Oops, she's done it again. Nearly two years after her eponymous last album was released, Britney Spears dropped her fourth album, "In The Zone."
The album has both good moments and others that are, well, out of the zone.
It opens up strong with the first single, "Me Against The Music," featuring the legendary Madonna. Like many of Spears' songs, it is a fun, upbeat song that is all about dancing in a club ("All my people on the floor/ Let me see you dance/ All my people wanting more/ Let me see you dance").
The song reflects where Spears is at in her life: Like many other 21-year-olds, she is at a point where she just wants to enjoy herself and have fun going to night clubs, experiencing the last days of her young, carefree days.
For "(I Got That) Boom Boom," the next noteworthy track on the album, Spears recruited the help of two artists that most fans probably wouldn't expect, the Ying Yang Twins. Not surprisingly, this one also addresses partying and clubbing, but does so more suggestively than "Me Against The Music," with lyrics such as "Watching every inch of my body/ Like you wanted to play" and "Damn you're turning me on."
Throughout the song Britney admirably blends her Southern roots with hip hop, with the banjo line breaking up the otherwise heavy urban beat. Its integration of bluegrass and modern sounds works well because it mirrors the different styles of Spears and the Ying Yang Twins -- it definitely has the potential to be a hit single.
Another noticeable song, "Touch Of My Hand," shows Britney at her raciest and most controversial.
The song describes the beauty of self-indulgence with risqué lyrics like "'Cause I just discovered/ Imaginations taking over/ Another day without a lover/ The more I come to understand the touch or my hand" and "I'm into myself the most precious way."
The song may be musically mediocre, but the lyrics are steamy enough to grab the listener's attention. Again, Britney is at a point in her life where sexuality and sensuality are a big, defining part of her life -- and, more importantly, she wants everyone to know it.
"Everytime," the best song on "In the Zone," draws the album to a perfect close.
A beautiful, introspective ballad, it is the first song for which Spears wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is the one point on the album where you truly feel as though Spears is pouring out her heart and soul as she deals with her personal experiences with love, hinting at her ill-fated relationship with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake. She sings "I may have made it rain/ Please forgive me/ My weakness caused you pain/ And this song's my sorry." The rain imagery might be a response to Timberlake's "Cry Me A River," and suggests that the breakup might have been Spears' doing. Regardless who the target is, though, the piano melody, orchestral background and vocals are striking enough to command instant admiration.
"In the Zone" is by no means a deplorable record, but it's not amazing either. When an artist records a new album, it should show how he, she, or it has grown and matured since the last one while giving listeners new insights into their personality.
"In the Zone" doesn't really do this. From a musical standpoint, it doesn't deviate from Spears' other three albums' common backbone: Upbeat songs created by synthesizer parts laid over Neptune-inspired drums. Lyrically speaking, this is the most provocative album that Spears has released, but there's still not a lot of substance; most of the songs are redundantly about dancing or hooking up. With the exception of "Everytime," Spears doesn't sound very passionate on any of the songs. She even faux-raps on tracks such as "Showdown" and "Early Mornin'" rather than showcasing her somewhat limited ability to sing.
"In the Zone" also lacks variety. There are only two ballads; the other eleven tracks are all upbeat Euro-pop dance songs. There are some attempts at stylistic depth on tracks like "Boom Boom" and "The Hook Up," but they aren't strong enough to really stand out amongst the other songs.
Britney fans that have liked her since the beginning will probably really enjoy this album, but those expecting something new and different from Spears will be somewhat disappointed.
The only zone that this album is in is a mediocre one.
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