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Femme Fatale is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was released on March 25, 2011, by Jive Records. Spears wanted to make a "fresh-sounding" and "fierce dance album", incorporating dance-pop, electropop, synth-pop and EDM styles with elements of dubstep, techno and trance.

Spears began working on the album during the second leg of The Circus Starring Britney Spears while also working on her second compilation album, The Singles Collection. Its early stages originally had a different direction before Dr. Luke and Max Martin became executive producers.

The contributions to its production came from a variety of producers and songwriters, including long-time collaborator Max Martin in addition to Dr. Luke, Fraser T Smith, Rodney Jerkins, Bloodshy & Avant. will.i.am and StarGate.

Upon its release, the album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its production and dance-pop style, but noted her supposed lack of involvement and heavily processed vocals.

The album debuted atop of the charts in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Russia, South Korea and the United States, and peaking inside the top ten in twenty-four countries.

In the United States, she earned her sixth number one album.

Background[]

In June 2010, during an interview with Rap-Up, Danja commented that he was working with Britney in the pre-production of "Femme Fatale." Darkchild (who was also reportedly working with her) said during a Ustream session in August of 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..."

The album's direction was then changed, and many of the producers Spears worked with weren't used on the album. Leber later spoke with Entertainment Weekly, calling the record "progressive" and "a departure from what you've heard." In November 2010, Dr. Luke announced that he would be the album's executive producer with Max Martin. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Britney explained that she had worked with Luke on an unreleased song for Blackout, stating that "he was incredible back then and he has only gotten better over the years." About Martin, she claimed, "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, Britney said:

"I've poured my heart and soul into this album over the last 2 years. I've put everything I have into it. This album is for you, my fans, who have always supported me and have stuck by me every step of the way! I love you all! Sexy and Strong. Dangerous yet mysterious. Cool yet confident! FEMME FATALE."

On February 2, 2011, Britney announced the album's title on her Twitter account, and also posted an image of the album cover. Following the announcement, the title became a trending topic on Twitter and 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.

She tweeted:

"Can't believe Femme Fatale has been trending 6 days. You guys are my motivation every single day. I love Y'all!"

The album 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 album with exclusive artwork, a 7" vinyl picture disc with "Hold It Against Me" and the full album digital download.

On June 15, 2011, the RCA/Jive Label Group announced that they would be splitting with Jive Records being fully moved under RCA Records. In August, Spears had officially joined the RCA roster. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV paid tribute to Spears with a group of young female dancers that memorialized her music videos, performances and style. Following this, she accepted the MTV Video Vanguard Award from Lady Gaga, who said that the "industry wouldn't be the same without [her]."

On September 9, 2011, Britney announced her second remix album B In The Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 which was released on October 7, 2011. On the same day, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, Spears (and all other artists signed to these labels) would release her future material on the RCA Records label.

Recording[]

In July 2009, Britney announced that she had begun recording new material with longtime collaborator Max Martin for The Singles Collection. The material formed what would become her seventh studio album, and would be completed two years later. She stated her desire to make the album "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 and that the album felt "really connected from start to finish." After "Hold It Against Me" was written, Luke and Martin originally 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 producer Billboard, and Luke commented, "I wanted to make sure it didn't sound like everything else I've done." Darkchild stated that while working with him, Britney was very "hands-on" and "had a lot of ideas for me."

In February 2011, Dr. Luke revealed that a final "cohesive" tracklisting had not yet been chosen. Later that month, Britney worked with will.i.am, who described their collaboration as "something that today needs." Spears also explained that she discovered rapper Sabi through a friend recommendation, and had always wanted to feature a new artist on an album, and they then recorded "(Drop Dead) Beautiful". British producer Fraser T Smith worked with Britney on three tracks and complimented her work ethic, saying: "She made coffee for us all in the studio, her voice was strong and she was totally focused on her music. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I just hope the tracks make the final cut for the album." Heather Bright revealed that "Trouble for Me" was one of the first songs recorded for the album. William Orbit had co-written a track at a writing camp, but it was not recorded. He commented: "[T]he Britney thing. Look, I went to a writing camp at Teresa's. Had lovely time. Word got out. Assumptions were made. Dr Luke is exec[utive] prod[ucer] and he locks in locks out whoever he likes. And (do [I] hear [you] ask) where B's at in all this? I surely don't know." Several other producers also commented on being shut out of the album by Dr. Luke.

Composition[]

Critics 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." She 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." The album was compared to that of Spears' previous albums In the Zone, Blackout and Circus. "Till the World Ends" (co-written by Kesha) was described as an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song with elements of trance and Eurodance. The song opens with sirens and a "sizzling" bassline. Critics complimented the songs "anthemic nature" and "chant-like chorus."

Controversy[]

Despite having favorable reviews, music critics noted Spears' apparent lack of input on Femme Fatale. Singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder defended her, stating that "[Frank] Sinatra didn't write a song, Garth Brooks barely wrote anything, George Strait has had I think 51 No. 1's and he has yet to write a song. Rascal Flatts are one of the biggest country acts in the world, and all of their hits are written by other people." Britney responded to further criticism of her performing abilities, saying: "I don’t really have anything to prove at this point. I just do it for fun and see what happens." Executive producer Dr. Luke stated that "[I feel like] Britney kind of has her own genre: If you look at songs like "Toxic" and "Piece of Me" and "Oops!... I Did It Again", they all were sort of influential and led the way [...] She wanted to keep on with that and do stuff that was 'forward-thinking', So we put some dubstep stuff in there, in bridges; snuck it in different places."

An insider reported that Spears wanted more hip-hop and midtempos on the album, and was unhappy with the electropop and EDM direction brought when Dr. Luke and Max Martin became executive producers. The insider said, "I have to be really careful what I say and don’t, but I get the feeling she will half-ass it. Honestly I don’t think being at the top of the charts is a concern to her. I don’t think she even cares about numbers anymore. She wanted to do the euro dance pop thing, but she had something else in mind too. I can’t say until I get the greenlight. Sorry. But yeah, even tho she likes the euro thing this album is her labels doing and I definitely don’t expect the “old” britney to come back because her original concept for this album was so different to this… I know what the new album will sound like, but I wish she had gotten to do her original idea... her TRUE fans would’ve loved it."

Singles[]

  • The album's lead single, "Hold It Against Me", was released on January 10, 2011.
  • The second single, "Till the World Ends", was released on March 4, 2011.
  • The third single, "I Wanna Go", was released on June 13, 2011.
  • The fourth and final single, "Criminal", was released on September 30, 2011.

Track Listing[]

Standard Version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Till the World Ends"Łukasz Gottwald・Alexander Kronlund・Max Martin・Kesha Sebert3:57
2."Hold It Against Me"Gottwald・Mathieu Jomphe・Martin・Bonnie McKee3:48
3."Inside Out"Gottwald・Jacob Kasher Hindler・Jomphe・Martin・McKee3:38
4."I Wanna Go"Savan Kotecha・Martin・Shellback3:30
5."How I Roll"Henrik Jonback・Christian Karlsson・Magnus Lidehäll・McKee • Nicole Morier・Pontus Winnberg3:36
6."(Drop Dead) Beautiful"Jeremy Coleman・Joshua Coleman・Ester Dean・Mathieu Jomphe・Benjamin Levin3:36
7."Seal It with a Kiss"Gottwald・Martin・McKee • Henry Walter3:26
8."Big Fat Bass"William Adams4:44
9."Trouble for Me"Heather Bright・Livvi Franc・Fraser T. Smith3:19
10."Trip to Your Heart"Jonback・Karlsson・Lidehäll・Morier・Sophie Stern3:33
11."Gasoline"Gottwald・Claude Kelly・Benjamin Levin・McKee・Emily Wright3:08
12."Criminal"Tiffany Amber・Martin・Shellback3:45
Total length:44:00
Deluxe Version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Up n' Down"Savan Kotecha・Martin・Shellback3:42
14."He About to Lose Me"Rodney Jerkins・Ina Wroldsen3:48
15."Selfish"Ester Dean・Mikkel S. Eriksen・Traci Hale・Tor Erik Hermansen・Sandy Wilhelm3:43
16."Don't Keep Me Waiting"Jerkins・Thomas Lumpkins・Michaela Shiloh3:21
Total length:58:34
Japanese Bonus Track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
17."Scary"Smith・Britney Spears・Kasia Livingston3:39
Total length:62:13

Unreleased & Unused Songs[]

  • "Glow In The Dark" - Recorded in the same session as He About to Lose Me. Later released by Carishma.
  • "Licky (Under The Covers)" - Later released by Shontelle. She confirmed Britney recorded the song. Demo pitch by Shontelle and Sean Garrett leaked.
  • "Pleasure You" - In 2012, the song was stolen and leaked with unofficial vocals from Don Philip , This song is also rumored to be intended for her fourth studio album, In The Zone.
  • "Second Chances" - Confirmed by Scott Storch in 2010.
  • "Tonight (I'm Fucking You)" - Myah Marie confirmed Britney recorded the song. Later released by Enrique Iglesias. Demo pitch by Jacob Luttrell leaked.
  • "Unbroken" - Leaked in 2014. Demo pitch by Lindy Robbins also leaked.

Unconfirmed or rejected demos:

  • Antidote - Demo pitch by Lisa Greene has leaked.
  • Anonymus - Demo pitch by Lindy Robbins has leaked
  • Bad Girl - Demo pitch by Monica Rush has leaked. Intended to be a collab with Lil Wayne. Produced by The Fliptones
  • Being Britney - Demo pitch by Jessie J
  • Black Widow - Demo performed by Myah Marie.
  • Blue Sky - Demo pitch by ML Perlman has leaked
  • Break The Circle - Song mentioned by Kasia Livingston
  • Connected - Demo pitch by Coco Morier leaked in 2010.
  • D-O-U-L-U-V-M-E - Demo pitch by ML Pearl has leaked.
  • Femme Fatale - Demo pitch by Bonnie McKee has leaked
  • FX - Demo pitch by Le'Che Martin has leaked online
  • Heads Up - Demo pitch by Frankie Storm has leaked.
  • I Dare You - Demo pitch by Bonnie Mckee and Ina Wroldsen leaked in 2011.
  • I Need A Change - Demo pitch by Ester Dean leaked in 2011.
  • Love Is War - Demo pitch by Shelly Peiken has leaked.
  • Louder - Demo pitch by Tenna Torres and rapper P-Dub.
  • Red Is The Color - Demo pitch by Heather Bright has leaked online.
  • Sorry Adam - Demo pitch by ELXXR has leaked online.
  • Timebomb - Demo pitch by Livvi Franc has leaked.
  • Vertigo - Demo pitch by Coco Morier and Kasia Livingston has leaked.

Accolades[]

"Femme Fatale" won its first awards on Billboard's 2011 Mid-Year Music Awards, where she was nominated in five categories: "First-Half MVP," "Favorite Hot 100 No. 1 Song" (for "Hold It Against Me"), "Favorite Billboard 200 No. 1 Album" (for "Femme Fatale"), "Best Music Video: (for "I Wanna Go"), and Best Tour (for "Femme Fatale Tour") which she all won. There was also a list of Billboard's Mid-Year sales on which Spears was named twice. The album reached number 12 with 590,000 sold units, and her second single "Till the World Ends" number 18 with 1,989,000 million sold units. She was also awarded Best Pop Video for "Till The World Ends" as well the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award with a special tribute for her contributions to music videos and pop culture during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Spears considered the tribute "an honor" and continued: "It was really crazy. I had no idea what to expect. The kids were amazing and so entertaining, and it was a really fun night. It was really cool. I was like, 'Wow, that's really sweet!'" Jocelyn Vena of MTV noted that "for the first time in a while, she seemed comfortable being the pop megastar that she is." Spin named "Femme Fatale" the 50th best album of 2011 and also placed it at number 3 in their "20 Best Pop Albums of 2011" list. Digital Spy ranked the album number 11 at their year end list. "Till the World Ends" was named the third best song of 2011 by Rolling Stone and the third best single of 2011 by Billboard, who described it as "Britney's most immediate single since 'Toxic'." Sam Lansky of PopCrush considered "Till the World Ends" the best pop song of 2011. Digital Spy also considered the track as the best song of 2011, naming it "Britney's best track since 'Toxic'" and "her most underrated hit."

Despite receiving mostly positive comments, Femme Fatale didn't receive any nominations at the 2012 Grammy Awards. John Mitchell of MTV criticized the award show and stated that "Till the World Ends" should have won a nomination on the "Best Dance Recording" category. Robbie Daw of Idolator also stated that Spears should have been nominated, commenting: "She had a #1 album that yielded a trio of hits. So what gives?" Ed Christman of Billboard noted that Femme Fatale was "overlooked" by the Grammy voters. James Montgomery also of MTV, however, noted that Spears has "never been considered a Grammy artist and has won just once during her entire career."

Promotion[]

The first set of promotion included an interview with Ryan Seacrest. On March 25, 2011, Spears performed "Hold It Against Me", "Till the World Ends" and "Big Fat Bass" at Rain Nightclub inside the Palms Casino Resort for an MTV special titled "I Am the Femme Fatale", which aired on April 3, 2011. Spears' manager Larry Rudolph explained the choice of the location in an interview with MTV, saying: "We chose the Palms because the Palms is where Britney has so much history. We performed here with the Britney album, we did a similar thing. We're doing this eight years later now and we're doing it for the fans." Rudolph also explained that Spears' main goal was to entertain her fans and added: "I want them to know — when the fans watch this — I want them to know that Britney is back and better than ever, not that she's ever gone anywhere. But she's back and she's better than ever." The original airing of the special in the United States was viewed by 0.665 million viewers and received a Nielsen rating of 0.3/1 in the key adults 18–49 demographic.

On March 27, 2011, Britney performed the same set of songs in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to a crowd of 5,000 people for a special episode of "Good Morning America" that aired on March 29, 2011. She also performed the same three-song set and participated in two skits on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on March 29, 2011, and also made a special appearance at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. She was also scheduled to make several appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on the week of the album's release.

In April 2011, Britney appeared in a remix of "S&M" by Rihanna, after Rihanna asked her fans via Twitter who they wanted her to collaborate with. She also 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 the "S&M" remix with Rihanna and a short version of the "Till The World Ends" remix alongside Nicki Minaj.

Chart 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 her second-lowest sales for a studio album. 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. The album spent five consecutive weeks in the Billboard top ten. As of January 2013, it has been certified platinum and sold over 769,000 copies.

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, before being surpassed by Britney Jean in 2013. In Germany, the album debuted at number ten, making it her seventh top-ten studio album in a row, and eighth top-ten album with the inclusion of the compilation album Greatest Hits: My Prerogative which peaked at number four. On April 4, 2011, "Femme Fatale" debuted at number one in Australia, making it Britney's first number one album in the country. It was also certified gold in during its debut week for shipments over 35,000 copies.

Critical Reception[]

At Metacritic, Femme Fatale holds an average score of 67 out of 100 (indicating "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 Spears's presence on the album as overshadowed by its "high-class" production, calling the album "essentially a cleaner, classier remake of the gaudily dark Blackout [...] a producer’s paradise." 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 Britney "has turned out the “fierce dance record” she promised. Ailbhe Malone of NME viewed it as her "best work" and wrote that it "brims with the laidback confidence of someone who knows she's back on top." MSN Music's Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ rating, indicating "remarkable one way or another, yet also flirts with the humdrum or the half-assed." Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani commented that Britney'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." Los Angeles Times writer Carl Wilson felt that the album "finds unity of subject, style and sound by imagining scenarios in which vanishing into anonymity can be comfort and liberation."Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski of The Daily Telegraph felt that "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 wrote that Britney "settles into [the production], game for whatever and confident in the hands of trusted professionals who know how to best utilize her."

Andy Gill of The Independent criticized its "single-minded dedication to dancefloor utility" and observed "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, "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." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters wrote, "Spears' worldview is completely self-contained" and described Femme Fatale as "just a big dumb club album."

CD Booklet[]

Physical Versions[]

Album Personnel[]

  • Tiffany Amber – composer
  • Ammo – instrumentation, producer, programming, background vocals
  • Beatriz Artola – engineer
  • Stacey Barnett – background vocals
  • Billboard – instrumentation, producer, programming, composer
  • Benny Blanco – instrumentation, producer, programming, background vocals
  • Sophia Black – background vocals
  • Christian Karlsson – instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal producer
  • Heather Bright – composer, background vocals
  • Jeremy Coleman – composer
  • Joshua Coleman – composer
  • Tom Coyne – mastering
  • Ester Dean – composer, background vocals
  • Megan Dennis – production coordination
  • DJ Ammo – drum programming, synthesizer
  • Dr. Luke – executive producer, instrumentation, producer, programming, background vocals
  • Dream Machine – instrumentation, producer, programming, composer
  • Dylan Dresdow – mixing
  • Eric Eylands – assistant engineer
  • Ashton Foster – background vocals
  • Livvi Franc – composer, background vocals
  • Fraser T Smith – composer, drum programming, keyboards, producer
  • Clint Gibbs – production coordination
  • Aniela Gottwald – assistant
  • Tatiana Gottwald – assistant
  • Venza Gottwald – assistant
  • John Hanes – engineer, mixing
  • Jeri Heiden – art direction
  • Jacob Kasher Hindlin – composer
  • Sam Holland – engineer, background vocals
  • J-MIKE – instrumentation, producer, programming, background vocals
  • Cri$tyle Johnson – background vocals
  • Henrik Jonback – composer, instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal producer
  • Claude Kelly – composer, background vocals
  • Padraic Kerin – engineer
  • Savan Kotecha – composer
  • Alexander Kronlund – composer, instrumentation, programming
  • Adam Leber – A&R
  • Benny Blanco – composer
  • Jeremy "J Boogs" Levin – assistant
  • Magnus Lidehäll – composer
  • Magnus – instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal producer
  • Myah Marie – background vocals
  • Max Martin – composer, engineer, executive producer, instrumentation, keyboards, producer, programming, background vocals
  • Bonnie McKee – composer, background vocals
  • Nicole Morier – composer, background vocals
  • Jackie Murphy – creative director
  • Rob Murray – assistant
  • Chris "Tek" O'Ryan – engineer
  • Chau Phan – background vocals
  • Irene Richter – production coordination
  • Tim Roberts – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
  • Patrizia Rogosch – background vocals
  • Larry Rudolph – A&R
  • Ke$ha – composer
  • Britney Spears - lead vocals, composer, background vocals
  • Shellback – bass, composer, engineer, guitar, keyboards, producer
  • Nick Steinhardt – art direction, design
  • Sophie Stern – composer
  • Ryan Supple – photo production
  • Peter Thea – A&R
  • Dave Thomas – stylist
  • will.i.am – composer, drum programming, engineer, piano, producer, synthesizer
  • Pontus Winnberg – composer
  • Emily Wright – composer, engineer, vocal producer
  • Randee St. Nicholas - photography
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
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