BRITNEY SPEARS 
Oops!...I Did It Again (Jive)
Rating: 4 out of 7
By Bob Gulla

   There's a lot to poke fun at on the new Britney Spears recording, not the least of which is the way the record's producers almost completely overwhelm the popster’s voice with effects and backing singers, and the way nearly every sound on the album is the invention of some computer whiz. (I know, welcome to the Age Of Technology. But to these admittedly aging ears, the absence of real drumming is maddening.)
   Still, there's some positive energy coming from the grooves of Oops, Spears's second album. The former Star Search alum and Mouseketeer has, with ample help from lots of older men/computer whizzes, come up with a slick and danceable product that'll satisfy the nation's undeniable craving for sweets.
   Of the missteps on the album, the bastardization of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (message from Mick and Keith: "Thanks!") is excusable, a random dalliance that comes off a little sexy and a lot silly. The Mutt Lange/Shania Twain ditty that Britney covers (in the scariest corporate pop alliance of the '90s,) "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know," sounds like a Shania outtake, weakly melodic and lacking in potency. But the pretty "Where Are You Now," the funky, Prince-like "Can't Make You Love Me," and the innocuous, album-ending pearl "Dear Diary" rescue the record from being a deep-water washout.
   If you're reading this review and you don't already have this album by now, you most likely have no intention of buying it. This review is meant to tell you that, well, you're not missing much. Besides a pop culture phenomenon, that is. 


All recordings courtesy of Jive Records. "Oops!…I Did It Again" and "Stronger" written by M. Martin, Rami; courtesy of Zomba Enterprises, Inc. (ASCAP). "Lucky" written by M. Martin, Rami, A. Kronlund; courtesy of Zomba Enterprises, Inc./Universal-MCA Music Publishing, a division of Universal Studios, Inc. (ASCAP).