassle: you have to stop what you're doing and go into a studio and record enough stuff for a 70-minute CD. O.K., a 50-minute CD. That's what, 13 songs? O.K., 12, plus a remix. Still, that's a lot of singing — or if you're trying to remind listeners of your newfound maturity, a lot of moaning and whispering.
It's tempting to imagine that the new Britney Spears album, "In the Zone" (Jive), is a protest against this antiquated tradition. Throughout the disc, Ms. Spears sounds more dazed than zoned, as if making it clear that she's a less-than-willing participant. Her befuddlement becomes obvious within the first few seconds, when she whispers: "It's just me against the music. It's just me." Madonna pipes up to correct her, "And me." Ms. Spears responds, sounding a bit distracted, "Yeah."
This exchange introduces "Me Against the Music," Ms. Spears's duet with Madonna. It's an odd, overstuffed track, not so much a song as a series of party chants, and in his excellent "Desi Kulcha Remix," Rishi Rich eliminates the melody entirely, adding a clattering backbeat and what the liner notes describe as "Punjabi shouts." It's so frenetic you barely notice Ms. Spears and Madonna — it's odd to hear two such ubiquitous figures sounding so anonymous.
Maybe this, too, is part of Ms. Spears's subtle protest. Since singing seems not to be her main interest (or to be sure, strength), she lets the beats do most of the work. When she's not whispering or moaning, she's disfiguring her voice with electronic effects or hiding behind a pack of back-up singers.
Big-name guest stars add to the album's energetic incoherence. Moby produced "Early Mornin'," a tuneless ode to after-parties. The Atlanta rap duo Ying Yang Twins contribute "(I Got That) Boom Boom," a high-spirited club track enlivened by a snippet of banjo. There's "Shadow," a sweeping ballad by the Matrix, and "Outrageous," an R. Kelly composition that cruises along on autopilot for two minutes and then suddenly switches gears with a delectable Michael Jackson-inspired bridge.
All the while, Ms. Spears works hard to prove that she's hot-blooded, although she sounds colder than ever. The album is almost perversely devoid of personality — a final act of rebellion, perhaps, against the music industry. Ms. Spears will cobble together an album, if she absolutely has to, but don't think she's going to get all personal. That's what television specials are for.
There is precisely one great pop song on "In the Zone": it's called "Brave New Girl," it was produced by the team known as Brian and Josh, and for some reason, it's buried near the end of the album. Over a sharp, bubbly synthesizer beat, Ms. Spears raps a little bit and then sings a robo-voiced ode to the girl in the title. The chorus is a euphoric dose of pop empowerment, and when Ms. Spears asks, "Ain't it good to be a brave girl tonight?," it's possible to believe — just for a moment — that she knows what she's singing about.
-nytimes online review posted by
ilovethebootiReview: Spears' 'In the Zone' Insipid
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=495&ncid=689&e=2&u=/ap/20031117/ap_en_mu/music_review_britney_spears
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
It happens to all Barbies at some point. The little girls who once idolized them grow up and lose interest, leaving them on the shelf as a reminder of quaint, pre-teen days gone by.
Seeking to avoid that fate with her fourth album, "In the Zone," Britney Spears (news) is now in search of a new, edgier identity. But while trying to recapture fans who have moved on to newer, edgier pop stars — Pink, Avril Lavigne (news), even ex Justin Timberlake (news) — Spears ends up sounding more juvenile than ever.
The former Queen of Teen Pop, who on her last album reminded us that she was "not yet a girl, not yet a woman," is going out of her way to show us she's all grown up. We've seen the 21-year-old Spears undressed so often, it's become shocking to see a clothed Britney.
Add her lip-lock with Madonna (news - web sites), cigarette smoking and tales of wild party escapades, and the former Mousekeeter seems to have turned into a Girl Gone Buck Wild.
"In the Zone," being released Tuesday by Jive Records, is a celebration of her newfound freedom and debauchery, with Spears sounding like a college freshman who's just discovered the party house on sorority row.
"Passed out on the couch and yawnin', just walked in and it's three in the mornin'" she coos on "Early Mornin'," while on "(I Got That) Boom Boom," the Ying Yang Twins shout, "We're going to the club to get crunk with Britney!"
Too bad it's not as fun listening to this album as making it.
Though there are a few entertaining parts, the majority of the disc is pretty insipid. That's not any different from any other Britney album, but with all the heavy hitters involved — including R. Kelly, Moby and Madonna — this time the disappointment is more of a surprise.
Part of the reason why the album fails is because for all her proclamations about being an adult, Spears still sounds like she hasn't grown up very much — emotionally, vocally and most importantly, artistically.
There are great, sensual, driving dance beats that pick up where 2001's "I'm a Slave 4 U," left off. But it's hard to get into the any of those grooves with Spears singing — or more accurately, whispering — like a little girl trying to act sexy. While Spears may not be the most talented singer, she still has some semblance of a voice, and comes off stronger when she tries to use it, like on the entrancing "Toxic" with its catchy string arrangement.
Instead, she resorts to moaning and heavy breathing on the bump-and-grind trance grooves "Breathe on Me" and "Touch of My Hand," a tender love story between a girl and her hand. The end result sounds artificial and forced.
But it's not always Spears' fault when the songs go bad. The R. Kelly-penned song "Outrageous" is outrageously silly. "Outrageous! My sex drive! Outrageous! My shopping spree! Outrageous! We're on a world tour!" Spears warbles, sounding like a "Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV)" parody, or maybe the theme song for Paris Hilton.
And Spears and Madonna generated more heat smooching on the MTV Awards than they do on the vapid "Me Against the Music," proving that simply throwing two superstars together isn't enough to make a hit.
There's also a sappy ballad, "Everytime," which is only worthwhile listening for tabloid fans playing pop psychologist, trying to discern if it's the epilogue of her much-dissected breakup with Timberlake.
Making the transition from teen star to adult performer is always a tricky adjustment, and plenty of singers have stumbled along the way — we need only look back to Christina Aguilera (news)'s embarrassing peep video "Dirrty" to be reminded of that.
But Spears seems unable to make the leap from child's play to adult fare. She seems stuck in Barbie mode, unable to morph into a three-dimensional artist with anything more to offer than pretty poses.
-yahoonews review posted by
ilovethebootiRolling Stone's ITZ Review:
Britney Spears In the Zone (Jive)
Say goodbye to Britney the virginal tease, and say hello, bay-bee, to Britney the freakazoid. None of that "not yet a woman" stuff this time around. There's no question that Spears wants In the Zone to be erogenous, so she lays on the heavy breathing and offers herself for hookups on and off the dance floor. Madonna shows up in the album's first song, "Me Against the Music," as if endorsing Spears' foray into come-hither posing and club-land beats. Nearly every song on In the Zone is a brittle, programmed rhythm track. This time, Spears promises to follow through on her come-ons: "I'll let you touch me if you want," she husks in the clever pop-dancehall "Showdown." High-risk behavior is fine with Spears. In "Brave New Girl," she borrows Madonna's "Material Girl" to praise a girl who goes out to get picked up. Spears succumbs to sexy guys in "The Hook Up," "Breathe on Me," "(I Got That) Boom Boom" and "Early Mornin'," which has throbbing Moby production. And if there's no lover available, there's always "Touch of My Hand," an ode to masturbation.
But the harder Spears tries to be Madonna or Janet Jackson, the less convincing she is. Her voice is so processed, its physicality almost disappears. R. Kelly can't resist mocking her in his "Outrageous," letting her boast about "my sex drive" and "my shopping sprees" with equal emphasis. In the Zone offers strip-club, 1-900 sex, accommodating and hollow. Beyond the glittering beats, Spears sounds about as intimate as a blowup doll. (JON PARELES)
-rolling stone's review posted by
ilovethebooti
