CD Review: Femme Fatal by Britney Spears

Recommend purchasing the CD for the insert

Let me start of by saying this, the first listen to the CD I was feeling the beats and bobbing my head to the catchy melodies. The second listen and idea popped into my head that made the CD much less attractive. Some of the songs sound like Ke$ha wrote them and decided not to put them on her CD since they were to bland or repetitive.

Some of you may be thinking I do not appreciate her voice and am looking at her CD as a Pitchfork elitist but I will have you know, I love girl-pop. This is not a good example of it. Britney is definitely on the downhill slope as queen of pop.

Take "Criminal" for example. That song starts with an ill thought clip out of a renaissance fair and the lyrics are about a bad boy that has caught Britney's heart. Ho-Hum. I felt like I should have been eating a fried chicken drumstick out of a bucket and looking at a poster of Kid Rock. That is not the only bad example. In the song "Femme Fatal" there is a line about taking her to a dungeon and eating her panties. I wish I were making this up but Britney is certainly more creative than I am at coming up with bad lyrics that do not make much sense.

There is a class that studies the late rapper 2-Pac's lyrics as poetry. I believe Britney's lyrics could also be studied as a strange sociological and psychological history of a poor girl's rise and fall through the American dream and what not to write if you want to be taken seriously as an artist.

There are a few high points on the CD. "Till the World Ends" is catchy and fun even if it sounds exactly like Ke$ha's "Blow." "Big Fat Bass" is the best constructed song on the CD. w.ill.iam adds a tremendous amount of style and talent to the song.

I think she looks great with a shaved head

"Femme Fatal" is not a CD I would recommend to anyone. I would tell someone looking to jam to catchy female-lead pop to check out Sky Ferreria, Robyn or Ke$ha. Britney Spears needs to invest the money she gets from "Femme Fatal," retire comfortably and maybe do a comeback tour with all of her hits in 10 years. That is about how long I waited for this disappointment.

If you are in the mood for the faire, check out the song "Criminal" below. This link even has the lyrics so you can read, ponder and krinkle your brow in confusion.