RECORD REVIEWS

March 27, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Britney Spears

Album: “Femme Fatale” (Jive)

Grade: B

Even when Britney Spears was in the midst of her Charlie Sheen-esque breakdown, she was putting out grooves to wear out the dance floor; 2007’s “Blackout” is the best album she ever made, though the drama of that time overshadowed it.

Since then, she’s continued to pump out taut jams that have kept her musically relevant, even if she’s turned into sort of a Howard Hughes in private. The larger-than-life persona that morphed from jailbait to sex kitten to wild child has been rendered bland, perhaps the most dangerous thing that can happen to a pop star.

Thankfully, there is one place where she still shows her spark — in her music. On “Femme Fatale,” the follow-up to 2008’s “Circus,” Spears — with plenty of help from megaproducers such as Dr. Luke, will.i.am, and longtime collaborator Max Martin — shows that she can still give the Lady Gagas and Rihannas of the pop world a serious challenge on the dance floor.

“Femme Fatale” is a nonstop party, starting off with a fun flourish with the poppy “Till the World Ends” and winding down with the dark, downbeat “Criminal.” There’s nothing especially original on the tracks in between, but Spears’ vocals give already catchy tracks even more appeal. While she’s never been on the vocal level of Beyonc or even Gaga, her voice, though thin and occasionally nasally, does have a pouty charm. On the throbbing “Inside Out,” she sounds like a sexy cougar; “Trip to Your Heart,” with its electronic synths, has a dreamy disco feel. The driving “Hold It Against Me” is one of the album’s better tracks.

— Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Associated Press

THE STROKES

Album: “Angles”

Grade: B

The Strokes’ fourth album, “Angles” (RCA), could have been a return to breakthrough “Is This It” form. It could have been the long-awaited next step in their evolution, following the ambitious, underappreciated “First Impressions of Earth.” Unfortunately, it’s neither.

Instead, “Angles” is an exercise in band dynamics, an example of how compromise doesn’t always work and why true rock-band democracies are few and far between. That becomes all the more maddening after such a promising start.

The dueling guitar styles of Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi on “Machu Picchu” — part Afro-pop, part British invasion — successfully suggest the more ambitious route. The shuffling minimalist rock groove and Julian Casablancas’ enticing ache in “Under Cover of Darkness,” the first single, plops us right back in 2001, when The Strokes led a bumper crop of “the” bands and a new fascination with the Lower East Side. And “Two Kinds of Happiness” offers something else entirely, moving from loping new wave a la The Cars’ “Tonight She Comes” to a frenzied guitar battle.

It starts to unravel from there, though. Soon, we get only fragments of good ideas, flashes of brilliance surrounded by the half-heartedness that comes from trying to keep everyone happy.

“Angles” shows how hard it is to keep five talented, opinionated guys moving in the same direction, but it also shows how great The Strokes can be when they do.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

CHRIS BROWN

Album: “F.A.M.E.”

Grade: C

Even if Chris Brown gets his wish and no one remembers he punched Rihanna in the face, his new album, “F.A.M.E.” (Jive), still sounds lost.

Brown needs a new persona. He can’t pull off the street tough like his collaborators in “Deuces” or “Look at Me Now,” especially after Busta Rhymes steals that one. He’s not believable as the sweet innocent in the Michael Jackson-sampling “She Ain’t You” or the forlorn “Should’ve Kissed You.” That leaves him with anonymous dance artist, which he adequately plays in “Yeah 3x” and “Beautiful People.” Maybe he can hide out there for a while.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

Duran Duran

Album: “All You Need Is Now” (S-Curve Records)

Grade: B

When producer Mark Ronson began working with Duran Duran on “All You Need Is Now,” he reportedly challenged the ’80s pop veterans to revisit the sound of their formative musical years and conjure up a follow-up to the band’s 1982 hit-spawning album “Rio.” And on most of the new album’s 14-tracks, the musical DNA of the British group’s early sound is hard to miss.

On the funky “Girl Panic!,” the percussion recalls the group’s classic “The Reflex,” while on the moody ballad “Leave A Light On,” the synths may bring to mind another seminal Duran Duran song, “Save A Prayer.”

Of course, when you’ve been putting out records for more than three decades, it’s not easy to cover up your musical tendencies.

Founding guitarist Andy Taylor is absent, but the new album overflows with Duran Duran’s other sonic staples: lush synths layered over driving, dance-floor-ready bass lines; disco-inspired percussion, frequently accented with Latin beats; and, the high-flying, moody vocals and harmonies.

— Alex Veiga, Associated Press

JENNIFER HUDSON

Album: “I Remember Me” (Arista)

Grade: B

Jennifer Hudson knows how to live. She turned her loss on “American Idol” into Oscars and Grammys for her debuts in film and music. She won roles in the hit “Sex in the City” flick, a successful Weight Watchers ad campaign, and as Winnie Mandela in a coming biopic. She has a man and a baby. Things are good. Joyful, even. That ebullience practically springs from Hudson’s pipes and radiates through even the few lackluster moments on her sophomore effort, “I Remember Me.”

On a CD recorded with less production frippery than her first album, the powerful vocalist has just enough attitude and theatricality to express the dry humor of R. Kelly’s “Where You At.” She’s never too cold or too hot as her rich alto saunters through the cocksure “I Got This” and the forlorn “Gone,” with occasional gruff huskiness in her voice. The sole misstep is “Feeling Good,” a Nina Simone classic, in which the bluesy track’s arrangement is somewhat formless for Hudson’s formidable presentation. Still, she sounds dynamic. That’s living.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

AVRIL LAVIGNE

Album: “Goodbye Lullaby” (RCA)

Grade: C

It’s not easy for a skater/punk/mall rat to mature with grace. Singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne can attest to that. Since her first rip-snorting CD, she’s played the hard-pop princess, the contemplative Hot Topic Goth, and the cool, fawning doe. At each stop, Lavigne used cocksure melody and age-appropriate lyrical grappling as her guide.

This time, Lavigne’s reflections get the best of her, mulling as she does her divorce from Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley with a moping, emotional display that seems more like limp affectation than anything else. She can’t make angst work for her, in words or music. Weirder still is that Whibley produced the lamest cuts on “Lullaby.” The saccharine balladry of “Everybody Hurts” is guaranteed to give you a sinus headache.

What works is when glossy hit-making mixer/songwriter Max Martin teams with Lavigne for the potent likes of the Farfisa-filled “What the Hell” and the catty, bratty “Smile.” Lavigne may not do a whole lot of grinning on those cuts, even when Martin boosts the bass and lifts “Goodbye Lullabye’s” energies. But it’s better to look good than to feel good in pop. Cheer up, A.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

RAEKWON

Album: “Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang” (Ice H2O/EMI)

Grade: B

As evidenced by 2009’s decade-in-the-making “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ... Pt. II,” the new Raekwon is the old Raekwon. We’re not complaining. Striking while the iron is hot, the Wu-Tang torch bearer returns with “Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang,” his second album in less than two years and fifth solo effort overall.

While not as hypnotic as Cuban or as urgent as Ghostface’s recent “Apollo Kids,” “Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang” creates a world unto itself, one in which cinematic drug dealers watch kung fu flicks and move to the sound of Ennio Morricone. Drum snaps become swollen with horns and strings, and a two-minute track (“Crane Style,” “The Scroll”) can make every second count. In Raekwon’s vision, street life is both dangerous and alluring, and no detail is too small to include.

— Michael Pollock, Philadelphia Inquirer