Britney Spears - Circus

Anticipate here!

I'll start:

I hope it's as good as Blackout!

Womanizer premieres tomorrow; there's a 40-second lq clip floating all over Youtube and it sounds like something off Blackout, too predictable. I'm much more excited about that incredible rehearsal song.

glad to see we'll be breaking a lot of new ground with the choreography here

i could watch tht video every hour on the hour

Srsly. When my sister was in Dance Fantasies in 7th grade they were doing most of those moves, sans the humping.

Surmounter I expect you to be posting here in about 35 minutes!

i'm kind of expecting Circus (which is another great name) to sound like blackout, and i'm expecting to like that about it. it's a good drill for her.

i love the song in the clip.

wait is the song premiering then or something?

The kind of kiss into slo mo matrix thing into chest humping move steals the show. I watch that bit three times at least everytime i try to watch any of it

i mean, i wasn't really expecting groundbreaking choreography from a britney video... but i like it anyway.

I don't know how to embed, but here's the womanizer clip:

The chord changes in "Womanizer" sound exactly like another song I can't recall at the moment...

Or, uh, I do know how to embed.

So, Blackout was kindof a Postcard from the Edge. It felt like this incoherent/strangely coherent fragment, like the soundtrack to Britney's partying, paranoia and meltdown. The fact that Piece of Me was this confrontational narration of her tabloid escapades but she didn't even co-write was a stroke of genius. The fact that it overloaded us with Britney, cut-up, distorted, layered and bombarding us from every angle, it was like that crazy period where she was in another car-crash piece of dignity-free press sniffing had found its perfect aural realization; there were thousands of Britneys but none of them were real. She was sprayed in neon all over the album but strangely missing, the autotune on her voice was turned higher than it ever has. Circus though, will have her back. I mean I didn't really believe it until I saw that clip. I'm glad to have her back, I'm worried about her sanity, it's not healthy, her recovery happened in the eye of the storm. Shouldn't she have been staying with Balinese monks or something, meditating or working through it. But instead she's back, she's like a thoroughbred, it's all she can really do. Maybe she's our Judy: Putting on a show when you're dying inside. Still, there's something about knowing that there she is, centering everything instead of falling apart. But who is she now and what can Circus be about now that the circus has died down.

I like to think the album will be a brittle testament to crying on the dancefloor, the trashcan beats of Blackout but the wilting fragility of Everytime. Either way, I have a feeling that this will be her best, and for that I'm hopeful.

I think you're projecting/overanalyzing. Blackout didn't sound like what she was going through at the time at all, in fact it sounded very closed-off from her reality bar "Piece Of Me"

Maybe she's our Judy: Putting on a show when you're dying inside.

I'm sorry but LOL

Um, that was meant to be a joke FWIW. Still, I don't think there's ridiculous projecting going on here. The album is genuinely weird and definitely paranoid in places Get Naked and Freakshow have an understated malevolence, well not son understated in Get Naked, and there's something oddly frantic about Radar. The layering really reminds me (and this part is becoming a central ILM thesis for me) of the Lindsey Buckingham (esp) tracks on Tusk, where the layering is conspiring and decentralising.

blackout did sound like what she was going through. my favorite ex. is still the fact that freakshow is the only song she actually wrote. but even apart from that, a lot of it sounded like what was happening in her life. all the dirty breathing, messy beats.

The fact that Blackout overloaded us with Britney, cut-up, distorted, layered and bombarding us from every angle, it was like that crazy period where she was in another car-crash piece of dignity-free press sniffing had found its perfect aural realization; there were thousands of Britneys but none of them were real. She was sprayed in neon all over the album but strangely missing, the autotune on her voice was turned higher than it ever has.

this is good.

yes, the desperate sluttiness in Get Naked and Freakshow capitulate the poignancy of the album.

LOL whatever, She could have very easily made Blackout even if she wasn't going through what she was, it sounded very 'of the moment' in terms of pop production. I feel like critics try to make the album bigger than it was, as some sort of fuck-off statement, or the bleak apocalyptic portrait of the trappings of celebrity, or whatever when really it's just a collection of well-produced & well-written dance-pop songs that could've been released by anyone. Her vocals are always cut up and distorted and layered....

I mean seriously?:

yes, the desperate sluttiness in Get Naked and Freakshow capitulate the poignancy of the album.

― Surmounter, Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:38 PM (5 minutes ago

...

I'm sorry, but you have this all wrong.

Whatever, if it makes you feel better.

first of all, she didn't really make much, except the vocals, which even if edited to death, are still great.

second, the producers' timing is what is being alluding to, in terms of the appropriateness of the subject matter. i don't think Blackout could have been done at any other point. before it, her albums were produced very, very differently. and even if it was a current mode of production, it fit her personal life well.

when making analogies like IKR's, purpose isn't always important, so much as what actually happened. even if the intent of the producers wasn't as intricate as whoever critics hyped it up to be, the fact remains that the cut-up, messy, seedy nature of the album reflected interestingly on the debacles surrounding its release.

I mean seriously?:

yes, the desperate sluttiness in Get Naked and Freakshow capitulate the poignancy of the album.

― Surmounter, Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:38 PM (5 minutes ago

...

― After The Hurricane (The Brainwasher), Sunday, September 21, 2008 4:45 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

uh, seriously. you don't find it funny that these two songs were released after countless photos of britney bearing her crotch in public?

Nicely put

Get Naked sounds like someone trying to drown their misery in carnal abandon.

and Freakshow sounds like someone admitting to -- owning -- being a big fucking freak.

first of all, she didn't really make much, except the vocals, which even if edited to death, are still great.

um, duh.. what's your point?

second, the producers' timing is what is being alluding to, in terms of the appropriateness of the subject matter. i don't think Blackout could have been done at any other point. before it, her albums were produced very, very differently. and even if it was a current mode of production, it fit her personal life well.

the subject matter isn't any different from In The Zone or even Britney(besides "Piece of Me" and "Why Should I Be Sad")... And I don't see how her other albums were produced differently, she ususally had songs submitted to her and recorded the best ones, just like the Blackout sessions...

when making analogies like IKR's, purpose isn't always important, so much as what actually happened. even if the intent of the producers wasn't as intricate as whoever critics hyped it up to be, the fact remains that the cut-up, messy, seedy nature of the album reflected interestingly on the debacles surrounding its release.

Intent IS important.. otherwise you're just talking out of your ass and making up shit when there's nothing there. If lots of music sounded like Blackout when blackout was released, then how was Blackout specific to Britney's struglle? I don't see how you can say that "Break The Ice", for example, wasn't exactly an out-of-this-world, specifc to Britney's struggles sound at the time it was released, there were a bunch of other Danja-produced songs that sound like that....

first of all, she didn't really make much, except the vocals, which even if edited to death, are still great.

um, duh.. what's your point?

--> my point is that Alfred kept saying "she," but she wasn't really the one who did it.

i can't argue with you regarding whether or not the album sounds different form her earlier albums, in terms of production. i think most people have agreed that it does. you don't have to agree with that.

intent is important to an extent. sometimes you don't even realize what you're intending, though, and it just happens. that's why people analyze. intent isn't always clear, and parallels are always made, whether or not they were intended to be perceived.

it's like dissecting writing. you're always going to make analogies that the author may or may not have intended. it's part of the process of deriving meaning from the work.

uh, seriously. you don't find it funny that these two songs were released after countless photos of britney bearing her crotch in public?

― Surmounter, Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:52 PM (9 minutes ago)

Funny? Sure... "a Postcard from the Edge...the desperate sluttiness [of which] capitulate the poignancy of the album" No... not when she has songs about the same shit on albums from 5 years ago when she was not going through anything crazy.

point taken, but at this point, it's just a matter of how we hear it differently. can't really argue with that.

The best interpretation, which is all we can ever go on anyway, is not the one that divines the authors original intent, if that were true, theory and criticism would be completely pointless and this whole site a receptacle of ones and zeros. We just try and make our own sense of things, or at least try and unlock something about that moment where pop music, well pops. I fail to see how circumstance is not allowed to be a factor.

--> my point is that Alfred kept saying "she," but she wasn't really the one who did it.

sorry, this was you, brainwasher. i got confused cuz of the "After.."

otm ikr

especially this: The best interpretation, which is all we can ever go on anyway, is not the one that divines the authors original intent, if that were true, theory and criticism would be completely pointless and this whole site a receptacle of ones and zeros.

you guys should have your own board called I Love Self-Parody

i think that's called ILX, in general, jordan

My prerogative is the only song that really predates this, and even that had a more upfront vocal. No other Britney album has been so joylessly horny.

joylessly horny

--> my point is that Alfred kept saying "she," but she wasn't really the one who did it.

are you referring to me?

How the hell is anyone supposed to tell what these things sound like, from the shitty shitty sound? Bubblegum is all about the production (and it was the wonderfully dark production that finally sold me on Blackout) but all of that is lost in these clips. I think I'll have a better experience if I wait for the real thing.

I don't think for a second that Britney chooses anything to do with her work. If her "people" think hey, they can sell Brit on her making a dark album about her freaky life, then we get a dark album about her freaky life. I bet album will be all about coming through her dark, freaky problems and ending up back on top. Everything seems as choreographed as one of her videos.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you, it's wonderful soap opera stuff. But, like most soap operas, works better if you don't read too much into it, psychologically.

sorry, this was you, brainwasher. i got confused cuz of the "After.."

― Surmounter, Sunday, September 21, 2008 4:10 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark

I take serious issue with Masonic Boom's post, but I couldn't even begin to think about possibly knowing what to say to that.

hay j0rdan wats good

what up man. not posting to ilx that much recently cuz i my computer is getting fixed

yea where the fuck

hay jordan. Welcome to the new gay thread.

btw guys if its true that britney's music is so closely tied to her public persona (and this is what makes it great) than what will it say about blackout when circus is not her redemption album but another album about fucking and dancing

i know, i'm a little worried about it being so damn long. some of the trax besides those ^^ that i've heard sounded kind of wack :-/

you still haven't heard the whole thing yet surmy?

no i know i'm a slow

the lily allen version of womanizer is good

'amnesia' is AMAZING. so big!

"didn't know it was over! til you came on over!"

'amnesia' Mannequin is AMAZING. so big!

yes!

I play my version of this album all of the time:

1. Kill The Lights
2. Circus
3. Mannequein
4. Womanizer
5. If You Seek Amy
6. Trouble
7. Phonography
8. Mmm Papi
9. Unusual You
10. Blur

btw If You Seek Amy is the next single

sometimes i wanna go out Just to hear If U Seek Amy at a bar

womanizer keeps growing on me. it feels like a weird drug.

how's FUCK ME doing?

mannequin's next i think

lace and leather's soundin gr8

i'm watching womanizer video guy again, he still like the hottest guy i ever seen

guess which palindromical song happens to be the next single...

unusual you uoy lausunu?

Is this a contractual thing? Why release 'Radar' when people already have it on TWO albums? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Radar is a kickass song, Blackout is the superior version.

OMG this song:

why isn't it on the album... Lady GaGa is such a great writer omg

lol @ them finally releasing "Radar" as a single.

btw "Quicksand" >>>>>> all other Circus songs.

I don't know who was in charge of finalizing the tracklist for this album, but whoever it is they need to be be shot.... like all of the best songs were left off of the standard tracklist.

i really don't understand this radar business

i thought it was released from the LAST album

It was supposed to be but they scrapped it because she was about to release Circus, and I guess they were contractually obligated to release the song as a single so they're releasing it now.

the best song on either album easy

lol no

LOL no

quicksand soundin better to me now, and i can def hear the gaga in it "i'm gonna HOLD on")

one thing gaga does real well is play with the emphasis of syllables, i think it's one of her biggest schticks as a songwriter -- messing with the conventional/expected flow of verbal rhythm

"i'm like a performer, the dancefloor is my stage" always bugs me - like, no britney you ARE a performer. not LIKE one.

i saw her last night and it was really great, though kind of weird in that she was always the one doing the least impressive shit on stage at any given time, and a few times i forgot she was there. it's like they designed this amazing sensory spectacle which could still work in the event that she was incapacitated.

this crookers rmx of 'if u seek amy' is pretty banging btw

well, i don't think anyone expected anything else from the show.

and the thing is tho lex, she IS "like a performer" -- you just said so yourself, watching her show. she isn't really a performer anymore. she's mostly good for editing.

feelin "kill the lights" big time today

I thought the entire point of the song "Circus" was that it is wasn't Britney singing about Britney; it was a character who likens her prowess at getting guys in clubs to dance with her to being a ringmaster in a circus.

yeah i didn't expect her to really dominate the arena like beyoncé did, but it was still surprising how little presence she had. and she hardly did any hard dance moves! most of her time on stage was spent being carried/wheeled/walked around by the dancers.

ciara was supporting and had no frills, just a couple of dancers - felt a bit sorry for her, the stage looked so empty. would love to see cici given the budget for a proper arena tour.

xp that would make sense! tbh i have only listened to it a few times ever though

I thought the entire point of the song "Circus" was that it is wasn't Britney singing about Britney; it was a character who likens her prowess at getting guys in clubs to dance with her to being a ringmaster in a circus.

― 1899 Horsey Horseless (HI DERE), Thursday, June 11, 2009 3:20 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes this is so so otm. always got this feel from it. a desperation in it too, sluttiness.

and in a way i do feel britney strongly identifies with this "character"

i found myself singing "chaotic" to myself today, i know it's not on the album but so what, i love that song

"mm papi" is so fun

the Radar video is so lame, I was expecting Toxic pt 2 but no dice

It is. I do love that hilarious slow-mo shot of the horse getting doused with water when she sings "animal in the sack," though.

I'm pretty sure that Radar was orig. supposed to be released as a follow up to break the ice (remember that 2 b continued at the end? manga britney will be like those dungeons and dragons kids 4ever) I really like this video. I have this really visual way of seeing music, so having a video that is outside in the sunshine is enough to help me appreciate how much more space there is in this song than I previously gave it credit. Blackout vers still wins tho

I'm pretty sure that Radar was orig. supposed to be released as a follow up to break the ice

it was

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'amnesia' is AMAZING. so big!

"didn't know it was over! til you came on over!"

― lex pretend, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 5:01 PM (10 months ago)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! After hearing "Womanizer" on a loud sound system, I totally get it now. I hear such disappointment if not outright sadness in those "you!"'s after the "I I know just just what you are are are" part. One of her very best singles.

:D

G-d right it's one of her best.

that makes me happy :) still so goooood

i still can't help but think of it as a lit stick of dynamite, once it hits that chorus -- just burns right through