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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Circus
by Britney Spears


8.3

based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 129 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

Britney tries for another comeback with her sixth album, which features 'Womanizer,' her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single since '...Baby One More Time.'

LABEL:	Jive
RELEASE DATE:	02 December 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Pop, Dance

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Sputnikmusic

Circus is a top-rate pop album that, with a little bit of justice, will be afforded the same sort of longevity as her brilliant early singles.

Billboard

The singer does double duty as a dance diva and brokenhearted balladeer. It's no easy feat, but when Spears shoves aside the tabloid trauma and hooks up with the right producers--on this album it's Guy Sigsworth, Danja, Dr. Luke and Max Martin--she is in a class of her own.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

For better or worse, Spears is, as she says on the title track, "a put-on-a-show type of girl," and when she sticks to that credo, Circus works.

Entertainment Weekly

Halfway through, Circus shifts from defiant booty calls to subtler material; suddenly, it's a first-rate electro-pop album.

Rolling Stone

The clubby, adventurous pop on her sixth album--her first since getting committed and losing custody of her kids--would have made a fine follow-up to 2003's In the Zone.

The New York Times

Most of her new songs are crisp, cunning dance-pop with a touch of schoolyard singsong. Just before they grow mechanical, they’re zapped with new effects or catchy melodic interludes.

Vibe

Tipping a decade long residency within the music industry, Spears’ “comeback” is more so a restoration than a reinvention.

Boston Globe

The fistful of dance tunes are fashionably stern, saddled with ominous strut and anonymous throb. But Britney is a palpable presence here, a flesh-and-blood singer.

Dot Music

If Circus had ended at eight songs, it would be a curveball pop classic but sadly--as with recent Beyonce, Alesha Dixon and Pussycat Dolls releases--the album bloats to twice that length.

The Guardian

Circus isn't bad as pop albums go, but whether by default or design, it's substantially less edgy and exciting than its predecessor.

Blender

Trying to express her actual feelings, instead of inhabiting a fantasy, she leaves us looking for an authenticity and vulnerability that isn’t in her skill set.

PopMatters

Not everything hits the target, even with her hands gripped tightly around the controls, but she’s offered us something intermittently wonderful that proves she can still black us out even when she’s on the up and up.

All Music Guide

If she feels marginally more connected here than she did on "Blackout," it's a Pyrrhic victory, as Circus never feels as sleek or addictive as its predecessor.

Slant Magazine

Wildly if transitorily enjoyable at turns, vacuous and ignorable at others, Circus doesn't quite feel like a comeback, but I'm sure Brit's not above merely bringing pre-comeback.

musicOMH.com

Obviously all is still not perfect in Britney's world, but Circus still does more than enough to remind us of why she's one of the world's most iconic pop stars.

Prefix Magazine

"Blackout" seemed like it signaled a more club-orientated path for Spears, like Madonna or Kylie Minogue, but Circus is a hodgepodge of pop themes that never really finds a face.

New Musical Express

Her voice--treated and autotuned to within an inch of its life throughout--still sounds like that of the Mouseketeer who brought us '...Baby One More Time’, with every breathy “Mmmm… yeah!” and all the oh-so-naughty lyrics, such as the ones above, sounding forced and unconvincing. Of course, on a large number of the tracks here she has the solidly cool-sounding (no doubt expensive) backdrop of futur’n’b pop.

Los Angeles Times

The cartoonish sound compensates for Spears' lack of range and lung power by allowing her to ham it up.

Hartford Courant

It's too bad the best songs here don't really match up with her best performances, but that's nothing new for Spears.

NOW Magazine

Spears is immersed in an often trite, intensely narcissistic look at her existence, crafted almost entirely by songwriters other than herself. That’s not to say that some of the songs aren’t catchy or danceable, but they’re wasted on a singer who brings no real personality along for the ride.

Hot Press

Cynical vocodered mediocrity.

cokemachineglow

Circus is a saddening step back to her glossy yet unengaging "In the Zone" era, which is a shame.

The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 129 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Billy I gave it a10:
Well Ms Spears you are certainly back and this albums proves it. You are really the comeback queen with this amazing new album full of pop-dance tracks each could be a single. Your best work to date without a dout. A+++

Joshua S gave it a10:
One of her best albums yet. A range of moods shown on this album. Although auto tuner is used on some songs, her voice still sounds natural and fairly powerful on most of them. She's (almost) back to her best. Good job Brit!

Dale O gave it an8:
This was a solid effort by Britney and her team, and the album does hold together very well. The album is full of catchy anthems which are guaranteed hits no doubt, but the album does have one or two tracks that seem to drag on a bit. A problem that wasn't seen on her sleek & sexy predecessor Blackout.

Richie F gave it a10:
This is Britney Spears's actual come-back album. With brilliant hooks and a master production, you cannot go wrong with this album. She has gained a new fan in me by creating this masterpiece! Standout tracks include the beautifully wonderful "Unusual You" and the hook infused "Kill the Lights!"

J. M gave it a10:
In my opinion her best album to date. There are no pointless songs that were tossed in just to fill the slots, every song has a purpose to make this a brilliant album.

anonymous N. gave it a10:
Britney's personal life may be a circus of its own, but with this Circus, she proves once again that she can shove aside the paparazzi and the rumors for long enough to make a successful, poppy, and infectious dance album. Best tracks are Circus, If U Seek Amy, Womanizer, Shattered Glass, and Kill The Lights.

Chris S gave it a0:
Terrible and horrible album.

Circus by Britney Spears

Circus
by Britney Spears