BRITNEY SPEARS 'Circus' (Jive)

2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

As titles go, "Circus" isn't quite as timely as "Blackout" in the ongoing Britney Spears saga.

When the latter album hit, about this time last year, Britney Spears was in free fall, turning up chubby and clumsy on the MTV Video Music Awards, losing custody of her kids to K-Fed, running over photographers with her car, being institutionalized.

Now, she is celebrating her 27th birthday with a new album, a recent armful of VMAs and a chart-topping single, "Womanizer," her first since "Baby, One More Time." A well-adjusted Britney? It's no circus.

The good news is that "Circus" is a more fully realized album than "Blackout," melding the singer's original pop influences with her penchant for dance-floor grooves. If you need more than a beat, you can occasionally find it.

"Womanizer," with its sexy swagger and burrow-into-your-brain one-note chorus, is basically an adult update of her teen-pop tease act.

The singing? It's still one-dimensional, although when framed in such busy arrangements, it's not bothersome.

Mostly, the focus is fun, even when the singer takes a predictable shot at the paparazzi on "Kill the Lights." The presence of ominous trombones lends an almost B-movie element to the song, which also uses strings to create a mood of disoriented chaos. "Is that money in your pocket," Spears sings, "or are you happy to see me?"

Fortunately, with lines like that, the wordplay is less essential than the singing.

On "Circus," as in real life, Spears is more entertaining with a side show around her.

SEAL 'SOUL' (WARNER BROS.)

2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

Well, you can't complain about the material.

As its title implies, "Soul" is a collection of soul covers interpreted by the man who gave us "Crazy" and the overblown "Kiss From a Rose."

On "Soul," Seal and producer David Foster keep things leaner, settling for some sassy horns and wah-wah guitar on songs such as "I Can't Stand the Rain." The same understated approach works well on "Knock on Wood," though it's doubtful whether the world really needs another version of this song, no matter how good it is.

That's the biggest impression one takes away from Soul.

"I've Been Loving You Too Long" is heart-wrenching, especially in its opening seconds that so closely evoke the memory of Otis Redding's classic.

In such moments, Seal makes his best case as a suitable conduit to transmit the material to another generation.

Listen to these, then go find the originals.