MUSIC REVIEWS: Britney Spears, The Eagles, Neil Young, Carrie Underwood, Backstreet Boys

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BRITNEY SPEARS "Blackout" (Jive) 2.5 stars

I'll spare you any jokes about the title of Britney Spears' new album, out of respect for the pop princess' recent problems with drugs and alcohol.

Everyone seems to be waiting for her latest train wreck. After all the public meltdowns, crotch shots and her appalling performance opening MTV's VMAs show in September, her new album has to be a joke, right?

Not so fast.

Does "Blackout" contain high-quality songwriting? No. Is it particularly meaningful? Hardly.

But Spears has managed to block out the maelstrom of her personal life to create an album that's almost uniformly energetic, sexy and fun.

"Blackout" has heavy doses of techno beats, and one might expect them to sound dated and out of place. But instead, they sound fresh, as if someone finally thought of adding some digital oomph to contemporary pop and R&B songs.

Things start off weak with Spears declaring, "It's Britney, bitch" to kick off the inane first single, "Gimme More," which has a decent, dark beat that's ruined by her forced, gimmicky vocals. "Piece of Me," Britney's answer to all the tabloid attention ("I'm Ms. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous/I'm Ms. Oh My God that Britney's Shameless"), is clever, but doesn't flow smoothly.

But from then on, the album gets better, starting with "Radar's" squelching trance synths and the sultry groove of the Janet Jackson-like "Break the Ice." The next three songs are the album's strongest: The Moroder keyboard-powered "Heaven on Earth" has a dreamy `80s feel mixed with Depeche Mode's haunting side; the stomping electro of "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)" is perfect for a steamy club; and "Freakshow's" quavering keyboard riffs under Milkshake-style vocals just might bring all the boys to the yard.

Add the funkadelic future club hit Hot as Ice's singalong chorus - "I'm cold as fire, baby, hot as ice/If you've ever been to heaven this is twice as nice" - and "Blackout" rivals Britney's previous work.

The comeback has officially begun.

Pod Picks: "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)," "Freakshow," "Hot as Ice."

-Michael Hamersly

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EAGLES "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) 3 stars

It's easy to be put off by the Eagles, in particular, ol' curmudgeon Don Henley, who complains about corporate greed on several new songs on "Long Road Out of Eden," the Eagles' seventh studio album and first in - wow - 28 years.

Henley bemoans how we "worship at the marketplace while common sense is going out of style" on the cranky "Business as Usual," yet the Eagles have partnered with Wal-Mart to sell the set. (The two-CD, 20-track "Long Road" can also be had via eaglesband.com).

It's easy to gripe about that dichotomy, but sincerity was never the Eagles' strongest point. Glorious harmonies and irresistible songwriting has always been the reason for the Eagles' vast reach. For lengthy stretches of the exquisitely produced and tuneful "Long Road," the Eagles' return to the studio is most welcome.

"Long Road Out of Eden" opens with a near a capella snippet, "No More Walks in the Wood," and the four-part harmonies are as immaculate as ever. The Top 25 country single "How Long" is instantly familiar in the "Already Gone" mode. The infectious "Busy Being Fabulous" is prime pop and the seven-minute ballad "Waiting in the Weeds" offers a patented pretty Eagles melody and delivery as if the ensuing decades since 1979's "The Long Run" never happened.

Not everything's as stellar. Timothy B. Schmit's sugary ballads, Glenn Frey's pallid Tropicali closer "It's Your World Now" and the cloying "I Love to Watch a Woman Dance" could easily be scrapped. The ambitiously sprawling title track jeremiad never quite gels into a full-bodied song the way "Hotel California" did. (This is where distinctive guitarist Don Felder, fired in 2001, is especially missed).