Maps of Music

Blackout (2007)

Where the lyrics of Blackout take you, and where it was really made.

Blackout was moved up two weeks after leaking online, and it became Spears' first studio album not to debut at number one.

Key places

Recording begins in Las Vegas (2007)

Recording site Studio at the Palms — Spears began recording the album at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas in August, while she was eight months pregnant with her second son. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Radar recorded in New York (2007)

Recording site Sony Music Studios — Radar was recorded with Ezekiel Lewis and Patrick M. Smith of the Clutch at Sony Music Studios in New York City, the day after Spears filed for divorce from Federline. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Fifth studio album by American singer Britney Spears
• Released October 25, 2007 by Jive Records
• Spears executive-produced the album, the only one on which she is credited as executive producer
• Primarily dance-pop and electropop with R&B, Euro disco and dubstep influences
• Lyrical themes include love, fame, media scrutiny, sex and clubbing

Background

• Released while Spears' personal struggles were highly publicized and overshadowed her professional projects
• Originally slated for November 13, 2007, but rush-released after leaking online
• In November 2003, while promoting In the Zone, Spears said she was already writing songs for her fifth studio album
• Divorce from Kevin Federline was finalized in July 2007, with joint custody of their sons

Recording

• Spears first met J.R. Rotem in Las Vegas in March and recorded four songs with him
• Danja began working with her in July, and a team of writers contributed tracks
• Recording began at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas in August, while she was eight months pregnant
• Recording continued at her Los Angeles house three weeks after she gave birth

Cover

• Album cover and booklet images were photographed by Ellen von Unwerth
• The cover shows Spears with black hair, a pink dress and a white fedora
• The cover received a negative critical response

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi; American singer known as the "Princess of Pop".
• Began in the early 1990s in the musical Ruthless! and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.
• Signed with Jive Records in 1997; debut single "...Baby One More Time" topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
• Debut album ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) are among the world's best-selling albums.
• Credited with driving the late-1990s revival of teen pop.
• Sold an estimated 150 million+ records; one Grammy, six MTV VMAs, seven Billboard Music Awards.
• Placed under a conservatorship; it was terminated in 2021 after her testimony.
• Announced leaving the music industry in 2024; catalogue reportedly sold for about $200 million in 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic score of 61 out of 100 from 24 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it state-of-the-art dance-pop
• Blender's Dennis Lim called it her most consistent album, a bright and brash electropop collection
• Entertainment Weekly's Margeaux Watson called it a perfectly serviceable dance album
• Pitchfork's Tom Ewing called it superb modern pop
• Slant's Sal Cinquemani compared it unfavorably to In the Zone
• PopMatters' Mike Schiller called it utterly disposable and ultimately forgettable
• NME said the heavily processed vocals made Spears sound robotic

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield called it one of the most influential albums in modern pop
• Dazed's Alim Kheraj (2017) called it one of the most inventive pop records in recent history
• In 2017, Billboard, The Fader, Nylon and Vice regarded it as Spears' best effort to date
• The Independent ranked it third on its list of the 20 most underrated albums ever
• Rolling Stone ranked it 80th on its 2025 list of the 250 greatest albums of the 21st century so far

Records

• US Billboard 200 debut at number two with first-week sales of 290,000 copies
• First Spears studio album not to debut at number one
• Canada: debut at number one with 29,000 units, platinum from CRIA
• UK: debut at number two with 42,000 units, platinum from BPI for 300,000 shipments
• Australia: debut at number three, platinum from ARIA
• Japan: peak at number four on Oricon, gold from RIAJ
• United States: double platinum from RIAA in October 2023
• Worldwide sales of 3.1 million copies by the end of 2008
• Won Best Album at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Spears executive-produced the album, and it is the only album on which she is credited as executive producer.
• The release date was first set for November 13, 2007, then moved up to October 30 after unauthorized leaks.
• Zomba Label Group sued Perez Hilton over at least ten songs and unfinished demos the blog had posted; the case was dismissed in 2009 after a settlement.
• Spears' only televised appearance for the album was a performance of Gimme More at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, which critics universally panned.
• The booklet has no thank-you list, unlike the booklets of her previous albums.
• Blackout was chosen as the title from options that included Down Boy and Integrity and Dignity.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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