I feel like the mythology surrounding Britney Spears has well and truly eclipsed the actual artistry of her music. An unfortunate turn of events, but in 2022, it feels accurate. The Y2K revival has created a cult of personality around Spears that, in conjunction with the very real and necessary #FreeBritney movement, has overrun her artistic legacy.
“Blackout” especially.
Every review of this album focuses on the autobiographical elements of the work. The lyrics that reference her recent divorce to Kevin Federline, or the production that mirrors and escalates the party girl persona she’d been crammed into by the tabloids. There’s usually some analysis of Piece of Me’s music video, and a tacit acknowledgment that “things got worse”. The standard is a meta-analysis that barely scratches on the surface of what exactly is so amazing about this album. They’re usually pretty good, I will admit.
Part of it is obviously context. Not just where she was personally, but where the music had been in the four albums and various other releases. The eclectic bubble-gum pop of “Baby, One More Time” had transitioned to the more polished “Oops, I Did It Again”, maturing into the compromised but decidedly more introspective “Britney”. By 2003, she landed at the highly sexual, almost parodic “In The Zone”; it’s a vibrant blend of all that came before. That early album run seemed to signal that she had found her groove musically.
The following four years broke not only the pace of music making and touring, but they saw what did make it out to be more branding than musically focused. The too-early “Greatest Hits: My Prerogative”, featuring an admittedly great cover that was paired with songs that seemed to be cast offs from the previous album. An EP to go with her show, apparently made to salvage what the label could from the abortive “Original Doll” sessions - an album that seemed to be cancelled due to spite. Hearing Britney Spears was releasing music in 2007 wouldn’t have felt like a sure-fire win.
What we got was shocking.
Because it’s a dark masterpiece. Not because of where she was personally, although that would have had it’s own impact on the production, but the record as a whole. No other Spears album takes this tone. Hell, no other mainstream pop album in the preceding decade had even begun to get this dark, both sonically and lyrically. It’s a desperate record, escaping into hedonism from personal pain. The foundation for the next decade of mainstream music can be heard in the production by Danja, Bloodshy & Avant and Sean Garret, among others.
That’s evident in hits like Kiiara’s “Gold”, Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble”, Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse”, and especially Lady Gaga’s first few albums. “Blackout” gives us very early Dubstep, laying much of the groundwork for the darker, electronic music by artists like Tove Lo. Hyperpop as a genre owes much of its sound and subject matter to this album, you can hear her in the scattered, almost broken beats of Charlie XCX and Sophie (Rest in Peace).
Very few albums get to be this influential. Many try and most fail.
And so, having established why this album means so much, we’re going to do a definitive ranking. For me, at least. As of writing today. Maybe. Look, it’s hard to choose between your children, and especially hard in this case. My favourite way of consuming these songs is usually together, in one go. But I have put my foot down, so here we go!
This does not belong on the record, deluxe or not. It doesn’t even belong near Britney Spears. Setting aside J.R. Rotem’s comments about their relationship, the song is actively the worst one associated with the album. A sample of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” overwhelms the cascade of airhorns and messy production. So much of “Blackout” and even the leaked demos have a tightness, a controlled nature. They sound cohesive, even as sounds overlap, and vocals get twisted. But Rotem’s choices here are ill-fitting and his production less deft that literally anyone else’s involved with these tracks. Of the 2000s pop divas handling a Eurythmics sample, I’ll take the ‘Get The Party Started’ remix, thank you very much. He has hits in his catalogue I have room in my heart for, but this pointedly isn’t one.
Out of obligation, this makes it on the list. A five-minute bombardment of sound with an extended intro that turns out to be the entirety of the song, it’s surprisingly fun. Not necessarily something you turn to every day, but that isn’t what the track is made for. This is a ready-made club banger that you turn on at 2am with neon lights surrounded by 200 of your sweatiest new friends.
This one is certainly surprising as the originally conceived lead for the album. In many ways it tracks, this is the most ‘Britney’ of the songs officially released. It actually reminds me a lot of “Me Against the Music”, in that it’s a firmly middling song a label would probably find a lot more reassuring that the rest of the album. Which obviously means its reductive of better tracks from years prior. I don’t want to undersell it, there’s a fun energy here. But there’s a reason it went from lead single to deluxe.
This is just a delight. Production wise it’s probably the least “Blackout” of the standard tracklist. The guitar, drums and electronic swell every so often, they contrast against the harder beats that makes up the rest of the record. But the bridge, transitioning into a flood of “baby, baby, baby”s, is just one of my favourite moments on the album – period. It’s significantly more poppy that anything else here, and so lands at the bottom of the standard edition, but don’t take this as an inditement. It’s a good time.
This one might get me in trouble. I do really like “Piece of Me”, but it’s also the worst production on the standard edition of the album. The squawking every 2 seconds is probably the most memorable thing on it (derogative). Lyrically obvious, I find the choices here a little hacky – even if I do think it’s a necessary part of her discography and fun to sing along to. Thematically it fits better than ‘Ooh Ooh Baby’, and it probably bangs live. I wouldn’t replace it for any of the leaked demos, even the ones I like more (not even Sugarfall, and that’s a classic to me), but ask me for a top 5, and it’s never making the cut.
If there’s any song on the album that just doesn’t feel like it’s a Britney Spears record, it’s this one. Even on the album, the braggadocios anthem feels misplaced lyrically on a record that is often about responding, rather than being responded to. There’s something very Pussycat Dolls or Danity Kane about the lyrics here. If you have a chance to listen to the leaked demo version of the track, I’d say it’s worth a listen. Spears’ voice is significantly rawer, leading to a lot of fun vocal moments, and one run at the very beginning that I can never get out of my head.
The song that never left the set list. Despite overplay from being performed maybe a million times in Vegas, ‘Freakshow’ is the most ridiculous but entertaining song on the album. The pop star invites you to the “freakshow” and in a series of lyrics that remind you of a significantly better version of Sam Smith’s recent single “Unholy”. She describes the club turning into an orgy with she and “her girls” - it’s wholesome fun. There’s a point in the last minute of the song where a shift happens and her voice becomes part of the production, sitting in sync with the beat rather than above it. A hit that stuck around for a reason.
This should have been a single. There, I said it. It isn’t my favourite song on the album, but this is an infectious, pulsating piece of late 2000s pop that would have stuck around if it was allowed to. The small moments of call and response between her and Sean Garrett are particularly effective in setting a military mood to the party track.
If “Piece of Me” is a response track to the tabloids, this is THE divorce record, written by Pharrell Williams and produced by The Neptunes. In many ways this has to be part of the album. It’s the closest thing to a close to the narrative that feels like it’s lyrically about escaping pain. It’s Britney’s ‘Survivor’ in many ways, an ode to the end of a relationship and a cathartic finale. But it’s also just an incredibly well produced song, and if Britney and The Neptunes can ever work together again, I’d be thrilled. #JusticeForSugarfall
The single that was contractually obligated to be. How magical! A song that appears on two albums should be twice as good, and while this is a great track, it probably didn’t need to get the full video treatment. That being said, the whole radar theme of the song is commendable and extremely fun. The dings in the instrumental are undeniably compelling, and the way Spears sings the word on the chorus (ray-dahr) is so pop and campy.
Britney Spears herself called this out as a favourite in the one interview she gave to promote the album, and in retrospect, it is amazing. Several reviews I’ve seen have labelled this as one of the weaker tracks, and those people can rot in hell for all I care. In seriousness, I will always have love in my heart for spacey, sweet love songs, and this sits amongst my favourites. But it’s outdone by…
I unabashedly adore this track. The only song from the deluxe edition (Target only) that beats out many of the standard edition tracks, it’s just a beautiful love song. Not necessarily even her best love song from these recording sessions (hello ‘State of Grace’!), it’s simply a joyful experience that I always come back to.
I love good slut pop (not #thatwoman, never her) and this is Spears’ sluttiest song, on or off the album. The vocals are torn up beyond recognition, she’s begging for sex, and the desperate edge this album is built on comes to the forefront here. The chanting of “get naked” is catchy, and lines like “I’m not ashamed of my beauty, you can see what I got” are some of the most explicitly sexual ones we’ll likely ever hear her sing. And considering the album prior to this had an ode to masturbation, that’s a feat.
In a perfect world, this would have been saved for another album’s lead single. I’m dead serious, this is a stunning entrance track that, because of one better song and one more obvious song, got stuck as the third single. That being said, the fact it made it out to radio at all is a testament to how perfectly constructed this is. From top to bottom, this is tightly produced, perfectly paced, and follows the high tension of flirting with a stranger with intelligent lyrics married to an escalating beat that melds seamlessly together.
The ultimate lead single. If you disagree, please exit towards the back – silently. While many tracks on the album are arguably richer, more interesting, lyrically more complex – this is the song that brought a nation together. The globe, really. From the iconic opening line to the catchiest chorus on the album (thank you Keri Hilson, hope the 5G is holding up!), everything comes together just right. But there’s one more track on this list!
I don’t know how to describe the feeling the first time I heard “Perfect Lover”. This is the best chorus on the album, let’s start there. Not the catchiest, mind you, but the best constructed. Lyrically it’s got some of my favourite lines, including a Grace Jones homage on the bridge, and a few gems in the verses. It isn’t the flashiest song on “Blackout”, but it is just…perfect. It’s been my number one from first listen, and it’ll probably be my number one in the coffin.
What’s your favourite track on the album? I’d actually love to know.
Really.
I’m not joking.
hot as ice is my fav 🫣