Femme Fatale (Britney Spears album)
| Femme Fatale | ||||
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| Studio album by Britney Spears | ||||
| Released | March 25, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2009–11 | |||
| Genre | Pop, dance-pop, electropop | |||
| Length | 44:02 | |||
| Label | Jive | |||
| Producer | Dr. Luke (also exec.), Max Martin (also exec.), Ammo, Billboard, Benny Blanco, Bloodshy, Darkchild, Dream Machine, Fraser T. Smith, JMIKE, Henrik Jonback, Magnus, Oligee, Sandy Vee, Shellback, Stargate, will.i.am | |||
| Britney Spears chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Femme Fatale | ||||
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Femme Fatale is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, first released on March 25, 2011 by Jive Records. Recorded between 2009 and 2011, the album featured Spears working mainly alongside longtime colloborators Max Martin and Dr. Luke, who served as the executive producers of the album. Wanting to stray away sonically from her previous material, Spears experimented with various styles of dance music including dubstep which was used in various songs on the album. The album also features production from will.i.am, Fraser T. Smith, Rodney Jerkins and StarGate.
Upon it's release, Femme Fatale received mostly positive reviews from critics, who complimented the album's production and Spears' continued forward-thinking. Others criticized it for Spears' supposed lack of involvement and processed vocals. Commercially, the album has become successful debuting at number one in the United States with sales of 276,000 (breaking Spears` previous record for the youngest female artist with five number one albums) giving her her sixth number one album. The album also debuted at number one in six other countries while peaking inside the top ten in every other country except one, a feat Spears had not accomplished in over a decade since the release of her sophomore album, Oops!... I Did It Again in May 2000.
"Hold It Against Me" was released as the lead single from the album and peaked atop of the charts in seven countries, including the United States and Canada while peaking inside the top five in over seven others. The album's second single, "Till the World Ends", reached number one in South Korea and Poland while peaking inside the top ten position in over twelve countries worldwide and became Spears' best-performing song on US radio in her entire career. Spears promoted the album in a handful of television appearances and is also set to embark on the Femme Fatale Tour.
Background and development
In June 2010, during an interview with Rap-Up, Danja commented that he was working with Spears in the pre-production of Femme Fatale. Darkchild, who was also reportedly working with her, said during a Ustream session in August 2010, "Britney fans are gonna be so happy in a few weeks", hinting about the release of new music. However, this was denied by Spears's manager Adam Leber, who stated, "No new music news right now....Wish people wouldn't mislead you guys with BS info. Not cool! PS- The guys that ARE working on Brit's next album ARE NOT talking about it..." Leber later spoke with Entertainment Weekly, calling the sound of the record "progressive" and "a departure from what you've heard." In November 2010, Dr. Luke announced that he would be the executive producer of Femme Fatale, along with Max Martin. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Spears explained that she had worked with Luke during the production of Blackout (2007), stating that "he was incredible back then and he has only gotten better over the years. About Martin, she commented that "he has been there since the beginning so there is such a huge level of trust. [...] There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio." On December 2, 2010, the day of her 29th birthday, Spears thanked her fans for the birthday wishes and announced, "I'm almost done with my new album and it will be coming out this March. I AM IN L-O-V-E WITH IT!" Following the announcement of the album's title and cover on February 2, 2011, Spears said about Femme Fatale,
Recording
Spears spoke to V about the sessions for Femme Fatale, commenting that she had been recording the album for two years. She explained that her idea initially was to make an album that was "fresh-sounding [...] for the clubs or something that you play in your car when you're going out at night that gets you excited, but I wanted it to sound different from everything else out right now." Spears also stated that she wanted to make sure Femme Fatale was completely different from Circus (2008), and that the album felt "really connected from start to finish." After "Hold It Against Me" was written, originally, Luke and Martin wanted to give the track to Katy Perry, but they later decided that "it definitely wasn't a Katy Perry record." They continued to work on the song with Billboard, and Luke commented that before giving the song to Spears, "I wanted to make sure it didn't sound like everything else I've done". Darkchild stated that while working with him, Spears was very "hands-on" and "had a lot of ideas for me." He later commented he had produced two songs for the album, with one of them featuring Travis Barker. Darkchild added that the song "[has] this rock feel which is out of the box, out of my norm, and I think it's out of her norm as well." On February 8, 2011, Spears tweeted she was in the studio with will.i.am. He described the collaboration as "a monster. It's mean, pretty, edgy, next level. [...] She's singing fresh over it. It's something that today needs." Spears later commented that she is a fan of The Black Eyed Peas, and would love to work with will.i.am again the future. She also explained that she discovered Sabi through a friend recommendation, and had always wanted to feature a new artist in one of her albums, hence they recorded "(Drop Dead) Beautiful". Luke spoke to Rolling Stone about the direction of the album on February 2, 2011, commenting that the final tracklist had not been chosen. He added, "We're in the middle of it right now. [...] We're working with a lot of producers and overseeing it with her A&R and record label and management and trying to make something cohesive." William Orbit confirmed he had co-written a track for Spears with Klas Åhlund, but it was left off the final track listing. Heather Bright, one of the album's songwriters, revealed that "Trouble For Me" was the first song recorded by Spears for Femme Fatale.
Composition
On February 10, 2011, Spears described Femme Fatale on a Twitter chat as "moody, edgy pop with A LOT of energy" with "a few mid-tempos that could be considered ballads". In an interview with the V she further commented on the album stating, "I wanted to make a fierce dance record where each song makes you want to get up and move your body in a different way. That’s what I want from the music I listen to. This record is for the clubs, or something you play before you go out at night. It’s definitely my edgiest and most mature sound yet. [...] There are songs on this album that don’t sound like anything else and are completely revolutionary, but I also believe that this album expresses where I am today as a woman and is an evolution of who I am. [...] I think Femme Fatale speaks for itself. [...] I think it’s the best album I have ever made. There’s nothing to say. I’ll let the music speak for me." Music writers noted electropop and dance-pop styles on the album. Music journalist Jody Rosen wrote of the album, "Conceptually it's straightforward: a party record packed with sex and sadness". The third track “Inside Out” is a Pop song with themes of Electro-Pop and R&B. It features themes of dubstep featuring drawn out, gears-grinding-against-each-other sounds. The song has been compared to her earlier work on albums ‘’Circus’’ and ‘’In the Zone’’ and it has been compared to that of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and “Music”. The songs bridge features a “booming mid-tempo beat” in which Spears sings “You touch me and it's breaking me down/ and me down, and me down, and me down”. Spears crescendos "Baby shut your mouth and turn me inside" during the chorus section. During the chorus Spears sings "You know what I want right now/Hit me one more time it’s so amazing” referencing her debut single ...Baby One More Time. Although Spears was criticized for her lack of involvement from the album`s production and writing, she wrote the song "Scary" (Produced by Fraser T. Smith) which is included in the Japanese deluxe edition of the album.
Release and promotion
On February 2, 2011, Spears announced the album's title through her Twitter account, and also posted an image of the album cover. Following the announcement, the title became a trending topic on Twitter, and then went on to become the tenth longest-running trend on the site, as well as the first music related trend to break the top ten. Spears tweeted, "Can't believe Femme Fatale has been trending 6 days. You guys are my motivation every single day. I love u all!" Femme Fatale was released on March 25, 2011, primarily in a standard (soft pack/wallet packaging) version, and a deluxe version (expanded soft pack with additional booklet pages), which features four additional tracks. A premium fan edition was also released, including a limited edition 32-page hardcover photo book, the deluxe edition CD with exclusive artwork, a 7" vinyl picture disc with "Hold It Against Me" and the full album digital download on the street date.
Promotion for the album began on March 25, 2011 in a performance that included "Hold It Against Me", "Till The World Ends" and "Big Fat Bass". The performance was filmed by MTV at Rain Nightclub inside the Palms Casino Resort and was included in a MTV special titled "I Am The Femme Fatale" which aired on April 3, 2011. Two days later on March 27, Spears performed the same set of songs in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium before a crowd of 5,000 people for the March 29, 2011 episode of Good Morning America. In addition to these two performances, she also performed the same three-song set and participated in two skits on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 29 and appeared at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. Spears served as a guest host at the 2011 Wango Tango concert series alongside Ryan Seacrest on May 14, 2011. Spears made a brief appearance at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, performing some of "Till The World Ends" alongside Femme Fatale tourmate Nicki Minaj.
Singles
"Hold It Against Me" was released as the album's lead single on January 11, 2011. Critics praised the song, though some dismissed it's lyrical content. The music video for the song premiered on February 17, 2011 on MTV following a two-week teaser campaign and featured Spears as an alien who finds fame on Earth but becomes overwhelmed with her celebrity and breaks down. "Hold It Against Me" became Spears' fourth number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, making Britney the second artist in history to have multiple singles debut at number one. The song also went to number one in six other countries and peaked within the top ten in twelve countries.
"Till the World Ends" was released as the second single, making it's premiere on Ryan Seacrest's radio show On Air With Ryan Seacrest. The song received positive reviews from critics, complimenting it's catchy appeal and anthemic nature. The music video for "Till The World Ends" was released on April 6, 2011 on VEVO and showcased Spears in an underground dance party. "Till The World Ends" has performed well world wide, topping the charts in Poland and South Korea while peaking inside the top ten in the United States, Australia, Canada and nine other countries. The song also became Spears' biggest radio hit in the United States reaching a radio audience of ninety-eight million, the highest weekly audience of her career.
"I Wanna Go" is scheduled to impact radio on June 14, 2011, as the third single from the album.
Tour
On June 16, 2011, Spears will embark on her sixth concert tour to further promote Femme Fatale. It was announced on March 29, 2011 and so far includes 30 dates in North America and 13 dates in Europe. In an interview on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on March 4, 2011, Spears stated she would tour the United States in the "early summer" in support of Femme Fatale. On March 29, 2011, following her performances on Good Morning America, she announced a co-headlining tour with Enrique Iglesias, starting in June 2011. Hours after the announcement, it was reported by Billboard that Iglesias had pulled out of the tour. Ray Wedell of Billboard speculated that the reason may have been that Spears was deemed by news outlets as the headliner, while Iglesias was considered the opening act. The first twenty-six North American dates were also announced on March 29, 2011. The opening acts were announced on announced on April 12, 2011. Spears stated, "This is the Femme Fatale tour and I'm thrilled to have Nicki Minaj, Jessie and the Toy Boys, and Nervo join me and get everyone on the dance floor. Can't wait to take the Femme Fatales on the road." Tickets for select markets go on sale beginning April 30th at Ticketmaster and Live Nation's websites. In March 2011, Spears's manager Larry Rudolph told MTV News that the tour would have a "post-apocalyptic vibe", while commenting that "Till The World Ends" keeps becoming a theme for us." He also confirmed Jamie King as the tour director.
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Robert Christgau | (B+) |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+) |
| The Guardian | |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| The New York Times | (mixed) |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | (7/10) |
| Slant Magazine | |
| The Village Voice | (mixed) |
Femme Fatale received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 24 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone commented that it "may be Britney's best album; certainly it's her strangest". Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine viewed that Spears' presence on the album is overshadowed by its "high-class" production, calling the album "Essentially a cleaner, classier remake of the gaudily dark Blackout [...] a producer’s paradise". Edna Gundersen of USA Today gave the album three out of four stars and wrote that Spears and her producers "have crafted a trendy, infectious and engaging ballad-free batch of electro-pop tunes". Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz called it "a ballad-free, treadmill-ready playlist of tireless dance beats and top-shelf production" and called Spears' vocals as "a confidently corrupt guide to a place where our only worry is whether the beats will end before the sun comes up." Robert Everett-Green of The Globe and Mail gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and complimented its "grainy, glistening electronic sound", calling it "one of the major guilty pleasures in pop this year". Kitty Empire of The Observer commented that Spears "has turned out the “fierce dance record” she promised".
However, Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album two out of five stars and criticized its "single-minded dedication to dancefloor utility", writing that it "stays in electro-stomp mode for virtually its entire course, with only the tiniest of rhythmic variants or differences in electronic tones distinguishing one producer's work from another's". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commented that "much of the music on this album feels flat and redundant, no more invigorating than the average European dance-pop album of five years ago". The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that Spears' "voice is as anonymous as ever, a state of affairs amplified by the lavishing of Auto-Tune". Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot wrote similarly, "Spears allows herself to be treated like another passenger in these rhythm trains". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters wrote that "Spears’ worldview is completely self-contained" and described Femme Fatale as "just a big dumb club album". Chicago Sun-Times writer Thomas Conner complimented its "contemporary sounds and beats", but stated "The trade-off is personality [...] Brit's voice is processed so heavily on this record, and the lyrics so bland, these songs could be sung by anyone". Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice wrote that her "voice doesn't add much to the conversation", writing that her lack of presence is "problematic for an album whose subject matter is hedonism and how being hot facilitates it".
Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani commented that Spears's lack of involvement makes "the success of a Britney song rest almost entirely on the quality of other people's songwriting and production, and almost every track on Femme Fatale succeeds or fails on that basis". In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ rating, indicating "remarkable one way or another, yet also flirts with the humdrum or the half-assed". Los Angeles Times writer Carl Wilson noted that "it never invites more intimate listening [...] the lyrics rarely even try to be clever", but praised the "dozen of the age’s most accomplished record producers" and wrote that the album "finds unity of subject, style and sound by imagining scenarios in which vanishing into anonymity can be comfort and liberation". Caryn Ganz of Spin gave the album a seven out of 10 rating and complimented its production, while stating "ignore the lyrics, Spears sounds even more like a programmed Britbot than on 2007's Blackout". Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski of The Daily Telegraph gave the album four out of five stars and stated "Despite her weak voice and empty lyrics, [Spears] has placed herself at the avant-garde of pop with this masterful mixture of über-cool dubstep and sugary pop". The A.V. Club's Genevieve Koski stated "While Spears’ vocals are inevitably the least impressive element of any given song, she doesn’t exactly disappear into the production on Femme Fatale; she settles into it, game for whatever and confident in the hands of trusted professionals who know how to best utilize her".
Commercial performance
Femme Fatale debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 276,000 copies. This gave Spears her sixth debut at the top of the charts and leaves her in a three way tie for third most number one albums for a female artist, tied with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. However, the first-week sales are Spears' second-lowest sales start with a studio set. Only her 1999 debut effort, "Baby One More Time," began with a smaller figure (121,000 copies). In its second week, the album fell to number two, with sales plummeting 73 percent to 75,000, giving it a two-week total of 351,000 sold in the United States. It fell four positions in its third week to 2-6, selling 43,000 copies. After a sales increase of five percent with 45,000 sold, the album rose 6-5, with a four-week total of 439,000. Despite a decline of 33 percent in sales in its fifth week, Femme Fatale rose 5-4 with sales of 30,000, bringing the total to about 470,000. After a month of sales, it was certified platinum by the RIAA. It is Spears' sixth studio album and seventh album overall to be certified platinum by the RIAA.
The album debuted at number eight on the UK Albums Chart, selling 31,650 copies in its first week, becoming her lowest-charting studio album in the United Kingdom since In the Zone, which peaked at number thirteen in December 2003. On April 4, 2011 Femme Fatale debuted at number one in Australia, making it Spears' first number one album in the country. It was also certified gold in during its debut week for shipments over 35,000 copies. In Germany, the album debuted at number ten making it her seventh top-ten studio album in a row, and her eighth top-ten album with the inclusion of the compilation album Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004), which peaked at number four. Femme Fatale debuted at number eight in Denmark, selling 1009 copies in its first week.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Till the World Ends" | Lukasz Gottwald, Alexander Kronlund, Max Martin, Kesha Sebert | Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Billboard | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Hold It Against Me" | Martin, Gottwald, Mathieu Jomphe, Bonnie McKee | Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Billboard (co.) | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Inside Out" | Gottwald, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Jomphe, Martin, McKee | Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Billboard | 3:38 |
| 4. | "I Wanna Go" | Shellback, Martin, Savan Kotecha | Max Martin, Shellback | 3:30 |
| 5. | "How I Roll" | Christian Karlsson, Henrik Jonback, Magnus Lidehäll, Pontus Winnberg, McKee, Nicole Morier | Bloodshy, Henrik Jonback, Magnus | 3:36 |
| 6. | "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" (featuring Sabi) | Jeremy Coleman, Joshua Coleman, Ester Dean, Jomphe, Benjamin Levin | Benny Blanco, Ammo, JMIKE, Billboard | 3:36 |
| 7. | "Seal It with a Kiss" | Gottwald, Martin, McKee, Henry Walter | Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Dream Machine | 3:26 |
| 8. | "Big Fat Bass" (featuring will.i.am) | will.i.am | will.i.am | 4:44 |
| 9. | "Trouble for Me" | Fraser T. Smith, Heather Bright, Livvi Franc | Fraser T. Smith | 3:19 |
| 10. | "Trip to Your Heart" | Karlsson, Jonback, Lidehäll, Winnberg, Morier, Sophie Stern | Bloodshy, Henrik Jonback, Magnus | 3:33 |
| 11. | "Gasoline" | Gottwald, Claude Kelly, Levin, McKee, Emily Wright | Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco | 3:03 |
| 12. | "Criminal" | Shellback, Martin, Tiffany Amber | Max Martin, Shellback | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 44:02 | |||
| Deluxe edition bonus tracks | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length | |||||
| 13. | "Up n' Down" | Shellback, Martin, Kotecha | Max Martin, Shellback, Oligee | 3:36 | |||||
| 14. | "He About to Lose Me" | Rodney Jerkins, Ina Wroldsen | Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins | 3:48 | |||||
| 15. | "Selfish" | Dean, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, Traci Hale | StarGate, Sandy Vee | 3:43 | |||||
| 16. | "Don't Keep Me Waiting" | Jerkins, Michaela Shiloh, Thomas Lumpkins | Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins | 3:21 | |||||
| Total length: | 58:36 | ||||||||
| Japan deluxe and Premium Fan edition bonus track | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length | |||||
| 17. | "Scary" | Britney Spears, Smith, Kasia Livingston | Fraser T. Smith | 3:38 | |||||
| Total length: | 1:02:14 | ||||||||
Notes
Personnel
Credits for Femme Fatale adapted from Allmusic.
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Charts and certifications
Charts |
CertificationsRelease historyReferencesExternal linksRetrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_Fatale_(Britney_Spears_album) 
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