Britney Spears:In the Zone

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * *)

Should this album prove as risque as it thinks it is, one possible headline that Ms Spears can add to her collection: "Phone sex lines face downturn, Britney blamed."

The suggestive bits come with Madonna duet on opener Me Against The Music (alternative title: "Aunty snog me one more time"), the post-coital mumbler Early Mornin' (produced by Moby), the very come-hither Showdown and her ode to personal DIY Touch of My Hand. Those songs make it clear that Spears wants to suck the last bit of life out of Madonna's pop career, with its aping of Maddy's albums, especially Ray of Light. That upping the attitude and compressing her limited singing voice into sleek, electro-grooves works best on the likes of Toxic with its jittery collision of beats, strings and surf guitar or Brave New Girl with its feeling of Material Girl cast-offs. But when it attempts to go dancehall (The Hook Up) it's awful and when it emotes through a big ballad (Everytime) it reminds her that Mickey Mouse Club stint wasn't that long ago. In the Zone might aim for erogenous, but too much of it is just no-go.

Label: Jive