Blackout
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	61/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Blender
Robert Christgau	B+
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
NME	4/10
The New York Times	Favorable
Pitchfork	Favorable
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine

Blackout is the fifth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on October 25, 2007, by JIVE Records and the Zomba Label Group. Opting to re-establish her music career after her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003), she began planning the project in 2006. Work continued into 2007, during which time Spears' much-publicized personal struggles, including several instances of erratic behavior and her divorce from Kevin Federline overshadowed her professional endeavors.

Blackout represents a musical departure from Spears' earlier work featuring a foreboding and atmospheric tone in terms of musical and lyrical direction. She collaborated with producers including Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, Sean Garrett, and The Neptunes in several recording studios around the United States, including Spears' home in Los Angeles, with the intention of creating uptempo, high-energy music. Their efforts resulted in a primarily dance-pop and electropop record, which sees additional influences from Euro disco, dubstep, and funk. The lyrical themes revolve around love, fame, media scrutiny, sex, and clubbing.

Upon its release, Blackout received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who complimented it as Spears' most progressive and consistent album. The Times named it as the fifth best pop album of the decade.

Blackout was originally scheduled to be released on November 13 in the United States, though it was ultimately rush-released after several unauthorized internet leaks. It was expected to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, but debuted at number two with first-week sales of 290,000 copies after a last-minute rule change. Consequently, Blackout is distinguished as Spears' first studio album not to debut in the number-one position in the United States, although it was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for exceeding one million shipments. The record charted in the top-ten of several national charts internationally, and has attained several certifications worldwide. By the end of 2008, Blackout had sold 3.1 million copies worldwide.

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Wikipedia