She’s a pop legend – if someone even hears the words “hit me baby,” there will almost always be a reply of “one more time!” Britney Spears is at it again with her new album Britney Jean, released 29 November, which she says will be the most personal of all of the ones she has released prior. The album art is very similar to the Miley Cyrus album Bangerz, featuring the same font that resembles a neon sign and a simplistic picture of the singer on the front cover.

From the singles Spears has already released that will be from the upcoming cd, I don’t have very high hopes for it. The only one that stuck out to me was “Perfume,” a power ballad that many critics are comparing to “Everytime,” which personally, I don’t agree with. This track stands more on its own, and although it has a good message, it drags on for too long, just like the other singles.

I’m not going to sugarcoat this- the music is awful. After not even one minute of listening, a weird emotion that’s a mix of anger and confusion rises up inside of me and I have to close my laptop. I feel guilty for letting my speakers have to work to release the worst sounds that I’ve ever heard mixed together. Although it’s not appealing to my ears, it might be able to soothe other people’s woes.

The album opens up with a slower-paced track: not exactly a ballad, with elements of pop, and features catchy lyrics that could possibly be a metaphor for something deeper. It’s a good starter for the album, not throwing listeners off with an overwhelming party song, but still pulling in interest. As always, though, there is also that one song off every album that people are associated with the most; that one song that is constantly played on the radio. This song in particular is “Work Work,” a high energy song that may or may not be personal, because of the content.

Spears decided to place “Perfume” as the third track on the album, which had me predicting the set up- alternating meaningful tracks and nonsense pop. I was proved right, as the next song, “It Should Be Easy,” featuring Will.I.Am., was fast paced and something that would be heard in the background of a car commercial.

Most of the songs, although varying in tempo, ended up sounding the same. “Chillin With You,” a track featuring little sister Jamie Lynn Spears, fell flat with generic lyrics and beats that can be found in any other song. It had the potential to be something great and deep, even for a party song, but just bored me in the end.

Most of the songs seem to reflect the same thought- how hard Spears worked to get where she is now, and she’s decided to bare it all in her eighth album, at age 35. The irony in this, though, is that she didn’t really seem to “reveal” much at all. Unless introducing dubstep and featuring artists who were last relevant in 2007, Spears didn’t do much to majorly advance her career.

Less than a month after her release, Spears’ spotlight was greatly overshadowed by Beyoncé’s surprise album, one that which changed the game completely, and that is much more worthwhile to listen to. I give Britney Jean 1 out of 5 stars.