When the Sparks are Gone: The Case of Britney Spears

I've never been a fan of Britney Spears. With the exception of a catchy song here and there, I've never really enjoyed her music and I've never understood her hype. I guess I've always felt that most of her competition (especially back in the day) were all light years ahead of her, vocally and musically speaking, which ironically, is something that over the years I've realized doesn't mean much.

I've always viewed Britney Spears as the definition of a product; an extremely appealing and well packaged young girl, with an innocent-sex-kitten-meow look, created by some ingenious record label executives who at the time felt that there was a void that Britney Spears, with a lot of grooming and training, could potentially fill; as oppose to an artist with a vision in mind (a la Pink) and with a quality and impressive discography, with the vocal and/or songwriting abilities to boot. Nonetheless, the public has embraced Britney Spears since she burst onto the scene with her debut album (Baby One More Time...), at the peak of the Pop craze back in 1999 and twelve years later, the public is enamored with her more than ever and here I am writing this little rant about her and her superb new album (Femme Fatale). Yes, superb.



All jabs aside, something must be made clear. One thing ole' girl did do extremely well, at least back in the day, was to perform. She hasn't been called the Princess-turned-Queen-now-dethroned-by-Gaga of Pop for nothing. Shall I take you back? *ahem*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9veBQ2V70o&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2tZwuYtBnE&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfPH6WgBAWg&feature=player_embedded

.. all lip syncing aside, Britney Spears knew how to put on a show! Now let's take a look at last week's GMA performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3MQmd70RuY&feature=player_embedded



.. what's interesting to me is that even though she obviously (for whatever reason) cannot perform as well as she used to, the quality of her albums (ever since In The Zone and with the exception of Circus which I did not like) has gotten tremendously better. 15 years later, Britney, in my opinion, is putting out some of her best music to date, to the point where she has finally caught my attention. But unfortunately, as she is slowly growing and evolving in one aspect, she is quickly diving head first in another. I think it is safe to say that Britney Spears no long has the fire or passion in performing anymore (or at least as she once had), judging by what I've been seeing from her since she released her album Blackout in 2007. At the time, I completely understood why she wasn't up to par, considering everything that she was going through. Surprisingly, it was then and there, amidst all her troubles, bad publicity and horrible VMA performance, that I took an interest in here and fell in love (from there on out) with her music. Blackout was probably the most played album for me that year and I would go as far as to say that it is definitely among the best Pop albums of the 2000's. Two years later, she released what was considered to be her "comeback" album, Circus, and though the interest and number one singles were there, something was still off. Britney Spears could no longer perform like she used to. Fast forward to 2011, Femme Fatale was released last week, Hold It Against Me hit number upon its release and the album reviews have been stellar. Unfortunately, five years after her infamous breakdown, it appears as though Britney Spears hasn't fully recovered. I had hoped that after Blackout she would've somehow snapped back into it, but I'm beginning to wonder whether or not that is even possible.

What do you think happened? I mean, not that it's necessarily a fair comparison, but J.Lo didn't get her music career on and popping till her late 20's/early 30's and (nearly 12 years later), she can still out-dance a lot of these younger artists, so obviously age isn't the issue here. One still has "it" (J.Lo) and hasn't been relevant for a while (although that is quickly changing with the success of On The Floor), whereas the other, Britney Spears, has remained relevant for most of her career but has apparently lost her spark. Will we ever get to see old Britney again or is that entertainer long dead and gone? I'm beginning to love Britney more and more but just for her music, and her music alone. The things that happen when the passion is gone.

P.S. Blackout and Femme Fatale = ♥