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

[TakeYourHand]

1 minute ago, PCROBERTO said:

The only thing that I know for sure is that she was already loosing her freedom and artistic control. I was excited for her to be on the top but sad that, deep inside we all knew that something was happening to her. 

If Britney decides to make a comeback right now, it would be the REAL comeback, something that she would really enjoy cause she would express herself the way she wants. I hope she does it at some point so she can say, I did it the way I Wanted to do it. 
 

 

I think everyone thought it was just the aftermath of her breakdown. Britney dominated so no one took the time to consider she needed a break. Also team con looked like the heroes and everyone felt a sense of relief. It was so different back then. I highly credit social media for the #freebritney movement. Hollywood cant hide or control narratives anymore. Also I think one of Britneys biggest blessings was Covid. People were bored and had time to dig. We wouldnt have BJ unless those snapchat conspiracy videos were made in 2020 for example. Covid and social media played a huge role. Off topic I know lol.

[TakeYourHand]

I also remember these two underrated fan moments from that era. Loved the NYC one. The girls in the second video would be my nightmare if I had to do that for work lmao.

 

[yorkster]

When the era just started out, it was like "Yay, Britney's back!! This is THE comeback!! All the horrendous stuff she had to deal with during the last era is gone!!", and very quickly, reality hit and it was more of a "Oh... dammmn, ye, this all feels extremely sugar coated". I actually remember feeling a little lackluster with the whole Circus era. Breaking it down:
- Womanizer took a while to grow on me. I remember thinking that the video was just a poor man's copy/paste of Toxic which irked me and that's possibly why Womanizer didn't bang imo... skip to her X-Factor performance and seeing that fire in her eyes (mostly down to the reception she got and a friendly face in Brian being there I reckon) and that proper gave me chills.
- Circus, loved the song & video, but that single's time felt squashed as it came out at the same date as the album, so my attention was sort of split between that and "ooh, we've got tons of new tracks".
- If U Seek Amy, solid third single... but third singles never really have hype unno.
- Radar, no baby no. I understand the contractual obligations, but still, messy.
- The album itself, some of which leaked before it's release, I can remember loving the original Out From Under and Brit's version just isn't the one in that respect. Kill The Lights felt like a copy/paste Piece Of Me, rumours that Shattered Glass was an unfinished track gave that a "oh, hm, ok" vibe to it, and the 2nd half of the album never lit up for me if I'm honest... but saying that, I was still addicted to Circus, If U Seek Amy, Unusual You, Phonography and the circus version of Womanizer which I had to rewatch the X-factor clip cos the fanmade studio versions didn't hit the same.
- For The Record, now that **** just made me sad. Even my mum was saying "She could do with coming to Wales & staying with our family. We'd hide her and look after her". Obviously that'd never happen, but the fact my mum knew very little about Britney and was saying that with conviction spoke volumes about how obvious it was what Team Con were doing to her, and in that, I suppose is why I couldn't fully enjoy the era because I felt it too. I think we all felt what was happening but didn't want to believe it was true :/ cos that's, well, f#%king awful for anyone to have done to them.
- The Circus Starring... Tour, great concept, and polished in regards to how much money was obviously thrown into it. I did think she was scoring a lot of the dance moves through most of the tour but would never admit that in fear of being attacked by the army who wanted to praise everything back then - but her heart wasn't in it *shrugs*, there were some clips that showed sparks of her old self, enjoying the performances and giving it some which was nice to see, but I didn't feel the urge to buy a ticket to go see it. As far as I was concerned, if Britney isn't enjoying herself, I'm not going to be able to enjoy it either... and I was also kinda bummed that Gimme More still didn't get the performance treatment it deserved until the FF tour!

All that moaning aside though (HA!), the Circus era as a whole is a lot more enjoyable in today's times. The cloud of the conservatorship doesn't weigh it down so much, and with the leaked tracks and mixes from that era thrown in, kinda rounds the era off nicely.

[officialmaurice]

I remember being relieved that she didn’t lose the edge she had been cultivating prior to… you know… but gems like “Blur”, “Shattered Glass” & “If U Seek Amy” made sure we didn’t forget. And then the MANY VocalNey moments!

[everybodygoesdown]

I was here and honestly it was very strange.

Jordan was really going hard against Jamie, and he did not get enough credit for that.

As someone with legal background I couldn’t wrap my head around how it was possible that she was deemed so incapacitated that she would qualify for a conservatorship on one hand, and then already be put on a stage on the other hand.

I was like “doesn’t she need rest and time off ?” 

[Kletus]

29 minutes ago, everybodygoesdown said:

I was here and honestly it was very strange.

Jordan was really going hard against Jamie, and he did not get enough credit for that.

As someone with legal background I couldn’t wrap my head around how it was possible that she was deemed so incapacitated that she would qualify for a conservatorship on one hand, and then already be put on a stage on the other hand.

I was like “doesn’t she need rest and time off ?” 

Yes Jamie called Jordan and threatened him he was talking about it so much. I was 17 at the time so nobody gave a sh.*t what I thought.  But I knew it was wrong, that she seemed very unhappy, and that she didn’t deserve to be in this situation where all of her rights were suddenly gone. She never did anything to anybody to deserve that.  She never spoke about it again after FTR so there wasn’t much that could be done. The media wasn’t allowed to ask her about it, she didn’t think anyone would believe her or care (according to her testimony), and Lou and Jamie would threaten or sue anybody who tried to bring it up. It was very dark.  Of course, we didn’t know the extent of it or what was going to happen. At first it really could have been used as a way to get the paparazzi to stop, since apparently lawmakers were not interested in creating anti-paparazzi laws yet for some reason??? But then as time went on and then FF happened, it just got worse and became apparent that Jamie had absolutely no intention of ending the conservatorship. But femme fatale is for another topic… 

[Stefani]

Well I was mostly shocked because I didn't think Britney would release another album just one year after Godout, and frankly my expectations were really high. I liked the album from the start, but these days I'm less keen about it because I now feel like Britney was forced to record that album.

[electricopop]

Well I still listened to Blackout at to the point when Womanizer came up. Wasn't really a fan of it at first,  cause I was kinda surprised that she release new material months after the whole Jan '08 fiasco. 

I remembered rushing out to my local music store to get the CD when it came out to get some free poster! Lol.

[JordanFiller]

I felt like: This bitc is releasing music month after Xtina and her greatest hits album   

[Moscow]

2 minutes ago, TheRealLou said:

I felt like: This bitc is releasing music month after Xtina and her greatest hits album   

Where were you? Unfortunately Circus sold more 

But as a good person I bought both 

[JordanFiller]

Just now, Prachi said:

Where were you? Unfortunately Circus sold more 

But as a good person I bought both 

Don't lie.

I didnt care about Circus, because Blackout was still a smash for me. Actually this album is a mess. Forced collaborations with Max Martin, some leftover tracks with Danja that dont come even close to Blackout songs, some nonames. Actually Womanizer is a great song, but its a weird history. A song from some production duo that did like 3 songs in their career. Weird. Doing that great song and not doing much in future after that... Anyway this album still has 'more' Britney than FF and BJ inside. 

[Moscow]

Just now, TheRealLou said:

Don't lie.

I didnt care about Circus, because Blackout was still a smash for me. Actually this album is a mess. Forced collaborations with Max Martin, some leftover tracks with Danja that dont come even close to Blackout songs, some nonames. Actually Womanizer is a great song, but its a weird history. A song from some production duo that did like 3 songs in their career. Weird. Doing that great song and not doing much in future after that... Anyway this album still has 'more' Britney than FF and BJ inside. 

Not lying, I do have Christina's complete discography except Louts and Liberation for me those are horrible. But I like circus especially Blur, Phonography, Shattered glass and Unusual you. BJ is not her album, they destroyed that album for her half sung by Britney so I don't consider that one her album. 

And yes Circus did sell more 

Stream como yo the best on the EP 

[JordanFiller]

Just now, Prachi said:

Not lying, I do have Christina's complete discography except Louts and Liberation for me those are horrible. But I like circus especially Blur, Phonography, Shattered glass and Unusual you. BJ is not her album, they destroyed that album for her half sung by Britney so I don't consider that one her album. 

And yes Circus did sell more 

Stream como yo the best on the EP 

Liberation its a great album and Como Yo its the weakest song on the EP, dont even try to show me that you being a musician again please

[Moscow]

Just now, TheRealLou said:

Liberation its a great album and Como Yo its the weakest song on the EP, dont even try to show me that you being a musician again please

I love Como Yo, and being a musician doesn't have to do anything with taste and preferences 

Liberation and Louts I don't like, Bionic is the real deal for me. For me EP has no weak songs 

Anyway Toxic Pony having more streams than her whole EP, a remix outdoing with zero promo what is this nonsense I want justice 

[JordanFiller]

3 minutes ago, Prachi said:

I love Como Yo, and being a musician doesn't have to do anything with taste and preferences 

Liberation and Louts I don't like, Bionic is the real deal for me. For me EP has no weak songs 

Anyway Toxic Pony having more streams than her whole EP, a remix outdoing with zero promo what is this nonsense I want justice 

No.

[Mr. AmericanDream]

I was about to turn 15 when it came out and i do remember sometime in Nov her label released a press release (lol) and it was the album cover and the new single Womanizer/ release dates etc & I was genuinely excited because just 10 months earlier she was starting the new year off in such a situation, so that drastic turn around really felt nice amongst the fans & i think we all really felt the lightness of circus contrasting Blackout and it felt so nice. We saw her stabalizing and taking trips and going to the studio and dance studio often. So by the time came we saw she was coming out of set in the Womanizer outfit and ppl gagged lol. There was just a lot of hype and welcome in how she musically conqured again in style and the charts.

The Blackout to Circus transition really shows that lane of pop artists leading the "good girl gone bad" vibe Very much like RIhanna's transition from Rated R to LOUD,  Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next to Sweetener, Billie Eilish When we fall asleep... album to Happier Than Ever. And all came after Blackout & Circus

 

The biggest difference was just how awkward things seemed because we didn't understand the full scope of detriment & control everyone had that wasn't Britney. For the Record was the first and only true insight we had to Britney's opinion of her situations & even in some of her saying things just seemed very vague. She felt waaay more introspective & guarded as a person & her performances didn't translate in the same way they did in the earlier 00's & its not to say they were bad but they were vastly off beyond just someone saying "Britney just fell off/ is falling off", it felt like she wasn't there in some of these performances & there's a lot to factor in and none to really blame her for. Things and a lot of things were going on and happening to her and causing ripple effects. I think her circus tour is so ******* amazing. It truly completes a Holy Trinity of shows shes done thus far (DWAD tour, the Onyx Hotel tour & Circus Tour).

[PickleSpears]

I loved the album and the first three videos but I knew it was different because of the performances and live interviews. It was disappointing bc she was supposed to be fully back and she wasn't and I didn't really understand what was going on with her personally at the time. I remember going to the Circus Tour for the first time and it was a lot of fun and a great show but she barely danced and it cemented that she was different from then on.

[Paxton]

Now THIS is a thread that I can get behind!! I can remember sitting in my Freshman Year (H.S) yearbook class and Jenna, a senior was talking about Womanizer and literally said like word vomit "she looks dru**ed in that music video" the entire class laughed at me because I seemingly announced it. Flashforward to the now famous clip of the makeup artist putting on her fake tattoos for the video where Britney is saying "Im really mad" or whatever and everyone is like "then why are you smiling" (and she looks like she is in a trance) - the character they were preparing for  is the waitress in the womanizer music video which is exactly the part where I said she looked dru**ed. 

Aside from that revelation - I felt like there was so much going on in Britneys life - I couldnt believe that Music was what the priority was set on, the tracks KILLED, obviously but it seemed too soon and it also (at the time) I felt that it was a far-cry from the masterpiece that was Blackout. It felt like it was the label just making her do these new songs. Well now knowing what I know - it was validating, heartbreaking for Britney but validating for me. 

(side note) I can also remember sitting at home and watching the infamous LT interview on the Today Show in 2008 and I everytime I watch it I remember when I thought "who TF is this lady?!" and then when she names the Spears it is as Follows: Jamie Spears, Lynne Spears, Brian and Jamie Lynn Spears are ALL wonderful people" and I thought "this interview is about Britney - why isn't she a WONDERFUL person? This seems odd and weird - in my HEART I KNEW that something was wrong but the world was convinced she was "crazy" so talking to any adult about it was pointless - I just chalked it up as the pop star I loved and adored had changed for good  - but in reality - I was (and a lot of us) were right all along - it was shady and weird!!! 

 

[JordyAF]

I was SO excited. She was everywhere again. VMAs. Gma. Magazines.  I remember Watching all the specials on MTV leading up to it, recording GMA, and going to Walmart to buy a copy. I knew Something was off but couldn’t quite put my finger on it considering I was Only 11 years old. A special time for fans with dark backstory for Britney sadly.