Blackout (Britney Spears album)
Blackout is the fifth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on October 25, 2007, by Jive Records. Its production and release occurred as Spears' personal struggles were highly publicized and overshadowed her professional projects. She executive-produced the album, working with producers Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, Sean Garrett, and the Neptunes, among others; it is the only album on which Spears is credited as the executive producer. The final result was primarily a dance-pop and electropop record with R&B, Euro disco and dubstep influences, with lyrical themes revolving around love, fame, media scrutiny, sex, and clubbing.
Blackout was originally slated for November 13, 2007, but was rush-released after leaking online. Initial reviews were polarized: some critics described it as Spears' most progressive and consistent album to date, while others dismissed it due to her controversial public image. The album charted at number one in Canada and Ireland while reaching the top five in the Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Blackout later received platinum certifications from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It won Best Album at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. By the end of 2008, it had sold 3.1 million copies worldwide.
Blackout produced three singles. "Gimme More" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her highest-peaking single on the chart since "...Baby One More Time", and reached the top ten in additional 16 countries. "Piece of Me" peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, but replicated the international commercial success of its predecessor. Its accompanying music video won Spears her first MTV Video Music Award, winning Video of the Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video in 2008. "Break the Ice" did not fare as well as its predecessors, peaking at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. Originally intended as the fourth single, "Radar" was later included on Spears' following studio album Circus and was released as its fourth and final single in June 2009.
Unlike her previous albums, Spears did not heavily promote Blackout; her only televised appearance for the album was a universally panned performance of "Gimme More" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. However, a number of its songs were performed on her subsequent tour the Circus Starring Britney Spears and later on her concert residency Britney: Piece of Me. In retrospect, the album has been deemed a career highlight for Spears and has been praised for its massive impact on the ensuing decade of pop music, being credited for bringing the electropop, avant-disco, EDM, and Dubstep sounds to mainstream prominence. Blackout has been listed among the best albums of all time by numerous publications, being labeled a "pop bible" for its impact.
Background and development
In November 2003, while promoting her fourth studio album In the Zone, Spears told Entertainment Weekly that she was already writing songs for her fifth studio album and was also hoping to start her own record label in 2004. Henrik Jonback later confirmed that he had written songs with her during the European leg of the Onyx Hotel Tour, "in the bus and in her hotel room between the concerts." Following her marriage with Kevin Federline in October 2004, Spears announced through a letter on her official website that she was going to "take some time off to enjoy life." However, on December 30, she made a surprise appearance at the Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM to premiere a rough mix of a new midtempo track "Mona Lisa". Spears had recorded the song live with her band while on tour, and dedicated it to all the "legends and icons out there". The lyrics lament the fall of Mona Lisa, calling her "unforgettable" and "unpredictable", and cautions listeners not to have a "breakdown". She also revealed she wanted the song to be the lead single from her upcoming album, tentatively titled The Original Doll, and hoped to release it "probably before summertime , or maybe a little sooner than that." In January, Spears posted another letter on her website, saying:
I think I should rephrase myself from my previous letters when I was talking about taking a 'break'. What I meant was I am taking a break from being told what to do.... It's cool when you look at someone and don't know whether they are at work or play since it's all the same to them. The things I've been doing for work lately have been so much fun, because it's not like work to me anymore. I've been even more 'hands on' in my management and the business side of things, and I feel more in control than ever.
A representative for Jive Records stated that although Spears was working in the studio, "no album is scheduled at the moment" and "there are no plans to service 'Mona Lisa' to radio." "Mona Lisa" was released on the bonus CD included with the DVD of Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, in a re-recorded version with altered lyrics. Spears gave birth to her first son Sean Preston on September 14. In an interview with People in February 2006, Spears explained that she was anxious to resume her career, commenting she missed "traveling the road, seeing different places and being with the dancers and having fun. That feeling of being on the stage, knowing it's your best – I love that. I needed a break. I needed to be hungry again." When asked about her next album, she said she had been experimenting in her home studio with live musicians, stripping down her sound and playing the piano. Spears wanted the album to represent her Louisiana roots, explaining that she grew up listening to blues. "When I was little, I would listen to myself But the record label signs you, and you're just thankful to get a hit song. You can't really show off your voice and where you came from. I would like to try to have more influences of that sound. Not that I'm going to be like frickin' Tina Turner. But you never know", she stated. She also said that she hoped the album would reinvigorate the current pop scene, adding that "It's been boring. Nothing's been wow to me."
On May 9, Spears announced she was pregnant with her second child. A few days later, producers such as J. R. Rotem and Sean Garrett told MTV News they were working with Spears. On September 12, Spears gave birth to her second son Jayden James. She filed for divorce from Federline on November 7, citing irreconcilable differences; the divorce was finalized in July 2007, when the two reached a global settlement and agreed to share joint custody of their sons. During the divorce, her partying and public behavior drew attention from the worldwide media. Spears' maternal aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, died of ovarian cancer in January. In February, Spears suffered from a nervous breakdown and shaved her head, which caused intense media scrutiny. Consequently, she ended with two separate stints at Promises Treatment Centers in Malibu, California. Her manager Larry Rudolph released a statement on March 20, saying that she "successfully complet their program." In May, she produced a series of promotional concerts at House of Blues venues across the United States, titled The M+M's Tour.
Recording and production
Spears was the executive producer of Blackout, and the album remains her sole album to be executive produced by her. Earnest recording of the album began in 2006, according to a Spears representative. Spears first met J.R. Rotem in Las Vegas in March, and enlisted him to work on the album after listening to Rihanna's "SOS". They wrote and recorded four songs together, including "Everybody", which was originally offered to Rihanna and the Cheetah Girls. In July, she started working with Danja, who contacted songwriters such as Keri Hilson, Jim Beanz and Corté Ellis to work with him. The team wrote seven tracks for Spears - "Gimme More", "Break the Ice", "Get Naked ", "Hot as Ice", "Perfect Lover", "Outta This World" and "Get Back". Danja explained that the creative process was not difficult at first since he was "left to do pretty much whatever I wanted to", and "if she felt it, she was gonna ride with it. If she didn't, you'd see it in her face." Hilson wrote "Gimme More" with Spears in mind after Danja played her the instrumental, saying: "I just started singing, 'Give me, Give me' and added a little more in and just having fun and messing around really." Spears began recording with them at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas in August, while she was eight months pregnant with Jayden James. Recording continued at Spears' house in Los Angeles, three weeks after she gave birth. Hilson commented that "She gave 150 percent. I don't know any other mother that would do that." Danja added that despite all the problems in her personal life, "As far as her work ethic, I haven't seen anybody come in like that and do what you go to do." Regarding the sound of the album, he deemed it as bigger, more mature and "a new Britney", explaining: "I come from hip-hop, so it's underlined with , but I throw it down."Kara DioGuardi, who also worked on "Heaven on Earth", co-produced and co-wrote "Ooh Ooh Baby" with a pregnant Spears. DioGuardi said that Spears "worked really hard" and called her "unstoppable". In September, Rotem told MTV News that he and Spears were trying to innovate the current sound of radio at the time, exemplifying Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous". On November 8, the day after she filed for divorce from Federline, Spears recorded "Radar" with Ezekiel Lewis and Patrick M. Smith of the Clutch at the Sony Music Studios in New York City. Lewis had wanted to work with her for a long time and was motivated to produce something for her that was going to "help her project become a great project to come back with". Smith stated that the team tried to create a record "for the Britney Spears that we know and love" and that it did not "touch on anything that was really dealing with all the stuff that she was dealing with." Both commented that although Spears arrived late to the recording sessions, she caught them off guard with her efficiency and professionalism, with Lewis adding: "It was absolutely nuts, and she took directions very well. I don't know what I was expecting because we went in to cut that record the day after she filed divorce from Kevin ."
"Heaven on Earth" was written by Nicole Morier, Nick Huntington and Michael McGroarty, the latter two known as Freescha. Although Morier had been writing songs with Greg Kurstin and other artists, she felt she "hadn't really found niche" until she wrote "Heaven on Earth", which she described as "a very honest song". After she played the song to her publisher, they met with Spears and her A&R executive Teresa LaBarbera Whites who also worked with Beyonce, both loved it. Morier described "Heaven on Earth" as the song that transformed her career. T-Pain, who co-wrote "Hot as Ice", was in the studio with Spears in February 2007, and stated that one of the three songs they recorded was finished in only an hour. He said that he "thought she was going to be sitting on the couch eating Doritos or nachos or something but she came in, shook my hand, gave me a hug and went right in the booth. She got in there and put it down." Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, known as Bloodshy & Avant, co-wrote and co-produced "Radar", "Freakshow" and "Toy Soldier" in late 2006. When the album was considered to be finished, they were persuaded by LaBarbera Whites to work on a new track. Winnberg commented that it had always been "an unwritten rule" to not write songs about Spears' personal life, since "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex", an answer song to Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River", was rejected by Jive Records. However, the duo wrote "Piece of Me" with Klas Åhlund anyway, as an answer to Spears' critics, and sent it to Spears, who "loved it". Winnberg stated: "We knew that the song broke all the rules we had, When she came to the studio, she was extremely psyched, had learned the lyrics by heart in the car, and recorded the song on half an hour." Before the album's release, LaBarbera Whites told MTV News that the album "shows a lot of growth as a performer. She was very involved in the songs and how they turned out. It's her magic that turns these songs into what they are." Among the producers who worked on Blackout but didn't make the album were Scott Storch, Dr. Luke and Ne-Yo.