My apologies for the outburst in my headline up there, but this demands an emphatic exclamation. First-week sales results just came out for Britney Spears’ new album, and not only did she debut at No. 1 (no huge surprise there) — she did it by selling 505,000 copies. That’s a pretty huge number in the midst of a retail downturn. It also makes Britney the first artist in history to have released four albums that have each sold 500,000 or more copies in week 1. (She was previously tied for this stat with Tupac, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and, uh, Garth Brooks, each of whom notched three 500,000 debuts.) I know Britney wasn’t too keen on the word "comeback" in her MTV doc the other night, but what else are you supposed to call this?
In any case, we should be happy for Britney. Circus is a solid example of what she does best, even if it’s not quite as good as last year’s Blackout (which debuted with an underwhelming 290,000 sold). And this is more than enough to qualify for a new edition of EW.com’s Britney Moments Gallery, which Leah Greenblatt has just whipped up for the occasion. Anyone else impressed by this turn of events?
More on Britney Spears:
Britney Spears: From media sideshow to Circus triumph
Circus got a solid B review from EW
Tim Stack mulled over the "Circus" video
EW pondered six possible futures for Britney, post-Circus
Review: Britney Spears’ Blackout
GOO BRITNEY! I’m so proud of u Britney, for you to go through so much last year and come back with a #1 single, #1 album, and an amazing hot body is just PHENOMENAL!
This will go down as the Greatest Comeback in the History of Music!!
YYYAAAYYY!!! Im so happpy becuase the BRITNEY we know and love is topping the charts with an AMAZING album once again and Circus the song should go to number 1 too and the video is already number 1 on itunes and BRITNEY is inspiring and brilliant once again!!!! As it should be!
SHE DESERVES. SHE IS THE BEST
to me this doesn’t feel like a cliche “comeback”, just a new height in her career. but, I’VE been listening to my downloaded Blackout for a year, and it’s not like it was one of those situations where people are like “where’s Britney?” but those numbers do deserve and emphatic DAYUUUM! i’ll be getting my copy soon, deluxe edition.
It’s incredible, last year many people wrote her off and she comes back with an album that outsells both Kanye and Beyonce. Damn Girl is right.
WHY CAN’T YOU PEOPLE JUST LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE! JUST LEAVE HER ALONE! SHE’S A MOTHER AND SHE’S JUST TRYING TO DO THE BEST SHE CAN! LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!!! *SOB*
Her single for “Circis” debuts at #3 tomorrow on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, with “Womanizer” sliding down to number 10. Its the 1st time in Brit’s career that she has 2 songs simultaneously in Billboard’s upper echelon, so yeah the “comeback” is now official, although for us pop music fans, who still bought “Blackout” I’d argue with you that she never really went anywhere, with 3 charting singles last year, and “Break The Ice” was a huge hit here in Philly.
Now to an interesting theory. I’m all about this positive press for Spears, even that MTV doc/love letter, but here’s my stab at a legitimate, yet underplayed “scandal” about her new disc. The song, “If U Seek Amy”, has lyrics that definitely allude to alledged drug use & partying, and the hook simply makes no sense, unless you begin to think of ‘Amy’ as a code word for a party drug. To take it one step further, the title acts as a non-acronym. IUSA = I’m a user or I use. So is this her attempt to once again gain “bad girl” cred?
Regardless of whether people like or dislike Circus’s material and/or Britney as a performer, there is no denying that she has an appeal unlike any mainstream pop artist out there today. Congrats on the success Britney and your record breaking sales!
To Phil Below about “If U Seek Amy”. I didn’t get it at first but after reading in some reviews that there is a hidden meaning I finally figured it out. If U Seek Amy = F*** Me. Listen to the lyrics closely and you’ll see it make sense.
Phil, say If You Seek Amy fast. It sounds like F.U.C.K. me.
why exactly is it a comeback if her other albums sold just as well? she’s been a mess, but still she was never a failure. (except Crossroads)
Tina is the slang name for crystal meth in the gay community. Listen to the lyrics about looking for Amy, smoking up outside, etc. The sexual innuendo is a natural assumption to anyone with an untrained ear about code words for drug use & consumption.
Phil:
“All of the boys and all of the girls want to if you seek amy.”
Sounds out to:
“All of the boys and all of the girls want to F*U*C*K me.”
Sorry for the vulgarity, but sound it out. “Amy” isn’t symbolic for anything except the fact that she didn’t want to come outright and say f**k.
If=F
you=U
see(k)=C
(k)Amy= K me
Britney is definitely looking for her dealer in “If U Seek Amy” Listen to the song with that thought in mind. Its much clearer she is seeking that instead of sex.
Both theories work really.
“Baby, baby have U seen Amy tonight? Is she in the bathroom? Is She smoking up outside?” I just wanna go to the party she is gonna go. Can somebody please take me home? Ha Ha He he Ho Ho.”