Femme Fatale - Album Review

Deluxe Edition Official Album Cover

Some basic stuff: Released on March 29th, 2011, 2 1/2 years after her last studio album. The lead single from the album "Hold It Against Me" debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 chart, becoming her 4th song to hit #1, and second single consecutively, all being lead singles as well. The single has sold over a million copies in the U.S, 411,000 in it's first week, setting a record that has since been broken. Her second single "Till The World Ends" has peaked at #9 on the Hot 100, becoming, funnily enough, her 10th top 10 track on that chart. Her album faces no real competition during it's release and with adequate sales could become her 6th #1 album.

Tracklisting as it appears on the Deluxe Edition.

1. Till The World Ends

Writers: Dr. Luke, Alexander Kronlund, Max Martin, Ke$ha

Producers: Dr. Luke, Martin, Billboard

Opening track and second single, this track says a lot about the album as a whole; it's an evolution of the vibe from "3", the AutoTune is here to STAY, the vocal production flicker-strobe effect is the "it" thing, and Britney is taking a page from "Blackout" and fully committing to dance-vixen. Max Martin and his sometimes collaborator Alexander Kronlund, they worked on her sophomore album and "If U Seek Amy", co-wrote the track alone with Dr. Luke and the much-publicized Ke$ha, something that was not well received by the hardcore Britney fans. The fact of the matter is, she can write a hit, no problem, and as this song shows, the best of her hooks and tongue-in-cheek writing can be applied to another artists image without reading like a Ke$ha song. The track is a chill-stomper, only truly becoming a club when the chorus of "ooh ooh ooh" kicks in. Billboard's sparkling synths are all over this track, combined with Dr. Luke's penchant for building the beat before each chorus and Martin's undeniable pop-bridge/chorus; "see the sunlight, we ain't stoppin', keep on dancin' till the world ends". Keep in mind, I could be totally wrong about those, but just sayin, the track is truly a combination of the 3. One surprise; no K-dollar-sign-HA background vocals, we got Bonnie and Myah Marie, but not her, I coulda sworn I heard her in the chorus...you never know, she mighta been snuck on there, wouldn't put it past the Dr. - 10/10

2. Hold It Against Me

Writers: Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Billboard

Producers: Dr. Luke, Martin, Billboard

When the single came out, I posted a review, which you can read here. I will emphasize some of my original points; commercially sucessful, dubstep, critic-pleasing, #1, not a lot of true singing, doesn't really matter in this case. - 10/10

3. Inside Out

Writers: Luke, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Billboard, Max Matin, Bonnie McKee

Producers: Dr. Luke, Martin, Billboard

Writer Jacob Kasher Hindlin wrote on "We R Who We R" with Dr. Luke, but lyrically, this track couldn't be more different, it's a bona-fide breakup sex song, and who else could pull this off? Didn't think so. The song is one of my favorites on the album, it's what happens when you combine great writing with a great production and a hint of heartbreaking emotion, not vocally, although that "come on!" gives me goosebumps errytime. (I need to stop talking like a black girl). Opening with a Billboard-crafted video-game melody that Mario would totally clean pipes to, the song's slow-pulsing base really sets the tone of the track. Following Britney's first lines is an insane beat comprised of hand claps, dub-step and synths, which she rapidly spits out lines about getting ready for her guy to come over, we've all been there. Following a spine-tingling "come on!" that makes you want to clench your fists and punch them to the sky, the beat changes, becoming a total-dubstep melody, tinged with sparkling synths and distant fog-horn synths. Bonnie and Myah again provide some background vocals, on the clearly layered chorus, and it's done in the best way possible, with Britney's voice in the forground compelling you to give her something to remember. This track has single potential for sure. Best part; referencing her first 2 singles; "hit me one more time it's so amazing...you're the only one who ever drove me crazy". - 10/10

4. I Wanna Go

Writers: Shellback, Martin, Savan Kotecha

Producers: Martin, Shellback

Martin's first solo-production on the album plays seamlessly with the first 3 tracks but with a definite Martin pop-vibe. Given that the song's writers also worked on her past single "If U Seek Amy", the song's tongue-in-cheek sexual references have a reference, though not as clever as they were; "keep both my hands above the blanket". The track is about bein' a little bit of a dirty girl, "takin' out my freak tonight", "I wanna show all the dirt I got on my mind", and also borrows some words usually associated with a volcano; erupt, release, countdown (The last one is hopefully before the first 2). Martin borrows some vocal-strobe effects from his and Luke's past collaboration "Blow" on the song's chorus; "I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay". The track is more playful than the last, extending the club vibe of the album, but with some typical Martin guitar and xylophone-sounding synths, and it has a brighter tone than the previous tracks, making it a perfect summer single, and it's probably the most obvious track to chose and the standout fan-favorite. Best part; no-snipped harmony on the last chorus. - 10/10

5. How I Roll

Writers: Bloodshy & Avant, Henrik Jonback, Mckee, Nicole Morier, Magnus Lidehäll

Producers: B&A, Lidehäll

Bloodshy & Avant doesn't ever appear solo on this album, something that also occured on "Blackout", then they paired with The Clutch on their productions, and here it's Magnus Lidehäll, a member of the Swedish hip-hop crew "Afasi & Filthy", Magnus' nick name being the latter. This appears to be his first production credit on an English-speaking track, which does have a quirky hip-hop vibe seen in their music. The first thing that popped into my mind when I heard the snippet was Robyn, the track is very similar to her off-beat, sing-song tracks, especially "Handle Me", however seeing as how the mainstream public doesn't know about her, I doubt they'll make the comparison. The song suffers from barely-discernible-lyrics-syndrome, BDS, something that is hard to overcome, especially since the album booklets do not include the lyrics. Nicole Morier, who previously helped on "Mmm Papi" appears here, and judging from the lyrics, she had a hand in the song's lyrical oddities as well; "fell the earthquake, gonna make your body shake". B&A is clearly responsible for the layered, vocoded vocals on the track, enhanced with some background singing from Bonnie and Nicole, and the tracks unique hand clap + cowbell beat is presumably the work of Magnus. The song is one of the stand outs on the album and could be a non-obvious choice for a single as it's Britney doing something she's never done before. - 10/10

6. (Drop Dead) Beautiful (featuring Sabi)

Writers: Jeremy Coleman, Joshua Coleman a.k.a. Ammo, Ester Dean, Billboard, Benny Blanco

Producers: Benny Blanco, Ammo, JMIKE, Billboard

When the tracklist was revealed, this one stood out to most people, myself included because of the featured artist 'Sabi', and with a little Google magic, I discovered that she's half of the hip-hop group 'The Bangz', probably best known for their song "Found My Swag (feat. The New Boyz), watch the music video here. I'm not gonna say "where's Nicki?" but, come on. There's a few things wrong with her addition to the track; when you think of "female rapper", who comes to mind? Perhaps an unknown male rapper would have been a better choice. And, if you get the unbelievable chance to be featured on a Britney Spears record, and one that had such an easy theme to make a sick rap to, you should go hard, and Sabi did not go hard; "sweatin' you, steamin' like a pot full of vegetables". She had higher-than-average expectations and didn't deliver. Now, the rest of the track is...well one of my least favorites on the record, shifting from hard-to-listen-to at first, morphing into can't-get-it-out-of-my-head catchy, eventually landing on fun-song-I'll-listen-to-with-the-rest-of-the-album-but-please-no-single. Britney whips out some of the most AutoTune'd vocals to date, not trying too hard on the singing side, and doing a decent job rapping about "diamond"s and a guy's... member (she may be referencing 'Notorious B.I.G.', but she's also saying 'you must have a big dick'; "it must be B I G because you've got me hypnotized...buckle up, it's goin' be a bumpy ride"). We all know how she likes to get thug sometimes, but I almost wish she hadn't. The instrumentation is not anything to write home about, though there is some cool bits during the pro-chorus, which is also the peak of the singing, but it pretty much goes downhill once the chorus starts. - 7/10

7. Seal It With A Kiss 

Writers: Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Henry Walter

Producers: Dr. Luke, Martin, Dream Machine

The track opens with a "ooh ooh ee ooh" call that also appears during the chorus, setting the tone for the track; fun, flirty, not too serious. Britney's vocals are as they are on most of the album, not pushed too hard and sing-rapping, letting the AutoTune do the work, but it's distinctly Britney. This track has the most dubstep, for those who don't know, dubstep is the rapidly pulsating and changing synth and bass that appear most frequently in the bridge breakdown. The "uh huh" during the chorus belongs to Bonnie, who again is credited as a background vocalist here, most likely mixed from her demo's of the album's tracks. Fun fact: producer team 'Dream Machine' also goes by another name; 'Let's Go To War', behind the track "Mmm Papi". - 8/10

8. Big Fat Bass (featuring Will.I.Am)

Writer: Will.I.Am

Producer: Will.I.Am

And we arrive at disappointing-track #2; this is the one song that didn't live up to it's snippet, though it followed the pattern of all the others in showcasing the song's best part. The track, as my friend says, sounds like a Black Eyed Peas song that they didn't want, and indeed, it sounds like Will started with Briney's opening line "I can be the treble baby you can be the bass", a would-be Fergie line, and his rap and then added more verses, though the same opening line, serving as the song's chorus, is repeated too many times to count. He was 'experimental' here, if that's what you want to call it, but the best parts of the song are when Will lowers the heavy-handed AutoTune and the bass-less intro to his rap-bridge, which is actually a step above his usual rhymes. If only he could've tried harder on her verses; "You see me out in the night, wanna go out dancing so I can feel alright". Seriously. The song followed a pattern similar to "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" and is one that I sometimes find myself singing, but one that I only play when I listen to the album in full. This is the one track that should never be a single, it would be 2 steps backwards for Britney. - 6/10

9. Trouble For Me

Writers: Frasier T. Smith, Heather Bright, Livvi Franc 

Producers: Smith

I must confess, I have an insane producer-crush on Frasier T. Smith, his work on "Your Biggest Mistake" makes me pause and repeat parts, so I was naturally excited to hear he was working on the album. The track opens with a throbbing bass meoldy and shifts into a great kick drum driven beat with a shouted "hey" and stays relatively simple, using low bass notes and buzzing synths and various background fun noises. The real treat on this track is the production of Britney's voice, from the opening note, I couldn't help but think 'this is how she should sound on the entire album', and there's some merit to that though. Arguing against AutoTune in this day is preaching to the choir, and I have a love/hate relationship with it, however, there IS a way to keep a semblance of personality and showcase singing ability while Tuning, and this track is the perfect example of this. The 4 credited background singers of the track make me doubt if the delicious ending vibrato is Britney's or Myah's, but the overall effect is too good to spoil. Lyrically, it features some inane-ities; "yeah I like it, yeah I like it, yeah I like it like that", but for the most part, it's pretty straight forward that it's about a guy that's the life of the party, but he's trouble for Brit. Watch out girl, you's got a man. - 10/10

10. Trip To Your Heart

Writers: Bloodshy & Avant, Magnus Lidehäll, Nicole Morier, Sophie Stern

Producers: B&A, Magnus

As soon as the track opens, it's got B&A's stamp on it, and when Britney's layered and pitched vocals come in, it's cemented. A rather light ditty, the song's heavy, buzzing synth opening plays throughout, while a kick drum + clap beat give's it structure and Britney's airily-produced vocals drift here and there, like wispy clouds. The vocal editing on the track is the highlight here, surrounding Britney's voice in a sandwich of lower and higher pitched vocals, while hers are borderline falsetto, this girl can sing high. Nicole Morier draws from her co-written track "Heaven On Earth" by mentioning parts of the man-of-the-song, including some odd ones that one wouldn't think of; skin, breath, talk. Yeah. But the writing on this song is rather sweet and is a unique way of talking about falling in love; "your hands never let me down...your touch sends me off the ground". - 9/10

11. Gasoline

Writers: Dr. Luke, Claude Kelly, Benny Blanco, Bonnie McKee, Emily Wright

Producers: Luke, Blanco

Opening with some Britney moans over electric guitar strumms, the track from the get-go sets out to be a sexy, rock-tinged number, fueled (get it) by guitar and bass, leaving out most of the synths that make up this album. The track is a standout from the clubby-vibe of most of the songs, and has some of the most infectiously-delivered lines; "heat wave on the floor, escape, exit door". It's the "yea-ea-eah"s that give the track it's distinguishing feature, and the only one thus far that has any spoken word parts from Britney, something that I'm glad to see dwindle. This is the other track that seems like it'd be a great, unexpected single. - 10/10

12. Criminal

Writers: Shellback, Max Martin, Tiffany Amber

Producers: Martin, Shellback

This snippet was the other one that reminded of another artists work, this time using a Madonna circa "American Life" vibe. The track is an acoustic-dance track, something that is admittedly hard to produced, however Max and Shellback used a great drum and bass beat to secure the use of synths woven together with a guitar melody and flutes. Yes flutes, even Britney commented on the use of the woodwinds, saying 'who would have thought' along with the rest of us. You can always count on Max to have a throwback pop bridge, and this track has probably the best one of the whole album, changing the guitar melody to simple strums and using video-game style buzzing synths. The tracks theme is presented in the chorus; "I'm in love with a criminal and this type of love isn't rational, it's physical". Fun fact: you can hear the "uh ohhhhh I knooooow" as a harmony on the track's verses and choruses, listen hard. - 9/10

13. Up N' Down (Bonus Track)

Writers: Shellback, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha

Producers: Martin, Shellback, Oliver 'Oligee' Goldstein 

Martin's only other track produced without the Dr. utlizes "Hot Mess" co-producer Oliver 'Oligee' Goldstein, who also happens to be Bonnie McKee's beau, shh, don't tell anyone. The track proved quite popular in the Netherlands despite being a bonus track, and has a certain Euro-club flavor that would be popular. The second song where she boasts about her 'dirty mind', the song is one of those where you say "is she really talking about that?" and honestly, I'm not sure if she's referencing sex, or saying she grinds up and down onthe dance floor, which brings up an interesting point; for a certified dance-album, this is one of the few tracks where she's actually in a club. The song's writing is composed of some lines that make you smile and go "ooooooohhhhhhh snaps" like a black girl, but please refrain. The tracks best line is a 3-way tie; "I know you want me like kids want candy"/"lookin' so fire hot, a 20 out of 10"/"the beat just dropped and the room got sexy". - 8/10

14. He About to Lose Me (Bonus Track)

Writers: Darkchild, Ina Wroldsen

Producers: Darkchild

This is hands down my favorite Britney Spears song on the album and of the last 5 years, and almost had me wishing it was Darkchild who was the albums executive producer, but the last track killed that idea off, but the song's success is attributed to the 3 things that make up any song; the production, the writing and the singing, and all were in fine form here; Darchild opens the track with a "Teenage Dream"-esque guitar line that sets the song's tone, and uses a killer beat with some hip-hop flavor that hasn't been seen in pop music for a while, using a kick drum, wood clapboard and some 1/16th beats for a solid framed song. Ina Wroldsen was responsible for writing Shontelle's heart-wrenching "Impossible" and brought some of that 'it's-really-over' melancholy to this track, that's more or less a ballad, or at least as close as this album comes to a ballad. Now, the singing, I mean, I just can't, I just about slapped my mom when I heard the snippet, NO AutoTune. Like none, and the result, beautiful, natural, deep Britney-voice that has more emotion in it than her last 3 albums combined. I would warn you not to take my glowing review to heart for fear of creating too high of expectations, but they'll be exceeded so I'm not worried. - 11/10

15. Selfish (Bonus Track)

Writers: Ester Dean, Mikkel S. Eriksen & Tor Erik a.k.a Stargate, Sandy 'Vee' Wilhelm, Traci Hale

Producers: Stargate, Sandy Vee

With the excpetion of Traci Hale on this track, the credits of Rihanna's "S&M" are the same for "Selfish", and the sound was similar enough for me to check into that, making me wonder if it was a "Loud" reject. The production on the track is a little rock-tinged, especially on the bridge where it goes into full-rock mode with the electric guitar replacing the synths and the drums replacing the drum-machine-created beat. This is the one track on the album that's hard to discern Britney's voice, and if it had leaked before the full album, I'd bet people would be crying "fake" (or at least "Myah Marie"). It's a fun number that is total filler-track status, and on an album like this, it's good to have bonus tracks because there were no fillers on the standard edition. - 8/10

16. Don't Keep Me Waiting (Bonus Track)

Writers: Darkchild, Michaela Shiloh, Thomas Lumpkins

Producers: Darkchild

Like I stated earlier, I was all about Darkchild, until I heard this track, which is not that bad, but it left a "Circus"-rock-themed-bonus-track aftertaste in my mouth, which wasn't pleasant, Britney must really like to express her rock side on these bonus tracks. The disappointing thing is that their previous work on rock cover songs "I Love Rock N' Roll" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" were great, but this is just not on the same level, this track is a big shouldda-known-better; he should have known better than to do a sub-par rock track with her and her label should have looked at "Circus" and thought, 'hmm, maybe no rock bonus track for this album". Sigh. Lyrically, it's verrrry much like "Rock Me In" in that it's not really about anything. One of the song's writers, Michaela Shiloh, is a singer signed to Darchild's record label, and is also the background vocalist on this and "He About To Lose Me", the other Darkchild track on the album. The one thing I take comfort in is Britney being credited as a background vocalist here, and Darkchild's no AutoTune policy on his tracks for her. - 6/10

(EDIT: Review added)
*17. Scary (Japan Bonus Track)

Writers: Kasia Kivingston, Frasier T. Smith

Producers: Smith 

This is the one track that hasn't leaked yet, and seeing as how it's a Japan-exclusive bonus track, that'snot a huge surprise, it'll be out eventually, however thanks to the leaked snippet, we have a little glimpse of the track , and it sounds like a great, club track, driven by Smith's distinct production style, seen especially in his use of background sounds and his unusual beat. And speaking of 'unusual', Kasia Livingston previously wrote on "Unusual You", one of "Circus" standout tracks, so we'll see if the verses have some non-typical lines that she does so well.
EDIT: The track has a great U.K. flavor to it, I wish there was more of it on this album, shifting from catchy pop verses to a low-key pre-chorus that builds to become a great hands-in-the-air track. The song is indeed a club track and not a ballad, and it's kind of an uptempo take on "Hold It Against Me"; "I just want your body and I know that you want mine...I want you so bad it's scary". This could have been included on the main track listing, it's a fun track that has Smith's eclectic stamp all over it. - 8/10

* Outta My Head - This track was a demo produced by Fernando Garibay that was intended for this album. It's unknown whether she recorded the track, but for a while, the song was listed on his website under her name, however that also happened with "Everybody", originally listed for Rihanna on J.R.'s website. This track was such a standout thumper to me that I've had it in my library for over a year now, it would have been a great track for her, you can listen to the demo here.

Overall:  - The album's first 3 tracks share the same producers and many of the same writers, and it shows, they're cohesive, crazy fun, and really good, sold tracks. The same producers and writers don't stay clumped and sprinkle themselves throughout the album, making room for the other, non-executives to shine. This album is a combination of "Blackout"s dark, club vibe, without the hip-hop flavor, and Max Martin's pop sensibilities, with Dr. Luke providing some of the albums catchiest, radio-ready moments. There were a few low points on the album, but as a whole, it's a mostly solid record, with a distinct dance sound. Britney really took the sound from her in-between-albums single "3" and developed it into a full album that is satisfying for more than a couple listens. The one thing that was missing here was Britney as a co-writer, though producers confirmed that she had written on some tracks worked on for this album, none of them made the tracklisting. This to me confirms that her writing isn't 'mainstream' enough for her label. Looking at "Mona Lisa" as really the only non-ballad example, Britney has some dark, clever stuff inside of her that could be so popular, but my bet is that Jive isn't too keen on her going there, which is kind of a bad move for them because looking at the radio lately, what's cookey, crazy and a bit off is what's in. In any case, the album stands on it's own in her discography, and carves out an new, conquered territory in music for Britney; dance-pop. 9/10

Highlights: Till The World Ends, Inside Out, How I Roll, Trouble For Me, Gasoline, He About To Lose Me

Fun Facts: The design in the loop of the second 'F' on the cover of the album is a '7', as this is her 7th studio album, and can be seen on the album's spine as well as hidden in some of the booklet images.

Sources: Album booklet and YouTube.