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
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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.”
If “Cindy Nobody” sang this material, it would not get airtime.
“Womanizer” especially, is a poor song to release on the radio. No lyrics, no storyline, no melody.
how exactly is it a comeback if her last cd sold just as many? she was a mess, but never a failure (except crossroads).
Blackout was way better…but um im more impressed with Ms Swift sticking around at #2 again this week!!! Her CD FEARLESS is AMAZING!!!
Now to get something off my chest that keeps getting put out there. I know “Blackout” wasn’t what her previous albums were in terms of chart success. But look at the circumstances: For a woman, who was arguably mentally ill at the time, to put out her first album in 4 years, have it be her most critically acclaimed album yet, have almost every consumer that has heard it (including myself) say it is her best yet, have it debut at #2 (when it would have been #1 if Billboard hadn’t changed their chart rules that SAME week to let the Eagles take #1) with almost 300,000 copies, have the album nearing platinum sales now in an era when most artists struggle to go gold, have it produce 3 top 50 singles on the Hot 100, including her highest charting single since her first (Gimme More, #3), have one of the singles win 3 Video Music Awards (Piece of Me)…basically, I am trying to say that is an amazing feat. So Congrats Brit on “Circus,” though to some of us “Blackout” was enough!
Congrats Britney on the honors. Wish they hadn’t bent the rules and allow Walmart sales last year otherwise “Blackout” would have debuted 1st. But still, impressive. In fact I think I like “Circus” a whole lot more “Blackout” which held the title of her best CD. I can’t stop listening to it. I love ALL the songs. Amazing accomplishment Britney. In this economy, 500,000 is nothing to sneeze at. Wow.
“If You Seek Amy” is about pure sex. The hidden meaning in the lyrics makes me laugh. They are very clever. I still can’t see it being released as single. Can’t see radio playing it given the hidden meaning of the lyrics. But I could see them thinking of a good video. Since it spells it out in the song. It’s a club song. On one level; IF You Seek Amy is telling us something but the true meaning is completely different. It’s not about drugs; but about sex.
Brit’s appeal is that she is the second coming (imitation) of Madonna.
To all the peeps looking for the hidden drug message in “If U Seek Amy,” are you aware that it was written by Max Martin, the mastermind of bubblegum pop? I hardly think that the same man who wrote “Quit Playing Games With My Heart,” “…Baby, One More Time,” “I Want It That Way,” and “Since U Been Gone” is now writing a song with crystal meth street slang in mind!
Good For her! I am so happy for her that she was able to bring herself together and get through hard times if you deal with a mental illness of any kind its difficult. I have anxiety and that is really hard to cope with, bipolar is worse. I have all her CDs and the new one is great, I like ” Broken Glass”
Britney it’s about time you are back (and in a big way) in our lives!!
She deserves it. Circus is the best turn-your-brain-off-&-dance cd of 2008 and one of the tightest records of her career. Good on ya, Britney!
I read that Britney’s “Circus” debut is only second to Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” debut for the females of ‘08, that means she did indeed triupmh over ALL of her other peers. She is also the first (female?) artist to have 4 debuts selling over 500k. I am so proud that she’s bounced back so triumphantly. I’ve been saying for over a year now that if she at least acted like she wanted to be a singer, everybody would jump back onboard. No matter how bleak things got, she was always one hot single, some reasonable promotion and a good set of hair extensions away from the biggest comeback in history. There are older, more established legends than Britney, but for all intents and purposes:she is the current queen of pop.
Single Ladies
# 1 song in the country.
MTV 2nd best song of 2008.
Rolling Stones # 1 single of 2008!
Go Beyonce!
Britney give up the drugs. And raise your kids.
Mr. FAMU, why’d you come to this post and start raining of ms. spears’ parade?! if you’re trying to start a war between beyonce’s and britney’s fans, please don’t. both are equally amazing artists who found chart success.
i dont get the “uh Garth Brooks” part. i’m not a fan of his, but you gotta give him credit. He was massively huge.