Britney Spears "In The Zone" Album

	Title: In The Zone Format: Album Label: Jive Released: 2003-11-18
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Tracklisting & Lyrics

Reviews

If 2001's was a transitional album, capturing Ms. Spears at the point when she wasn't a girl and not yet a woman, its 2003 follow-up, , is where she has finally completed that journey and turned into , the Adult Woman. Like her peer Christina Aguilera, equates maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs, but since she's not as dirrty as Xtina, her spin is a little different. Where Christina comes across like a natural-born skank, is the girl next door cutting loose at college, drinking and smoking and dancing and sexing just a little too recklessly, since this is the first time she can indulge herself. And that's what is -- indulging herself, desperate to prove that she's an adult. She has been freed from her musical parent, Max Martin, who is absent for the first time from a Spears album, choosing instead to play the field and work with a bunch of different collaborators, including Madonna, Moby, the Matrix, Trixster, Roy "Royality" Hamilton, Bloodshy & Avant, and R. Kelly. Since she's so determined to be a woman, not a girl, she has completely shed the sugarcoated big hooks and sappy love songs that drove her stardom, concentrating on music that glides by on mellow grooves or hits hard with its hip-hop beats. It's all club-ready, but despite some hints of neo-electro and the Neptunes, it doesn't quite sound modern -- it sounds like cuts from 1993 or Madonna's and . Production-wise, these tracks are not only accomplished but much more varied than any of her previous albums -- in particular, Moby's "Early Mornin'" has a sleek feel, Mark Taylor's "Breathe on Me" is alluring, and the Bloodshy & Avant productions, "Showdown" and "Toxic," are irresistible ear candy in what is surely 's most ambitious, adventurous album to date. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide.

However coy she might be in her public statements, Britney Spears leans more than a bit toward the provocative on In the Zone. Less concerned with aiming at the mainstream radio dial than in the first days of her career, she and her collaborators make this as street and club ready a record as possible. The opening duet with Madonna, "Me Against the Music," is worthy, but the bigger superstar’s presence serves almost less as a performance than a key to Britney’s intentions: as Madonna did on albums such as Erotica , Ray of Light, and Music, she’s out to bend current trends to her needs. R. Kelly, Moby, and Ying Yang Twins all provide stirring moments that draw on everything from Bollywood to Southern hip-hop, while one of the most impressive tracks, "Touch of My Hand," joins the proud tradition of Cyndi Lauper’s "She Bop." She still lacks a fully formed artistic vision of her own, but Zone, with its many get-free anthems, puts her much closer. ~Rickey Wright, Amazon.com.

Do you think that ol’ Britney Spears is trying just a bit too hard to copy her apparent idol, Madonna? Yes, the whole smooching thing at the MTV Music Awards last year's was overblown and goofy, (and probably done more to revive Madonna’s sagging record sales than it was to boost Brit or Christina - who also shared saliva with that Material Girl that day) and was the same shock value schtick that Ms. Ciccone used to successfully used in the early 90’s.
But what worked for her may not do the same for Britney.
Where as Madonna did campy stunts and acted fairly obnoxious at times, she had the credibility of the tunes to back it up - a place where Britney is seriously lacking.
The initial single from In The Zone, “Me Against the Music,” (featuring – oddly enough- Madonna) is a flat attempy at hopping on the Techno trend, failing as a dance ditty, a strong pop song and a strange video didn't help. Knowing this, she follows up with the just as lame “Toxic,” which will be known more for its video of a barely clad Brit who smooches and acted the flirt with a number of gents (hey…didn’t Christina do the “naked thing” last year? And much better?)
However, she does score on the CD on “(I Got That) Boom Boom,” which features the Ying Yang Twins, who are still lingering with the buzz they created last year due to their collaboration with Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz on “Get Low.” But, as good as the song is the idea of a pop star inviting a rapper to guest really an original idea anymore?
One does hold out hope for Britney as – like her or not – she is a huge pop sensation. But you just hope that somewhere down the road she will do something original (or at least interesting) to merit the fact that her bank account has swelled to figures that we (who work much harder) can only dream of. ~John Reed, music-critic.com.