‘BLACKOUT’

‘BLACKOUT’

Britney Spears (Jive Records)

Grade: A-

Just when it seemed safe to write off Britney Spears as a punch line only capable of entertaining people through tabloid escapades, she goes and gets all musically relevant on us. “Blackout,” her first studio album in four years, is not only a very good album, it’s her best work ever — a triumph, with not a bad song to be found among the 12 tracks.

Granted, a Spears rave should be put in its proper context — it’s not like we’re talking Bob Dylan here. Spears is a lightweight singer who only flourishes when she has great songs and great producers to supplement her minimal vocal talent. But when she has that help, she’s fierce. And she gets that boost on every single track on “Blackout,” a sizzling, well-crafted, electro-pop dancefest that should return her to pop’s elite.

“I got my eye on you,” she coos on one of the album’s best tracks, “Radar,” a sexy techno groove that you can’t help but bounce to — a feeling that permeates all of “Blackout’s” tracks. You won’t find any saccharine ballads or fluffy pop on this disc — it’s all about generating heat on the dance floor.

On the aptly titled “Freakshow,” produced by Danja (who worked on Justin Timberlake’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds”), Spears gets voyeuristic with a tantalizing promise to get wild in the club. The hypnotic “Get Naked [I Got A Plan],” also produced by Danja, features Spears breathlessly asking, “What I gotta do to make you move my body” before demanding, “take it off, take it off, take it off.”

It’s not all about grinding to the music, though. On rock-tinged “Piece of Me,” she defiantly addresses her critics: “I’m Mrs. Bad Media Karma, another day another drama ... I’m Mrs. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, I’m Mrs. ’Oh My God That Britney’s Shameless.”’ And on the slow-burn, Neptunes-produced “Why Should I Be Sad,” the album’s last track, she cops to heartbreak but refuses to let it get her down, a rare vulnerable moment.

— Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Associated Press

‘LA CUCARACHA’

Ween (Rounder)

Grade: A

They say actors are the ultimate existentialist icons because they get to have many lives, while the rest of us have to settle for just one. Similarly, there is something admirable about Ween’s 25-year quest for the ultimate buzz, musical or otherwise, and their Zelig-like ability to utterly inhabit any genre they choose — country, metal, funk, psychedelia, even jazz — and satirize it at the same time.

That’s again the case with “La Cucaracha,” the 11th full-length collection by Dean and Gene Ween. It’s yet another peerless revolving-genre spin-cycle that includes but is not limited to: Santana-esque prog; faux-sexist redneck-rock; woozy nitrous-soaked pop; “Looney Tunes” country & western; deep-dish dub reggae; and a couple of baroque-pop charmers. Detractors tend to dismiss Ween as a “South Park” lounge band, making music for people who never got over Mad magazine. But given the size, scope and authenticity of their put-ons, I’d say Dean and Gene Ween are something closer to Zen tricksters than holy fools.

— Jonathan Valania, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘THE BLUEGRASS SESSIONS’

Merle Haggard (McCoury)

Grade: A

This album is Merle Haggard’s first foray into bluegrass, but in essence it’s just Merle being Merle, which means it’s pretty darn great. This is less about the country titan following the strictures of the all-acoustic form than it is Haggard bending the form to suit his own, mostly honky-tonk-informed rhythms and range, while imbuing it with his usual gravitas and feeling.

Haggard delivers superb new versions of some of his classics, including “Mama’s Hungry Eyes” with Alison Krauss on harmony vocals, and he again indulges his love of the Singing Brakeman with “Jimmy Rodgers’ Blues.” His new songs, however, show his muse to be as sharp as ever. “What Happened?” is not the simple-minded nostalgia piece it might seem to be — there are a ton of ways you can read the key line “Where did America go?” And “Learning to Live With Myself” is a simply devastating ballad, one of the best he has ever written.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘THE TRUMPET CHILD’

Over the Rhine (GSD)

Grade: A-

Since forming in 1990, Over the Rhine has ranged beyond its origins in conventional rock and pop. With “The Trumpet Child,” the husband-wife duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist continue to synthesize American sounds in their own captivating way.

Country, jazz, cabaret and gospel echo through songs that are both straightforward (”I don’t want to waste your time/With music you don’t need”) and evocative, with Bergquist’s full-bodied, torchy vocals enhancing the late-night intimacy of it all. There’s a clattering tribute to Tom Waits (”Don’t Wait for Tom”), and Randy Newman seems an obvious influence. He’s not named in the songs, but the other artists who are give an idea of the wells Over the Rhine draws from. They include Satchmo, Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris and John Prine.

— Nick Christiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘EVERYTHING IS FINE’

Josh Turner (MCA Nashville)

Grade: B

Like Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley, Josh Turner manages to create traditional-leaning country music without sounding out of date. Also like Jackson and Paisley, he’s a songwriter with a family man-image who pushes boundaries and draws on sensuality and humor without ever sounding tasteless or playing on stereotypes.

On “Everything Is Fine,” he continues that streak, starting with the initial hit, the randy, mile-a-minute love song “Firecracker.” As in the past, he takes risks with material while emphasizing values that are important to him, including family and Christianity. He also eases into new territory with a smooth duet with R&B star Anthony Hamilton on the jazzy, sophisticated “Nowhere Fast.”

With a distinctive baritone voice that can purr and growl like a four-barrel engine, Turner reaches into the past with a playfully revved-up take on “One Woman Man,” a Johnny Horton hit that George Jones took back up the charts in the ’80s. But it’s the originals where he shines, as on the playful, finger-snapping “So Not My Baby” and the lusty romance of the mid-tempo “Baby, I Go Crazy.”

Turner isn’t country music’s flashiest new star, but he may be its most reliable one.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘SUPPLY & DEMAND’

Playaz Circle (DTP Records/Def Jam)

Grade: C-

The Georgia rap duo Playaz Circle must realize that a Lil Wayne cameo can be the ultimate gift and curse. The New Orleans rapper lends the plaintive sing-songy chorus to Tity Boi and Dolla’s chart-climbing single “Duffle Bag Boy,” from the pair’s largely unremarkable debut CD “Supply & Demand.”

But the downside is that Wayne, as on most of his guest spots, steals the show from his collaborators. Around the track’s church organ stabs, he weaves his raspy, melodic croon: “If I don’t do nothin’ I’mma ball/ I’m countin’ all day like the clock on the wall/ say go and get your money little duffle bag boy/ now go and get your money little duffle bag boy/ Get money!”

When Playaz Circle attempts to keep pace with Weezy, some metaphors seem ill-chosen, especially Tity Boi’s boast: “I am on my [expletive], I need a Pamper on me/ Toilet paper on the side/ for example, homie.” Ultimately, the song’s a prime example of the album’s main flaw: Tity and Dolla’s inability to leave a lasting impression without outside help.

The disc’s best songs stand out because of its guests. “Betta Knock” features a haunting flute, slow-funk beat and a rhymed chorus from Ludacris. Later, Phonte from Little Brother offers his warmly sung vocals on “Paper Chaser.”

Yet when the duo takes the lead on cuts such as the gold-digger dis “Paint Still Wet” and street hustle ode “We Workin’,” you can’t help but wonder what other rapper/singer could inject the tracks with some more excitement. Unfortunately, it’s probably not the type of demand Playaz Circle had in mind when they named this album.

— Brett Johnson, Associated Press

‘UNBREAKABLE’

Backstreet Boys (Jive)

Grade: C

The Backstreet Boys haven’t changed — we have.

We grew up. And while it’s true that they’re chronologically older then they were a decade ago when their self-titled debut placed them squarely in the midst of the boy-band zeitgeist — and there are only four of them now instead of five — they’re essentially still pumping out the same kind of music they always have.

And so you’ll be forgiven, upon listening to “Unbreakable,” for thinking you’ve heard this album before. Because you have — it sounds an awful lot like 2005’s “Never Gone,” which produced the hit “Incomplete” and solidified their footing in adult-contemporary territory. (Seems the Backstreet Boys insist on identifying themselves by what they’re not: The title of the first single off “Unbreakable” is “Inconsolable.” Unbelievable!)

One thing they aren’t anymore is a quintet. Kevin Richardson — who, at 36, hasn’t been a boy in the backstreets or anywhere else for a long time — has left the band for that tried-and-true reason, to “pursue other interests.” You’d never miss him, though: In his absence. AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Nick Carter have continued performing the same sort of innocuous pop meant to distract you while you’re leaning back and having a cavity filled.

“Unbreakable,” which has nothing to do with the 2000 M. Night Shyamalan film of the same name, consists of two kinds of songs: wistful, piano-heavy ballads (“Inconsolable,” “Love Will Keep You Up All Night”) and upbeat dance tunes with peppy electronic beats (“Everything But Mine,” “Any Other Way,” “Panic”).

The vocals remain solid, the harmonies smooth. Familiar and safe, there’s nothing extraordinary about “Unbreakable,” but at the same time, it’s completely inoffensive. But you have to give the Backstreet Boys credit for this much: 10 years after the heyday of their genre, they’ve found a way to remain productive, if not entirely relevant.

— Christy Lemire, Associated Press

‘DIRT FARMER’

Levon Helm (Vanguard)

Grade: B+

Levon Helm’s new CD sounds like a time capsule.

Forget for a minute that Levon Helm was told he would never sing again.

Instead, close your eyes while listening to his first solo studio album in 25 years, “Dirt Farmer,” and try to convince yourself it’s not the work of a 1930s-era singer discovered by Alan Lomax or Harry Smith.

Helm, famous for his work with The Band, manages to sound both old and new at the same time by returning to his rural roots in “Dirt Farmer.” Of its 13 songs, five are traditional while the other eight are covers of songs by Steve Earle, A.P. Carter and others. The newer songs mix perfectly with the old, thanks in large part to the production work done by multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell and Amy Helm, Levon’s daughter and a member of Ollabelle.

Helm, his voice older and more grizzled but still strong, would sound great even if he wasn’t making his first recording since doctors told him in 1998 that throat cancer would end his singing career.

On “Dirt Farmer,” Helm sounds relaxed and at home with the music he loves. Luckily for us, he was willing to share.

— Scott Bauer, Associated Press