VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:00:19 11/05/03 Wed
Author: Jman
Subject: More info

410 598-5781
690 0184
416 3605
621 1993
803-1095

"After her much publicised break - we're talking from the music biz, not a ertain JT! - Britney's back and raring to go. We've already had the hype - the half naked magazine covers and superstar snogging at the VMA's. Now the Britney Spears machine is cranking into action, getting ready to make sure she make's a major impact.
Because Britney's, well, Britney, cd:uk is summond to New York to interview the blonde one. But before we're even allowed to board the plane, we have to sign an agreement promising not to ask any questions about Justin Timberlake, Fred Durst, or Britney's love life in general. Pah! Spoil sports!
On a bright Monday morning in September cd:uk heads to The Trump Tower, one of the most exclusive addresses in New York. It's big, it's glitzy and it overlooks the south side of the famous Central Park. The place is posh, in a way that Victoria Beckham never will be. You even need a special key to make the lift work - and keep the riff raff out!
We're ushered in to listen to a few tracks from the new album. Britney's new single Me Against The Music blares out. It's good. It's really good. We whizz through a few more tracks - most of them better than the single. There's Outrageuos, her colloboration with R Kelly. And Breathe On Me, a fantastic song that's kinda like Madonna's Ray Of Light mixed in with a birrova 70's disco vibe. Then Britney walks in, and she looks amazing. She's wearing a little grey knitted vest and black mini skirt with long black boots, accessorised with her trademark 'B' jewellery. And the girl is truly beautiful! Sure, she's got loadsa make-up on, but it's easy to see how she bagged a beauty like Justin!

Q: Hey Britney! Wow! This is one sexy album!
A: I guess so! I think it's more about sensuality than just being out-there sexy! But yes, I guess it is kinda provactive.

Q: Is it weird for you to be seen as such a sex symbol?
A: I try not to think about that. Sometimes I feel good - and sometimes I look a million miles away from the girl you see in the pictures!

Q: What makes you feel sexy?
A: I think you need to believe in yourself and be confident in your own skin. If you want to put on make-up and dress up, then that's fine. It's cool to be able to experiment with your image in a sensual way. It's like when a guy kisses you on the lips. It's a bit like paradise, a bit of spiritual excitement.

Q: Phew! What's all this about producers saying you turn into a sexy vixen in the studio?
A: Ha ha! In my day-to-day life, I'm just me. But when you're on stage, the energy of the crowd transforms you. You can't go on stage and go (puts on tiny voice): "Hi everyone, I'm Britney". Up there, you can't help but feel you're the queen of the world so you do transform into something else.

Q: Which song means the most to you?
A: Me Against The Music. It's about going to a club and just feeling the music in you and dancing all night. Almost like you're battling with the music to keep dancing. And Touch Of My Hand is cool. It's about indulging yourself.

Q: Cool! When was the last time you went dancing like that?
A: Y'know what? It's been a real long time. It's difficult. I have to be with security and I need to be careful.

Q: So d'ya dance around your bedroom instead?
A: Oh yeah! But I've been known to dance on tables when I'm out!

Q: Who are your best friends?
A: Felicia - my assistant, sitting right over there! And my mum, of course! Most of my friends are people I've known since I was at school, and who who have always been loyal to me. But I love meeting new people, too - it's just that it can take a while before I trust them.

Q: Is it hard to escape the fact that you are so famous?
A: I try not to think of it in those terms. You have to make life normal or you go mad. I try to remain chilled (crosses her fingers and goes "ommmmmmm").

Q: What's the most ridiculous thing you've read about yourself?
A: Star magazine comes up with something ridiculous every week. Like, once I was an alien. Then I was a lesbian! I guess the Madonna kiss didn't help that one!

Q: Would you ever agree to go on a reality TV show like The Osbournes?
A: Yeah, it would be super cool! There would be lots of dramas and crises! Nah, I joke! Honestly, I wouldn't like to be on camera the whole time.And it wouldn't be interesting. The Osbournes I love, but it works cos they are a little shocking. With me, it could never be so funny.

Q: Is it true you're gonna do a Gap ad with Justin?
A: (super sarcastic) I think he'll make that with Christina...

Q: What are your ambitions for this album?
A: I just hope people will like it! And sure, I hope it sells really well, too!
4358862

Q: And what are your ambitions for the future?
A: I wanna be a mom. I want to be married and have three kids. But that's still a long way off! I think I still need a bit of freedom. Which is weird for me, because where I grew up, in Louisiana, people get married young. I probably would have had my first baby if I was back home! When I'm 40, I see myself living in a big house with three children and my discs on the wall. And an Oscar, ha ha!

Q: A lot's happened since your last single. Are you scared to be back?
A: Totally! I'm really nervous! Mainly because I've been so involved in this album and it means so much to me. I took time out to do it properly. I picked out the people I really wanted to work with. And I wrote most of the lyrics so it's much more personal to me than anything I've done before.

Britney Album Preview: Sex, Sex And More Sex
10.22.2003 8:11 PM EDT


Britney Spears
Photo: Wire Image


The early buzz on the new Britney Spears album was that it would be adventurous, atmospheric and above all, adult. Two out of three ain't bad.

Sure, Britney has a bit of a trip-hop vibe on her upcoming album, just not enough to justify her love for her mentor Madonna's latter-day direction. In the Zone is by no means Britney's Ray of Light. Instead, Spears' fourth album jumps stylistically all over the place, from techno to hip-hop, even to reggae, with thumping, tribal dance songs being the predominant flavor, save for a touching ballad or two. The only thematic connection is the recurring topic of sex, sex and more sex. Oh, and some partying, too.

"Me Against the Music" aside, Spears sings that she's got the beat when she pairs up with the Ying Yang Twins who urge her to get crunk Atlanta-style on "(I Got That) Boom Boom." Not that she needs encouraging — Britney's dead-set on getting her groove on in party-hard songs like the bubbly "Brave New Girl," and partied-too-hard songs like the more brooding "Early Mornin'," which features a shimmering, percolating beat from Moby and subdued vocals from Spears (see "Britney Talks New Album But Remains Coy On First Single").

"Brave New Girl," formerly called "Brave Girl," on the other hand, is backed by choppy, electro-funk beats and features Britney singing in a bouncy near-rap: "She's going to find her passion, she's going to find her way, she's going to get right out of this/ She don't want New York, she don't want L.A., she's going to find that special kiss."

As innocent as that sounds, it's not just a kiss Britney wants on the rest of In the Zone, which she uses to unleash her libido in as many situations as she can dream up. In the beat-heavy R. Kelly booty-call track "Outrageous," she whispers and moans about "my sex drive" and how her underwear feels in her "sexy jeans" with a snake charmer melody giving the song an exotic feel. She continues to entice on the Bloodshy & Avant-produced "Showdown," which, with its bubbly beats, is about fighting and making up with carnal relations: "After the screaming's at an end/ Why don't we do it all again ... I don't want to be a tease/ Would you undo my zipper please?"

Not all the sex is good sex, though. "Toxic" bemoans being addicted to men who aren’t good for you — like, oh, say, married men? But even less than desirable situations can provide good memories, as in the Matrix collaboration "Shadow," which talks about how reminders of a lover can still linger after he’s gone. The same effect exists in "Everytime," the ballad Spears previewed on "Saturday Night Live," but to a more haunting end since the lovers have parted for good.

Even if the lovers never touch, as in "Breathe on Me," the narrator's desire fills the air (see "Britney Gets 'Just A Little Freaky' On In The Zone"). Of the songs on In the Zone,"Breathe on Me" most earns the trip-hop comparisons, and despite not being as overtly sexual, it's the most sensual: "Oh, it's so hot, and I need some air/ And boy, don't stop 'cause I'm halfway there … just put your lips together and blow."

A girl can only take so much unfettered frustration, so Britney shows herself a little love on "Touch of My Hand," which also features a Far East influence: "I will be bold/ Going to the places where I can be out of control/ Don't want to explain tonight/ All the things I try to hide."

By contrast, "Everytime" is her most innocent, and perhaps her most personal, song on In the Zone. Though she's denied having a response to Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," the lilting piano-accompanied tune comes closest to a plea for forgiveness for inadvertently hurting a former lover. In the song she sings, "What have I done? … I may have made it rain/ Please forgive me/ My weakness caused you pain" (see "Britney Previews LP, Denies Rumors Of 'Cry Me A River' Response").

Through it all, Spears is as self-referential as many hip-hop artists, getting her featured guests to give her shout-outs and dropping pop- star tidbits as if they were come-ons. The reference to "my world tour" on "Outrageous" is moaned with the same ecstasy as "my sex drive," and the cumulative effect seems like it's designed to put the listener in the lover's shoes — taking full advantage of the aural male gaze. If the technique works, In the Zone will make the most of Spears' latest maneuverings to graduate from pop princess to pop pin-up. The other possibility is that she's just dropping a litany of diary-like entries. Regardless, this is her life, she seems to be singing, and criticism be damned — sex is gonna be in the mix.



—Jennifer Vineyard



Q: Who did you most enjoy working with?
A: RedZone. It was just a really good vibe in the studio.

Q: Have you missed being in the limelight?
A: I've missed performing. D'ya know what? I performed at the American football season launch. That was the first time I'd been on stage by myself for ages. I was so nervous, but I absolutely loved it. The crazy thing is that I don't think I'd relised just how much I'd missed performing until I got up on that stage. Man I love it!"


Just two years ago, Britney Spears was not a girl, not just humping walls on a newsstand near you. But tenne queens mature in dog years, and now that Hilary Duff is dangling her watch before the swing-set crowd, dear Brit can get down to the dirrty work. After coolly recieved second album, a did-she-or-didn't-she Durst dalliance, and an eternity of tabloid-hounded par-taying later, Spears is slapping on a headlamp and heading into the mines.


Get In The Zone's first single, "Me Against The Music," is a fine specimen of Britney 4.0--fast paced danced anthem, all grinding percussion shutting through a traffic jam of synths. Most of the record's up-tempo bangers trace the single's footsteps, bopping raucously without slipping into chintzy faux rock or flavorless hip-hop. Gone are the spare Neptunes beats of Britney, replaced by a hectic sonic pileup. Spears hits pay dirt on "Toxic," holding her own against a wall of drum beats, strings, and James Bond surf guitar that warps and struts like its been fed into the Matrix.


The actual Matrix songwriting team should be so lucky: Their ballad "Shadow" is a hollow yawn. Spears also missteps on R.Kelly-produced "Outrageous," a go-nowhere homage to living fablously (the secret?? sexy jeans!) and the dancehall bore "The Hook Up." But in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to her--like ray of light. There's more of Madonna in get In The Zone, than there was in Britney's mouth at the MTV Video Music Award: "Breath On Me" and "Touch Of My Hand" borrow their shimmer, their discoid throb, and their selfconfidence from Material Girl's recent work. This Spears is a slave 4 no one: She barks orders and she-bops herself to satisfaction. ("Imgination's takin over." she purrs, "...the more i come to understand the touch of my hand.") Still, the record's biggest declaration of self may be the Moby-produced "Early Morning." Over a lulling, circular base line and morose flute samples, Spears crashes on the couch, trying to shake the residual fog of an obviously misspent night out, musing. "I can't be like that anymore." At these moments, Zone's offhand mastery suggests that she may not have to.

Grade: B-
See also: Madonna, Ray Of Light
jus by playin yo cards right pa, startin wit you callin me, get at me at 402 813 4143, the name is Javaughn, get at me pa ~100~

"imma pimp baby betcha ya cutt me i bleeds bitches!"

-lil john-

***** The Best Of Britney, October 28, 2003

Reviewer: from Canada

In the five years since you first heard Britney Spears' bubblegum pop anthem "...Baby, One More Time" alot has changed. Your age, your musical tastes, and Britney Spears. Have you noticed? After trying to show us she's grown up on her last two albums (only failing by a little, and coming very close the third time around) she is ready to go all out. Discussing more adult situations, working with a wider variety of producers, and even some collaborations make Britney Spears' "In The Zone" a fantastic musical experience. On the opening track "Me Against The Music" featuring none other than Spears' own muse, Madonna, they tell the story of a battle with a song, if you can figure out what she's saying. After listening to it over and over again though, the club anthem (yes, you read right, club, not bubblegum pop) grows on you and becomes as infectious and catchy as Britney was in her early days. On the Moby contribution to the album, "Early Mornin'" Britney sings about waking up after a hard night of partying feeling a bit under the weather over a fantastic bubbling beat. P. Diddy's contribution, "The Answer" is another standout track, which unbelievably almost didn't make the album. However, the best of the hip hop collaborations is either with R. Kelly ("Outrageous" on which Spears sings about things such as "my sex drive" and "my world tour" and "my shopping spree" and saying how sexy her underwear feel in her jeans.) or the duet with the Ying Yang twins ("(I've Got That) Boom Boom" on which Spears sets out to prove she's got the beat). The albums true standout moments come from the albums two ballads. The Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Liz Phair) contribute what Rolling Stone calls a "Mid 90's Aerosmith ballad" with "Shadow," a truly amazing revelation for people who say Spears can't sing. She also shows off her power on "Everytime" which delivers what many are saying is a reference to Justin Timberlake ("I may have made it rain, please forgive me, my weakness caused you pain, and this song's my sorry") In one last attempt to prove she's grown up (which works surprisingly well, i might add) Britney takes on the subject of masturbation on what is simply titled "Touch Of My Hand" singing over middle eastern music in an almost Janet Jackson feel she sings "I don't want to explain tonight, all the things I've tried to hide" Clearly this girl (or woman...i don't know) has grown up alot. If only people other than her would realize it.

Growing Up: Britney Did It Again

By NEIL STRAUSS

Mommy, this is nasty."

The voice was that of a 9-year-old girl watching Britney Spears tape an "ABC in Concert" special last week at Gotham Hall in Manhattan. Performing a new song, "Breathe on Me," Ms. Spears wriggled out of a sheer crew-neck shirt. With bra exposed, she proceeded to writhe on top of bedroom furniture as several of her dancers followed suit.

"It's just stripping," the girl complained.

Her mother asked her not to mention the stripping part at school the next day. "Just say they were dancing," she advised.

With every new CD that Ms. Spears releases, fans and detractors alike inevitably say that she is growing up. At the same time, sales of her albums, though always in the millions, have steadily decreased. She went from singing about schoolgirl crushes, heartbreak and soda pop on her first CD in 1999 to playing the coquette, flirting just out of reach, on her follow-up, "Oops! I Did It Again." On her third album, "Britney," she declared her emancipation, proclaiming in song after song that she was no longer a little girl, but not yet a woman.

On her forthcoming CD, "In the Zone" (due on Nov. 18 on Jive), she continues her very public sexual evolution, completing her transformation from submissive (be it "Born to Make You Happy" or "I'm a Slave 4 U") to predator. Here, she is the siren of the party scene, hooking up with random men, declaring that she doesn't want to be a tease and offering "whatcha need all night long."

Meanwhile, the tabloids have contributed to the coming-out party with endless images and stories of Ms. Spears smoking, drinking or partying. And, in promoting her new CD, she upped the ante, posing bottomless and topless for magazine covers.

But it's a remarkably narrow view of adulthood that defines maturity only in terms of sex, alcohol and partying. For one thing, those discoveries usually take place in the early teenage years. But more to the point, the foundations of adulthood run much deeper, having to do with coping with increased responsibility while developing intellectually and emotionally. While Ms. Spears has certainly been a willing martyr to our culture's fixation with licentious young girls, in person she seems to know that growing up means more than doing the things that the tabloids seem fascinated by.

"I think you never grow up," Ms. Spears said as she fidgeted on a couch in a Trump Plaza hotel room several hours before the ABC taping. "If anyone says that they're completely full grown, what's the fun in that? Every day you want to learn something new. Every day you want to challenge yourself and get better. I'm not grown up and I'm not a little girl. I just am."

The interview with Ms. Spears was a mixed one, perhaps tellingly so. Half her responses seemed innocuous, programmed; the other half suggested someone trying to emerge from a sheltered life. In the most interesting moments, Ms. Spears discussed her own writing, spirituality and soul-searching — although never on the record. At other times, however, she did not recognize the names of producers she had worked with for her new CD.

Ms. Spears is someone who lives more in the world of feelings than facts, which is one reason she can be a difficult interview but blossom on stage or in the studio. In some ways, her challenge is not growing up, but backtracking, trying to capture some of the experiences she missed out on while living out the fantasy (and nightmare) of being the world's favorite teenage girl. As a member of her entourage said later, she is just now going through a delayed emotional puberty.

NEIL STRAUSS More than most other musicians, you are under a microscope all the time. Why is it that other entertainers can discuss doing drugs, but——

BRITNEY SPEARS But if I go and out and have a drink, it's like: "Oh my gosh, Britney went and had a drink. What's going on?" I don't understand it. It's really bizarre.

STRAUSS Maybe the reason is that early on you set up an image for yourself that people are holding you to?

SPEARS See, that's such an irony. People are like, "You were so innocent, da da da da," and all that. And I'm like: "No, I wasn't. You guys said I was too sexual when I first came out with `Baby One More Time.' " You can't win, man. You know what I mean?

STRAUSS Sure, but you did play a part in making your virginity an issue, and telling teen magazines that you wouldn't drink or——

SPEARS I'm growing up. I'm 21. I can't play with your dolls forever. I mean, I love my dolls and I still collect them. But you understand what I'm trying to say.

With the teen pop of the late 90's now rapidly becoming nostalgia, its stars have been forced to either reinvent themselves or disappear. Christina Aguilera and, in particular, Justin Timberlake have remained hit-makers by moving to urban and R & B stations. In the meantime, the Backstreet Boys have vanished from the pop landscape.

But Ms. Spears has chosen a middle ground. Though "In the Zone" is much more sexually aggressive than anything she has released before and her performances may put off 9-year olds, her new material is in no way a reinvention. This is the same Britney that pop fans have seen for years, executing choreographed moves with back-up dancers while lip-synching high-energy, come-hither pop into a headset. Though there is a bawdy party anthem with the Atlanta rappers the Ying Yang Twins, "(I Got That) Boom Boom" and a sizzling proclamation of skin-deep girl power written and produced by R. Kelly, "Outrageous," "In the Zone" is generally not a CD that would sound appropriate on an urban or R & B radio station.


It is a pure pop CD, which is not a formula for success in a time when the top-10 singles charts are dominated almost entirely by rap and R & B. At best, the production and the dance beats have become more complex and less predictable, with Asian-influenced flourishes in place of the synthesizer stabs of past hits, and songs that sound like trance-influenced updates of 80's dance-pop. Ms. Spears said that she is currently listening to the Black-Eyed Peas and John Mayer, and even compared "Shadow," a ballad from her new CD, to Bjork.

The song that listeners may be most interested in is the one she wrote by herself at the piano, "Everytime." It is her answer to "Cry Me a River," the song and video by her former boyfriend, Mr. Timberlake. Though several songwriters sent Ms. Spears sassy answers to "Cry Me a River," she chose instead to apologize, "My weakness caused you pain." In the chorus, she pleads, "I feel so small. I guess I need you baby."

It wasn't too long ago that artists selected a single producer to define the sound of new albums. These days, high-stakes pop CD's are shopping sprees, with dozens of songwriters and producers being thrown into the cart. Presumably, then, a new CD from Ms. Spears is the best pop album that money can buy.

For "In The Zone," a new collaboration with the Neptunes fell through, and songs from P. Diddy and Rodney Jerkins were not used. Ms. Spears did end up using songs by Linda Perry, Moby, the Matrix and RedZone. While some were obvious choices, like Ms. Perry (who helped reinvent Pink), others were not necessarily the go-to hit doctors of the moment.

Ms. Spears fought Jive Records over the R. Kelly song, which the label had hoped would be the first single. Instead, she successfully lobbied for her collaboration with Madonna, "Me Against the Music."

Even if the new CD doesn't do as well as her previous releases, Ms. Spears's level of celebrity is unlikely to diminish. Music, after all, is only one part of her art. Her other canvas is the photo studio, where her modeling for magazine covers and pictorials have made her an icon whose pictures are probably traded on the Internet more rabidly than her music.

STRAUSS Who do you listen to for advice?

SPEARS I don't listen to anybody. Nobody can tell me anything. I'm stubborn.

STRAUSS Really?

SPEARS No. If someone tells me not to do something, I do it. But I do listen to Madonna. For some reason I listen to her. I know that sounds really silly.

STRAUSS Is there some advice she's given that's inspired you?

SPEARS I don't want to say. But it's nice to have somebody just to ask questions to. She's a visual artist and a deep artist as well. I like the way she thinks. I wish I could be inside of her head.

STRAUSS Outside of Madonna, are there other people whose careers are a model for you?

SPEARS Well, I like Madonna's career, and what she's done with her family. I like Faith Hill too, just the way she's been able to balance her career and her family.

There is a clear thread to this last response: Ms. Spears's worries are not necessarily related to music, but to balancing her public life with her real life and, eventually, having a family.

When the interview ended, Ms. Spears put on make-up and a dress so that an MTV crew could interview her for a promotional special, "In the Zone and Out All Night." They asked her about the energy level in one of the clubs at which she performed a surprise show, and Ms. Spears dutifully responded that it was great and exciting.

Suddenly, five minutes into the interview, Ms. Spears seemed to snap out of her trance. "This just isn't working," she told the crew. Then she stood up and left the room, leaving the crew and her assistants befuddled. Clearly, as Ms. Spears's publicist later confirmed, her mind was elsewhere.

It was a decision that took a degree of independence, confidence and honesty, which are all mature qualities. But it was also an impulsive act. A more polished pro might have forced herself to snap into focus and give a good interview, even if she didn't want to. Neither choice is right or wrong, but they are emblematic of the crossroads where Ms. Spears, at 21, finds herself: one route may lead to the isolation and disorientation of a Michael Jackson, the other to the perseverance and inner strength of a Madonna. The path Ms. Spears takes is another decision she must make by herself.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.