Britney and Rihanna...villified, beheaded anf thrown to the dogs?

[King Baby]

Hold It Against Me, the lead single from Britney Spears's new album, surfaced online this week. For a song that is mostly rot Europop and rests on a gag last made by the Bellamy Brothers in 1979, it sparked an unusual degree of excitement. But pop fans don't care about Britney simply out of loyalty to an unlikely survivor. The real reason many of us rush for anything new from her is 2007's Blackout, an album as close to a cult hit as anything that sold 3m copies can be.

On Blackout – released with minimum promotion in the middle of her shaven-headed, zombie-eyed, walking-tabloid period – Britney gave us the tightest, most inventive dance-pop record of the last 10 years. Everything that's happened in mainstream pop since – such as the routine electronic treatment of vocals, or the turn to European club beats and synths – happened on this album, only in a darker, braver and catchier fashion. From its title in, Blackout didn't try to gloss over the state its star was in – it embraced it. In particular, the vocal twisting, distorted, blurred and robotised Britney, giving the eerie impression of a record that had swallowed up its own singer.

Blackout sounds even better now, partly because you no longer worry the singer's going to die in the next six months, so listening to it feels less like rubbernecking. But it also sounds better because Britney hasn't done anything as compelling since. She came back from Blackout with Circus, a tamer, less focused sequel, which had a few good songs but felt like a retreat.

This is a familiar syndrome. The standard view of the pop album – lazy collections of hits padded out with worthless filler – has been unfair for a while now. But there's still a tendency for pop stars to release their most interesting music and immediately step back from it. Kelly Clarkson's brooding My December was by no means perfect, but it was a lot more ambitious and coherent than All I Ever Wanted, her hit-craving follow up. Rihanna is at No 1 as I write with the lilting, pretty What's My Name? But its parent album, Loud, is a toothless thing compared with 2009's wrathful, brutal Rated R. For instance, the listless new revenge song Man Down wilts next to its 2009 counterpart Fire Bomb – an audacious power ballad about car-bombing a former lover, like a fantasy collaboration between Jim Steinman and JG Ballard.

It's not exactly a mystery why this happens. Chart pop, even more than most of the music business, is thoroughly market-driven, and in the case of Spears and Clarkson a return to Cheeky Britney and Fun Kelly was exactly what the market demanded. But it's still a shame – in all three cases the more interesting record wasn't some kind of misguided experiment, it was an organic progression from the music the act had made before. Clarkson got self-lacerating pop songs to sing before she wrote her own on My December. Rihanna had been perfecting a steely persona before she unleashed it fully on Rated R. And Britney's music had been moving away from bubblegum and into the club for two albums before Blackout. From an artistic perspective, it's the reassuring follow-ups that are the aberration, not the ambitious failures.

Plenty of people may scoff at the notion of approaching modern pop music from an artistic perspective at all. But if you don't, the chief criticism of pop – that it's "manufactured" – becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. One of pop's great panto villains is Mike Love of the Beach Boys, with his legendary objection to the release of Pet Sounds: "Don't fuck with the formula!" The music industry is full of Mike Loves – assuming pop's greatest aspiration is the production line puts you squarely on their side.

Meanwhile, the Britney-watchers pore over the new release, looking for hopeful signs. The best part of Hold It Against Me is its breakdown, where the song suddenly collapses into harsh, scattered beats but somehow holds together. It's a hint that the "Britney goes dubstep" rumours swirling around might not be completely wild. And more than that, it's a few seconds of music that tantalisingly remind us of Blackout, and of ambition.

[Utopia]

Hold It Against Me, the lead single from Britney Spears's new album, surfaced online this week. For a song that is mostly rot Europop and rests on a gag last made by the Bellamy Brothers in 1979, it sparked an unusual degree of excitement. But pop fans don't care about Britney simply out of loyalty to an unlikely survivor. The real reason many of us rush for anything new from her is 2007's Blackout, an album as close to a cult hit as anything that sold 3m copies can be.

On Blackout – released with minimum promotion in the middle of her shaven-headed, zombie-eyed, walking-tabloid period – Britney gave us the tightest, most inventive dance-pop record of the last 10 years. Everything that's happened in mainstream pop since – such as the routine electronic treatment of vocals, or the turn to European club beats and synths – happened on this album, only in a darker, braver and catchier fashion. From its title in, Blackout didn't try to gloss over the state its star was in – it embraced it. In particular, the vocal twisting, distorted, blurred and robotised Britney, giving the eerie impression of a record that had swallowed up its own singer.

Blackout sounds even better now, partly because you no longer worry the singer's going to die in the next six months, so listening to it feels less like rubbernecking. But it also sounds better because Britney hasn't done anything as compelling since. She came back from Blackout with Circus, a tamer, less focused sequel, which had a few good songs but felt like a retreat.

This is a familiar syndrome. The standard view of the pop album – lazy collections of hits padded out with worthless filler – has been unfair for a while now. But there's still a tendency for pop stars to release their most interesting music and immediately step back from it. Kelly Clarkson's brooding My December was by no means perfect, but it was a lot more ambitious and coherent than All I Ever Wanted, her hit-craving follow up. Rihanna is at No 1 as I write with the lilting, pretty What's My Name? But its parent album, Loud, is a toothless thing compared with 2009's wrathful, brutal Rated R. For instance, the listless new revenge song Man Down wilts next to its 2009 counterpart Fire Bomb – an audacious power ballad about car-bombing a former lover, like a fantasy collaboration between Jim Steinman and JG Ballard.

It's not exactly a mystery why this happens. Chart pop, even more than most of the music business, is thoroughly market-driven, and in the case of Spears and Clarkson a return to Cheeky Britney and Fun Kelly was exactly what the market demanded. But it's still a shame – in all three cases the more interesting record wasn't some kind of misguided experiment, it was an organic progression from the music the act had made before. Clarkson got self-lacerating pop songs to sing before she wrote her own on My December. Rihanna had been perfecting a steely persona before she unleashed it fully on Rated R. And Britney's music had been moving away from bubblegum and into the club for two albums before Blackout. From an artistic perspective, it's the reassuring follow-ups that are the aberration, not the ambitious failures.

Plenty of people may scoff at the notion of approaching modern pop music from an artistic perspective at all. But if you don't, the chief criticism of pop – that it's "manufactured" – becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. One of pop's great panto villains is Mike Love of the Beach Boys, with his legendary objection to the release of Pet Sounds: "Don't fuck with the formula!" The music industry is full of Mike Loves – assuming pop's greatest aspiration is the production line puts you squarely on their side.

Meanwhile, the Britney-watchers pore over the new release, looking for hopeful signs. The best part of Hold It Against Me is its breakdown, where the song suddenly collapses into harsh, scattered beats but somehow holds together. It's a hint that the "Britney goes dubstep" rumours swirling around might not be completely wild. And more than that, it's a few seconds of music that tantalisingly remind us of Blackout, and of ambition.

No . That was Robyn with her Robyn album (if we are talking about mainstream that is) . Blackout was/is one of the best pop records of the past 10 years though.

It didn't start with it , it started with Madonna's Music album then Kylie made it a bit more mainstream with Fever and now we are left with shit subpar pretentious "music". *standing ovation*

[s.omner]

No . That was Robyn with her Robyn album (if we are talking about mainstream that is) . Blackout was/is one of the best pop records of the past 10 years though.

It didn't start with it , it started with Madonna's Music album then Kylie made it a bit more mainstream with Fever and now we are left with shit subpar pretentious "music". *standing ovation*

Agreed. Robyn has definitely did her thing, especially with Body Talk.

[aed05]

No . That was Robyn with her Robyn album (if we are talking about mainstream that is) . Blackout was/is one of the best pop records of the past 10 years though.

It didn't start with it , it started with Madonna's Music album then Kylie made it a bit more mainstream with Fever and now we are left with shit subpar pretentious "music". *standing ovation*

Here in the states it was Britney, with the Blackout album.

I understand the impact of Robyn and especially Kylie worldwide. However, they have little impact here in the states. They do influence the Divas, who often travel abroad and highjack their sound. so if thats what you mean, then maybe you have a point. but as individual artist they didn't have the impact britney did.

[Utopia]

Here in the states it was Britney, with the Blackout album.

I understand the impact of Robyn and especially Kylie worldwide. However, they have little impact here in the states. They do influence the Divas, who often travel abroad and highjack their sound. so if thats what you mean, then maybe you have a point. but as individual artist they didn't have the impact britney did.

yesh. Just meant to say that Madonna started the "euro" movement WW when she scored a #1 hit with Music and then Kylie revived it with Can't Get You Out Of My Head and the whole Fever album.

Of course that as soon as people saw that Brit was doing it and was having success they held on to it. similar to Ke$hus christ and her "new" sound that Katy stole .

As for Robyn , her album is alot more innovative then Blackout but not as commercial and of course it wasn't made by a huge artist. Both Robyn and Blackout are some of the best pop albums of the past 10 years imo. From the mainstream , those 2 , Rated R and Body Talk trilogy are some of the best mainstream albums of the past 10 years

[Utopia]

Agreed. Robyn has definitely did her thing, especially with Body Talk.

:wub: :wub:

[Paul]

Here in the states it was Britney, with the Blackout album.

I understand the impact of Robyn and especially Kylie worldwide. However, they have little impact here in the states. They do influence the Divas, who often travel abroad and highjack their sound. so if thats what you mean, then maybe you have a point. but as individual artist they didn't have the impact britney did.

If thats that case, why is it that most of the time the music that is popular in europe catches on months or even years later in the states? This whole dance-pop thing started years ago, and the first person I cantually remember doing it and bringing it mainstream was Dannii Minogue, then Kylie jumped on it and made it even more poppy while Robyn took it slightly left field and has now almost perfected it. Madonna took it back to the clubs with confessions and then in the last couple of years after Robyn with every heartbeat and with the freemasons stuff, Kelly Rowland jumped on the bandwagon and created the great When Love Takes over, and since that song came out everybody and their mother wanted to (and has )work with David Guetta which culminates with all the Britneys/Rihanna's etc.

I just wish Janet had actually made the dance record she promised to make time and time since after AFY was released. Since then she has said she wanted to with every album, and now if she does it she will look like shes late.

[Utopia]

If thats that case, why is it that most of the time the music that is popular in europe catches on months or even years later in the states? This whole dance-pop thing started years ago, and the first person I cantually remember doing it and bringing it mainstream was Dannii Minogue, then Kylie jumped on it and made it even more poppy while Robyn took it slightly left field and has now almost perfected it. Madonna took it back to the clubs with confessions and then in the last couple of years after Robyn with every heartbeat and with the freemasons stuff, Kelly Rowland jumped on the bandwagon and created the great When Love Takes over, and since that song came out everybody and their mother wanted to (and has )work with David Guetta which culminates with all the Britneys/Rihanna's etc.

I just wish Janet had actually made the dance record she promised to make time and time since after AFY was released. Since then she has said she wanted to with every album, and now if she does it she will look like shes late.

Janet's biggest prob is that she only comes to Europe to buy clothes

[Paul]

Janet's biggest prob is that she only comes to Europe to buy clothes

Things could have been so different...... sigh

[Utopia]

Things could have been so different...... sigh

She'd never hang out with the likes of Jermaine dupri for starters

[hotboy06]

Rated R remains one of my fave albums of the past ten years..