How Did You Feel When Circus (Album) Came Out?

[Kletus]

If you were a fan at the time, how did you feel?  I was a member of this forum and I remember liking the music videos and being happy her music was smashing, but I definitely felt something was off. I did know about the conservatorship, like everybody else here, and it just felt really… creepy. It was just an unsettling vibe the entire era. What were your thoughts?

[PokemonSpears]

I wasn't on the forums back then. Up till that point, Britney was still being talked about everywhere on the news, etc, like I would see her on the MSN front page etc lol so I didn't feel the need to look for more info (later I found out many things I missed, from leaked stuff, demos, rumors, etc).

So when Womanizer and Circus came out I was like "THIS is the Britney Spears I fell in love with", but watching For the Record was pretty sad. So I don't know I really wanted to believe everything would get better from then on.

The album itself, I really liked many of the tracks, the more pop ones, others still reminded me of Blackout, so it took me more time to get to like them. I was on my first year of high school, and I remember people, like random people listening to her singles from Circus, but it's like they didn't connect the dots that it was THE Britney Spears from back in the day, with Oops, Slave, Toxic, etc, it's like, idek who they thought she was, but it's like, they liked her, but didn't know her from before. You might remember how there was this strange phenomenon that lasted for several years where a portion of the population kept thinking for years that somehow she was still with her head shaved as if that episode had just happened the day before or something. So people that weren't stans it's like they couldn't believe "how fast" she "recovered", so it just couldn't be the same girl. Does it sound familiar to y'all, or I was the only one experiencing that with the GP? lol

 

I really thought her personal problems would be over now that she had her kids back. I genuinely believed not that her father saved her, but that they were really there supporting her and wanting the best for her. I thought that what we saw on For the Record was just like the kickstarting of the new era, but she was eventually gonna be left on her own. 2010 is when I got more lost, because since she didn't release any music, only those clothing lines, and the Glee episode, etc, news and blog sites stopped talking about her, career wise, at least here where I live. I wasn't really following the things related to the hearings and stuff (thing is, even here in Mexico, celebrities are always facing trials, lawsuits, all sorts of legal issues that I always find so boring because it's never as bad as the gossip sites make it sound, so unless it makes the news news, it can't be anything serious).

Then in 2011 the "a morning to remember" message came out and I was like "wow wow wow, what did just happen here? what happened to Britney?" but that's another story for another time

[TakeYourHand]

Well I remember a lot. I remember the hype of being a Britney fan was at an all time high. 

When Womanizer came out I didnt like it. Didnt hate it either but I remember feeling like it sounded too modern and had no soul. I also was still overly obsessed with the Blackout sound and wanted that again. It felt like a step back. Ironically where I love Womanizer today, it was a step back because there was no artistic growth. She really grew between Britney, ITZ, and Blackout. It went from raw to phony. I remember liking the video but it felt cold again like the song. Too modern with no soul. I felt a pure sadness that entire era. The energy was sad. Some could say Blackout was sad but I felt rebellion and rock n roll. I felt her soul. 

By FF era she was just numb. Robotic. No feelings.

Back to the album. Even until this day ill listen to Circus and generally like most songs but the album feels like its still missing something. I think its that magical Britney energy. Idk. By the end im always stuck feeling like any pop girl could have made this record. 

Initially Unusual You, Shattered Glass, Phonography, Trouble, IYSA and maybe Womanizer were the instant standouts. Its funny because thats when fans started saying her bonus tracks were always better lol. 

Final note. I bought it at Target and watched FTR with my Mom around the same time who wanted to hold her and died a year later. Last Brit song my Mom heard was 3. She loved it.

[GirlOnTheMoon]

To be quite honest, I didn't like the album that much. I think that it was between Blackout and Circus that I solidified the fact that I was a fan of her as a person before I was a fan of her as an artist. A little offtopic, but Britney taught me to fight my demons. She taught me to be resilient and keep going...Ok so back to Circus, I still don't listen to most of the songs except for the iconic Circus, Amnesia, Phonography and Quicksand. In The zone will always be my favorite album and Glory my second. After Circus and Femme Fatale I remember feeling sad because I was not enjoying her albums as much anymore...But then the glorious Glory came out and stars aligned in my life once more.

Ok, so back to Circus again lol. I got to be first row in Miami (Also, merch during Circus was AMAZING!!! I spent so much money that night)...I couldn't believe how close I was. At one point she looked straight into my soul while she was in the cage. It was an amazing night, but it also felt weird...All I could think about was if she truly wanted to be there?

Anyway, I know the question was about the album. I bought the album on her website and also went to Target to buy another copy. I watched FTR from my parent's living room and I remember just wanting to jump inside the TV and give her a huge hug...That documentary made me so sad, and to this day I can't understand that there are people out there that hate her. 

[Kletus]

Ugh THANK YOU for everyone who commented!! I feel exactly how you feel. It’s crazy how this time period showed how great the music was.. but how we ALL knew something else was going on!

[Tanya25]

I felt like Circus was a downgrade compared to Blackout and it made me sad, I was younger but I felt that something was off...  I couldn't put my hands on what it was (I mean, now I know it was her being forced and all but I didn't know at the time) She didn't need a ******* conservatorship... She just needed time to "heal" from all that she had gone through back in 2005/6/7 

[princessmimi]

To be honest,

I was just super excited for her comeback!

I wanted her to be the pop princess superstar I grew up loving.

So when Womanizer and the Circus album came out, I was stoked.

I didnt really know or care about the conservatorship but then

again I was only 14/15,  of course I didnt know what I know now of the conservatorship.

Its just a shame how this comeback was never Britney's idea but just her stupid dad and team con

to make money off of her 

[britisthecolor]

I knew Britney before Circus, I used to see the music videos from her previous albums on the television and a music channel used to continuously televise Do Somethin' and I was obsessed with the song, the video and her barbie-ish beauty.Also, my dad used to burn songs of Britney, Anastacia etc to compact discs even though he didn't understand the lyrics and we used to listen to those discs in the car.And in 2007, I was aware of the things she was going through but I was a child, so, I didn't really understand much.But I remember being scared of the images of her shaving her head because seeing bald people used to scare me when I was a child, Idk why.I used to sleep with my parents if I saw someone bald in movies etc.I remember my mom sent me to the market to buy some bread once but I came home crying without buying bread because I saw a bald man on my way to the market. So, her infamous pictures traumatized me a little.

Anyways, like I said, I knew her and some of her songs before 2008 but Circus is the album that made me a Britney Spears fan.I was 11 years old and 2008 is the year when I started listening to foreign music thanks to my dad and his discs and thanks to Acun Ilıcalı ( a TV persona who hosted Christina Aguilera on one of his TV shows that year and made me fall in love with her voice, that's also how I started trying to learn English).Still to this day, Circus is my favourite Britney album and it's the last album that gives me classic Britney vibes with the tone of her voice, with the vocals and the production etc.

Some songs were leaking before the album dropped and I used to listen to Unusual U and Out from Under a lot but I used to think that Out from Under was fake and that maybe Bill Kaulitz was singing it.  One of my cousins was a Tokio Hotel fan and she used to make  me listen to their songs and I thought Britney sounded like Bill Kaulitz even after the album came out.

I was obsessed with TCSBS, it's still my favourite tour even though it's not her best choreography/dance wise.I used to always look at the pictures and watch the videos from the tour and admire the outfits, the stage and everything...

[Brave New Girl.]

I felt happy she had come back. I was in 6th grade during the Circus era so that's when I first started to get into her besides Blackout I heard some of those songs on TV shows and such. But once it progressed to Femme Fatale, I was still interested, but I could tell she didn't care anymore. I was more of a fan of her as a person than her music.

[pieceofphil]

For me Circus lived in the shadow of lady Gaga the fame and Katy Perry and the likes.

It was a solid album, the release date for December was a bit odd for a full on pop album even if it was her birthday. The performances were fire, she had good days and bad days. 

You could see that Britney was holding back on public appearances, was somewhat having the spark and not at the same time and all her peers reinvented pop while she didn't seem that invested in the new music. There were recordings of rehearsals for the tour and those were fire and little britmas. But overall after her being in the con and it never explicit being said what that means for her felt as if she was handled to some extend. But I would have never guessed to what extend.

 

 

[BanMeBoop]

Every person in here is full of complete **** “but I felt something was off” LIES you are saying this now in hindsight y’all ate circus era tf up and didn’t even know what a conservatorship was I’m so tired of the fake users on here if you thought something “was off” the same year the conservatorship started why didn’t you do anything? Because you are lying 

[ElenaB]

22 minutes ago, DJBringItBack said:

Every person in here is full of complete **** “but I felt something was off” LIES you are saying this now in hindsight y’all ate circus era tf up and didn’t even know what a conservatorship was I’m so tired of the fake users on here if you thought something “was off” the same year the conservatorship started why didn’t you do anything? Because you are lying 

tbh i believe everyone saying they felt something was off. when Circus came out we were obsessed with Britney not dancing like she used to. it’s not even the fact that she was under the cship. most of us didn’t know about it and we felt that her family was saving her. personally I thought that sam lufti and the shaved head and everything that happened in 07 was her hitting rock bottom, so when the circus era started i understood she was kind of traumatized. she didn’t talk as much in interviews and she looked sad and detached from the project. after the previous eras, it really felt like something was off. like i said, the main complaint here in the forum was that she didn’t dance like she used to. the womanizer promo performances were not that well received in the fandom, and the circus tour choreos caused a huge meltdown between the fans. we were selfish back then, we didn’t understand anything but the britney we saw was completely different from itzney. that’s why at least i realized things were not that great.

back to the music, i really liked the circus album. i was 15 when it came out and i didn’t enjoy the blackout sound back in the day (IM SORRY GODOUT), so the pop sound of circus was more appealing to me. i didn’t like womanizer tho (i still don’t like it to this day), but i loved the rest of the album, the aesthetics and the mvs. 

[Brat]

It made me finger my ***** for a year 

[pieceofphil]

49 minutes ago, DJBringItBack said:

Every person in here is full of complete **** “but I felt something was off” LIES you are saying this now in hindsight y’all ate circus era tf up and didn’t even know what a conservatorship was I’m so tired of the fake users on here if you thought something “was off” the same year the conservatorship started why didn’t you do anything? Because you are lying 

The fact itself that she nor anyone around was allowed to talk about the con seemed off and sure it was not like OMG free Britney she has no rights, it was rather a gut feeling that every interview (of that were very few for a tour and new album coming out) she couldn´t speak freely. On tour she screamed things like merry christmas in summer or rock out with your ***** out and after a few incidents they seem to have blocked her mic. I thought team con did damage control and she looked sad that her life is restrained to get her in a better place but that she became a puppet on strings nobody could have seen that coming.

[Louis-j]

I don't remember honestly but I think I was a bit let down by the vocals, as you can hear less her personality than on previous albums and compared to all the unreleased songs we got then. Little did I know it would be worse with the 2 next albums. 

[BoyDeChanel]

1 hour ago, Louis-j said:

I don't remember honestly but I think I was a bit let down by the vocals, as you can hear less her personality than on previous albums and compared to all the unreleased songs we got then. Little did I know it would be worse with the 2 next albums. 

Same for me, I was let down by the vocals, overall sound and feel of the album  Over time it grew on me, especially Unusual You

[blackingouthenegativity]

I was really excited. At first, I thought Blackout felt cheated, but I was really hoping Britney was going to be back on top of the world. No stan during that time can tell me they weren't excited to get another full Britney album one year after her best work. 

I knew that the conservatorship existed, but didn't fully understand it as I was 14. My Mom pretty much raised me to be a Britney stan from a young age and told me the conservatorship was a good thing so I just believed what she told me. I remember her showing me the story of it being made permanent on the Yahoo front page and felt a little sad but always convinced myself that maybe she wanted the conservatorship. A frequent line sold to us stans was that she needed it to fend off all of the lawsuits and vultures coming after her. 

I performed all of it in my living room when I was home alone lmao. I particularly loved Shattered Glass, Mmm Papi, Unusual You, Blur and Womanizer when it came out. 

It was slightly more acceptable to like Britney again whereas during Blackout, I had to be so secretive about stanning her. No one understood the genius of Blackout at the time. 

[ivosoares]

I was really under the impression that she wanted the conservatorship to protect herself, and because I was watching her all medicated and numb on stage (especially during femme fatale) I genuinely thought that she wasn't well, and that she wanted to have that assistance, that was the level of media manipulation that team CON was doing at the time, and I fell for it. 

I also believed the m e t h claims from Sam Lutfi back in 2012, I really thought she had a **** problem and that's why the conservatorship was put in place. I didn't know anything about her looking for lawyers and speaking out, they really hid it well from the general media.

Little did I know that the strange behaviours and weird movements on stage, were because they were drugging and abusing her.

Then from 2016/2017 I was beggining to think that something wasn't right, things started to come out and I started feeling weird about the conservatorship. But Circus is still one of my favorite albums, I think it's really underrated.

[Frankie8]

I was excited she was making a comeback, being played on the radio, the videos, and doing promo again.

I didn't like the lack of dancing, the shyness that was so opposite of ITZ confidentney, the strange behaviors that happened as the tour continued. I had disappointnents.

I was happy she was back on top, but it wasn't the same Britney I knew.

[Itsme]

I knew something was off just bc she was dancing but the passion wasn’t what it was. But the signs were sooooo much bigger with femme fatale album. Just go watch videos and you can clear as day see she was miserable. I remember being at that concert and I was on shrooms and could still tell she wasn’t feeling it lol