Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
70
AFI
65
Air
71
Alice In Chains
77
Amerie
70
Anjulie
85
The Antlers![]()
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound![]()
75
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
56
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
72
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness![]()
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan![]()
72
Brendan Benson
72
The Big Pink
96
Big Star![]()
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
51
Black Mold
59
Amanda Blank
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
77
A.A. Bondy
73
The Bottle Rockets
63
Box Elders
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
87
Brother Ali![]()
70
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
78
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
79
Califone
68
Mariah Carey
84
Brandi Carlile![]()
73
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash![]()
69
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
84
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis![]()
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System![]()
68
The Clean
84
The Clientele![]()
71
Cobra Starship
85
Converge![]()
71
Eric Copeland
80
Cymbals Eat Guitars
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
64
Desolation Wilderness
88
Destroyer![]()
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
74
The Duke & The King
66
Bob Dylan
44
The Entrance Band
67
Esser
69
Fanfarlo
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
78
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
59
Frankmusik
77
Fruit Bats
83
Fuck Buttons![]()
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
59
Gloriana
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
66
Hockey
69
Whitney Houston
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
73
Jessie James
74
Jamie T
83
Japandroids![]()
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
69
Daniel Johnston
76
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
65
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
76
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
84
Miranda Lambert![]()
72
Ledisi
75
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt![]()
76
Lightning Dust
73
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
73
Lyle Lovett
66
Lovvers
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna![]()
85
Manic Street Preachers![]()
62
Maps
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
77
Malcolm Middleton
77
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
73
Modest Mouse
76
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
62
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie![]()
78
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
78
Nirvana
97
Nirvana![]()
72
Nisennenmondai
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
68
Nurses
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
73
Osso
81
Owen![]()
76
Paramore
76
Pastels And Tenniscoats
51
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
66
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans![]()
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
63
Julian Plenti
66
Robert Pollard
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
80
Q-Tip
80
R.E.M.
89
Raekwon![]()
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
75
The Raveonettes
76
Jay Reatard
82
Reigning Sound![]()
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela![]()
79
Russian Circles
69
Buffy Sainte-Marie
73
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
75
Sian Alice Group
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
69
Slaughterhouse
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
62
Mindy Smith
83
Solillaquists Of Sound![]()
78
Soulsavers
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
58
Squarepusher
55
Steel Panther
73
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
65
Joss Stone
75
George Strait
83
Barbra Streisand![]()
76
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78
The Swell Season
76
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees![]()
78
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants![]()
67
Third Eye Blind
68
Throw Me The Statue
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
42
The Twang
71
The Twilight Sad
58
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
70
Various Artists
74
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
71
Kurt Vile
67
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
76
Rufus Wainwright
59
Weezer
80
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts![]()
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59
Andrew W.K.
71
Patrick Wolf
67
Wolfmother
84
The xx![]()
70
YACHT
75
Yim Yames
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band![]()
51
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Circus

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 133 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Jive
Release Date: 02 December 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Pop, Dance
Summary
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.'
Also By This Artist: Blackout Britney In The Zone Oops!... I Did It Again
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Halfway through, Circus shifts from defiant booty calls to subtler material; suddenly, it's a first-rate electro-pop album.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Vibe
Tipping a decade long residency within the music industry, Spears’ “comeback” is more so a restoration than a reinvention.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
The cartoonish sound compensates for Spears' lack of range and lung power by allowing her to ham it up.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Circus is a saddening step back to her glossy yet unengaging "In the Zone" era, which is a shame.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 133 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.
