Britney Spears: Classic or Dud?

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Now listen, how has this obvious one not been done? Bloody Destiny's Child but not the Brit. Weirdos. Anyhow, Britney Spears: goddess on par with Marianne Faithfull or talentless silicone slapper? YOU BE THE JUDGE!

― Ally, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

About as genuine as the "chicken" served by KFC, Britney Spears is pure product. Relevant? nope. Gifted? nope...or not in a musical sense at least. The one refreshing thing about Mz.Spears, however, is that unlike, say, Christina Aguilera, she doesn't pretend to be anything more than she is. You don't hear Britney attempting to pull off that shirll multi-octave hog-whistling that Aguilera and the boy bands attempt to do in a gesticulating R'n'B stylee. At the very tail end of the day, Britney's voice is the most fabricated studio creation to ever grace a Maxell cassette. Still, I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I didn't lust after her taut, silky midriff (preferabbly glazed with a sheen of post-coital dew). Going right to hell for that one, I'm sure.

― alex in nyc, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

My generation's pride and joy. My generation is so much better than X. She is on her way to being better than Madonna. Her Pepsi commercial may not have got banned, but that means I get to see it regularly. She's a better dancer than Madonna ever was. Her Like A Prayer can only be imminent.

― Otis Wheeler, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Looks : Classic

Songs : All the ones I've heard (the hits) sound good. Gets extra points for cartoonish voice.

Attitude : All that virginal Christian/Mickey Mouse Club/lust-for- fame nonsense = DUD

― Patrick, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I like Max Martin.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

She's already way better than Madonna, Otie, or at least modern-day Madonna. She rocks the casbah. Granted most of her album tracks are crap but that doesn't matter because the singles rock, even the ones that all sound exactly alike. And she sounds like an evil slut robot, which is cool.

But total dud to her tanning bed addiction. What's that about? Weirdo.

― Ally, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Yeah, white women need to realize they have nothing on miscegenated chicks like Beyonce, let alone Indian girls, so unless they're gonna get some actual sun, they might as well try to look like Rose MacGowan, i.e. an albino. That's hot.

― Otis Wheeler, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

YAY Britney!

― james e l, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

That's what I'm sayin'. I don't need no skin cancer. It's bad enough I'll probably get lung cancer. BUT! If you are going to go all out and try to get dark, then don't go to a tanning bed. What's wrong with the sun??

Getting tans: Classic or Dud? Anyone who's seen me in person knows my vote on that one.

― Ally, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

there should be a commercial that has a bunch of little kids of all colors and creeds saying, "i am britney spears." because she's a better role model than tiger woods and infinitely cooler to boot.

britney is the owner of all of our hearts. yes, all. she's the uber-madonna and the only thing better than her now is what she may likely become, but babe, ditch justin, eh? (and if madonna were to collaborate with brit, jesus would forgive her all her sins.) let's just hope that she avoids the pitfall that is "maturity" and heads straight for "mature audiences only." can't wait for the greatest hits album.

― fred solinger, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Regardless of whether you like her or not, Britney is pretty much guaranteed to be a classic on the strength of her puzzling frog voice. Her up-tempo singles tend to greatness, but I would cheerful STRANGLE THE GOD-AWFUL BALLADS (thus tying neatly into another thread, whee).

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

For some reason over-tanning makes white girls lips look green, which isn't classic. Britney doesn't even look tanned though; she looks painted. Whatever she looks, she's got the style to carry it. I love how people think saying she's a product is some kind of insightful criticism, as if her fans are being mass-deluded into believing she's something else. Of course she's a product, she's a fucking pop singer! People don't go to music stores to buy souls, they go there to buy products. She's the most classic rock star since Slash.

― Kris, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Dude, if Tower would start selling souls, I'd be so there.

― Ally, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

It's kind of spoiling the fun to use words like "classic" or "dud" with Britney.

I don't actually think I've ever written anything on FT about her. She's always held up as something FT likes, though. But, OK, if I was doing the Top 100 Singles Of The 90s again I would probably put "...Baby One More Time" at No.1. (NB: there are about half-a- dozen singles I think this about every time I hear them, so "Top Ten" is probably a more factual answer)

I've actually started fancying Britney a bit which is really worrying. As I was saying to Ethan on IM (TomFT26, good people), it's kind of like if you were a Moonie and in an arranged marriage, and saw your new spouse every day and were constantly being reminded that you were meant to fancy them, you probably would end up doing so a bit.

― Tom, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I don't know that much about Britney Spears. From what I've seen, she's a very beautiful young woman. I have heard one or two of her records here and there, I think, and didn't like them at all, in any respect, as far as I can remember.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

She's the kind of young woman welcome round the vicarage anytime.

Obligatory perving out of the way, Britney would be more suited to a Search/Destroy kind if thing - and I say search '... baby one more time' (the song) & (just about) 'Ooops, I did it again' (the song). Destroy: the Rest.

― The Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

...about all this idea of Britney being attractive. Dear god, NO, not from where I sit. I can't fathom the appeal.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I'm with the vicar music wise. But I care more about the looks - the slutty schoolgirl was a triumph; nothing since has worked. She needs to get Kylie on her case.

― Guy, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Britney wouldn't look like a devil doll even if she were to saw her legs off at the knees, so I don't see how talking to Kylie would help.

― Nicole, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Hmm...I'm not convinced by Britney. The patented Greenfield Snobbery Containment Device is working overtime to prevent me from simply dismissing her for being called Britney (what a horrible, horrible name). I don't undersatnd the visual appeal of her either, but its probably the schoolgirl costume that gets you 'orrid old lechers every time. But more to the point are her tunes REALLY any good? I don't think they're as good as everyone says, but she's still better than, say (picks name at 'random') Travis (wow! What a coincidence). I think its a bit early to decide totally C or D, as I have a feeling that in the near future she'll do something genuinely, undisputably bad (like an album of ballads for example), so for the moment I vote Cla. She has yet to earn the 'ssic'. PS Pale girls = Classic.

― DG, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Search: All the singles. Especially Lucky, which has vocal production gymnastics and the wonderful thing that she's not *really* sad that she's a star, but stars are supposed to be sad. Tim is right about "Born to Make You Happy" being great too. I think both albums are great. Brit's talent? Who knows? Songs + production + image = great product.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Well, I honestly do think her good tunes are THAT good. She definitely beats the piss out of most of Destiny's Child's "good tunes" besides Say My Name and Independent Women. There's just something about the way everything comes together for her that doesn't gel similarly on other Max Martin productions. She is very rock 'n' roll and I think that helps because he employs some psuedo- 80s metal technics into her songs and it makes it all sound different, from sappy teen pop (ie NSync) to really good, edgy stuff almost. Her voice is fantastic too - she can't sing one note, but she's got this great rasp going and the production makes her sound like an alien. Her lyrics can be really dark, all about lonliness and wanting these loser guys to come back to her, which is basically the theme of most pop songs but something about the turn of phrase in her lyrics are a bit psychotic almost. She is teen pop's Joy Division.

As for her appearance, she's a very cute girl, but she needs to stop with the weird orange tanned skin. That's my qualm. Her clothes are fine, they are ROCK. But the skin is like alien skin.

― Ally, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

So that's burnt orange skin, green lips, mickey mouse ears, soul bought at Tower, and stomach covered in alex's dew...

The "No talent? So what abt the dancing then?" thingum also raises its quiet head again: is THAT "manufactured"? Or is, y'know, callisthenic physicality the anti-christ?

― mark s, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

"She is teen pop's Joy Division."

Good! I hope she kills herself, too.

― I heart britney, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The only modern pop phenomenon who actually IS as good as her sales and popularity suggest. Oops I Did It Again is actually an excellent pop album - except for the Dianne Warren song of course - and "What U See (Is What U Get)" or "Can't Make You Love" me could easily have been big singles. "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart" needs to be erased forever, though, but still CLASSIC.

― EdwardO, Wednesday, 2 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

First album is LOUSY beyond the (classic) title track (and I s'pose "Crazy"). "Oops" and "Stronger" are fine, sonically excellent; Max Martin's Mutt Lange to Britney's Def Leppard. The robot frog voice is (I s'pose) classic; just bizarre, like if Roger Troutman's famed Zapp effect were deployed as a "normal" singing voice. The ballads are horrendous (and ill suited to the robot frog). The dance steps in "Oops" are geeky yet oddly carnal (don't ask me to explain). The orange skin doesn't bother me. The looks aren't as good as (plucks name at "random"), erm, erm, that one girl I like in S Club. The pigtails were classic. General singles rule: uptempo = classic, slow = dud. An enigma, could go either way in time: will the real Britney Spears please stand up?

― AP, Thursday, 3 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Her singing sometimes sounds to me like a female teenpop version of the ultra-nasal Funkadelic/Cameo-type funk voice.

― Patrick, Thursday, 3 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I'm not listening to Britney nearly as much now as I was this time last year, though reading about her now I'm reminded of why she is so damn good. To me, she's all about association, about why mass culture is at once enlightened and doomed and all-pervasive and fragile. It's why I sort of love America. "Born To Make You Happy" and "Don't Go Knocking On My Door" in particular speak to me.

― Tim, Thursday, 3 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Patrick observed: "Her singing sometimes sounds to me like a female teenpop version of the ultra-nasal Funkadelic/Cameo-type funk voice."

You're quite correct there and a good thing it is too. Classic of course. The ballads I don't have any time for. The rest is catholic- cyber-doll-pop-sypmhonic-funk of the highest order.

― Omar, Thursday, 3 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I cannot separate her music from her image, which utterly repulses me on every level from sexual to intellectual. Oh wait, I don't like her overproduced, poorly written excuse for music, sung in a gargled- vocal style which makes even Lloyd Cole sound syruppy, either. I can't even get into her on a Warholian "oh, isn't this an interestingly manufactured plastic pop culture phenomenon" level. She just frightens me.

If one could make a time capsule of "The Most Perlexing Trends In Early 00s Culture" to be opened in the future by space aliens, surely it would contain Britney and Eminem.

― kate the saint, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

a virgin/whore post-lolita sexdoll singing catchy pop and a lower-class genius appropiating a previously-'black' artform to unseen degrees of respect are 'perplexing trends'? perplexing if you missed the last fifty years of pop music and american culture, maybe.

― ethan, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Ethan, you took the words out of my mouth.

― Sterling Clover, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

At the risk of appearing to be a Salon.com mole, I'm going to point you to another one of their excellent articles that says what I feel about Ms. Spears far better than I myself can articulate at this moment. Oops, she's doing it again.

Perverts. ;)

― Kim, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

That article can be immediately thrown in the trash, if just for the fact that they referred to Tiffany as "raven-haired". Clearly, Salon isn't as familiar with pop culture and music as it'd like to claim.

― Ally, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I liked her before she sold out and starting doing Diet Pepsi ads.

― bnw, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Bnw, I'm hiring you as my style consultant.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one month passes...

Well, I'll admit, her songs are definitely catchy-if you're between the ages of 7-13. These are the ones who demand their parents'$15 purchase her albums, not to mention her dolls and other memorbilia- these are the little girls who see her strip half naked on MTV and shake her ass like she's a go-go dancer, then go in their bedrooms, sneak their older sisters' lipstick and halter top, and try the same moves in a full-length mirror. Now, you tell me.

― Lea, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Little girls do that too? Cool, now I don't feel so alone in the world.

― Nicole, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I have a Britney doll.

― JM, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

To elaborate on the previous: she has the plaid skirt and tied-off shirt a backpack with a microphone and thigh-highs. She lost her knickers.

― JM, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Finally got around to buying the first album and it's a highly enjoyable pop listen - less extreme sonically than Ooops but everyone has to relax a little bit sometimes. Very surprised that you can still buy the record with pre-implants pictures, though.

― Tom, Wednesday, 20 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Have you noticed how at the end of that Pepsi commercial a very ghoulish Bob Dole tells his DOG, "Easy now, fella"? The bestial implications from the Viagra-peddler are--well, ew!

― X. Y. Zedd, Wednesday, 20 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Brit-vid part of the commercial is fine, but all of the ephemera surrounding it (drooling fry cook, overweight bowler, etc.) is resolutely creepy.But Pepsi seems to prefer to employ some creepy elements in every commercial, the horrid little Pepsi girl is proof of that.

― Nicole, Wednesday, 20 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The creepiness around Spears is what she is all about. That Pepsi ad is the best thing she's done, hands down. It sums up the Britney sensation perfectly in just over a minute.

― Mark, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

three months pass...

She _is_ creepy, isn't she? It's like she represents in her 100 pound package everything sick and twisted and enticing about modern society. She is hot, but why pick her out and make her an erotic fixation for the whole world? I know several who are far more attractive, and I live in a tiny town. Needless to say, her music is so awful it's hard to find words to describe it. And Christina's voice _is_ quite good, if a bit clenched.

― Jim Jones, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I don't care if Christina has a good voice. It's meaningless until I hear it over a Neptunes production.

― Honda, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I think everyone alive knows someone hotter than Britney, she's pretty and all but it's not like she's all that or anything, and the photo I saw of her in RS with the Neptunes was downright scary - Britney after a bender!

Christina just has some ass awful songs, that's her problem.

― Ally, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

two years pass...

(and if madonna were to collaborate with brit, jesus would forgive her all her sins.)

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Solinger, you bastard!

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, maybe Jesus did.

These days I just shrug. Couple of good songs, though (I will go to my grave insisting "Baby One More Time" is NOT one of them and that the allegedly similar "Oops I Did It Again" is thousands of times better thanks to the bassline).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 174 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I really really like "blackout" but couldn't give a shit about the latest album.

― AleXTC, Friday, 13 March 2009 11:02 (fourteen years ago) link

― Plaxico (I know, right?), Friday, 13 March 2009 14:52 (fourteen years ago) link

you're missing out on some killer songs. it definitely has a few that aren't good. blackout didn't have that problem. but still, missing out.

― Surmounter, Friday, 13 March 2009 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link

six months pass...

http://i36.tinypic.com/r0o3ef.jpg

― James Mitchell, Sunday, 27 September 2009 10:23 (fourteen years ago) link

nine years pass...

I won't hold it against her!

― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 June 2019 01:57 (four years ago) link

Lies. (Maybe not.)

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 6 June 2019 01:58 (four years ago) link

Her US chart history really is odd, I would have thought "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Piece of Me" were top tens also

― Josefa, Thursday, 6 June 2019 02:12 (four years ago) link

I love “Til the World Ends”

― Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Thursday, 6 June 2019 02:22 (four years ago) link

listening to it now

― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 June 2019 02:34 (four years ago) link

what about "3"?

― monotony, Thursday, 6 June 2019 06:45 (four years ago) link

Huh I thought “Slave 4 U” was a top 10 hit in the US. In Europe and LatinAmerica it definitely was. Was the video too much or got censored for American audiences?

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 6 June 2019 07:44 (four years ago) link

the "i'm a slave 4 u" video was really big on mtv. it was radio that didn't play it much compared to a lot of her other songs.

― dyl, Friday, 7 June 2019 01:37 (four years ago) link

one year passes...

What is this #freebritney shyt?

Seems like fans reading too much into things?

― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 21 July 2020 17:35 (three years ago) link

four months pass...

Does the new song ("Swimming in the Stars") slap? I'm trying to decide.

I briefly got very excited in the final thirty seconds when it threatened to go drum & bass, but turns out it's the cruellest mirage ever.

― Tim F, Thursday, 3 December 2020 00:21 (three years ago) link

beat the press by the butthole surfers sums up her material!

― xzanfar, Thursday, 3 December 2020 00:27 (three years ago) link

she's no William Orbit, that's for true

― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Thursday, 3 December 2020 00:29 (three years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is0hVNZJTOU beat the press by the butthole surfers sums up her material!

― xzanfar, Thursday, 3 December 2020 00:33 (three years ago) link

https://i.ibb.co/BzHvRkp/mashup-video-of-a-baby-goat-that.jpg

― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Thursday, 3 December 2020 00:37 (three years ago) link

two months pass...

So this NYT documentary on Hulu is something. The Y2K era paparazzi scene was even more vile than I remember.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXG28S8cAJU

― Darin, Tuesday, 9 February 2021 18:05 (two years ago) link

I just discovered her Instagram (via an article around the doc and "Free Britney" phenomenon) -- it's a trip.

― babe for the weekend (morrisp), Tuesday, 9 February 2021 18:11 (two years ago) link

four months pass...

What is this #freebritney shyt?

Seems like fans reading too much into things?

this is that #freebritney shyt:

https://pitchfork.com/news/britney-spears-in-incendiary-hearing-remarks-calls-for-end-of-conservatorship/amp/

her full statement/plea/rant, very much worth reading, whether you’re a fan or not

― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Sunday, 27 June 2021 08:09 (two years ago) link

free britney

fuck everyone else in this story

― Left, Sunday, 27 June 2021 09:13 (two years ago) link

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jul/01/britney-spears-judge-denies-request-to-remove-father-jamie-from-conservatorship

But why?

― pomenitul, Thursday, 1 July 2021 09:39 (two years ago) link

that’s fucked up

― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Thursday, 1 July 2021 09:45 (two years ago) link

I reiterate fuck everyone except britney

― Left, Thursday, 1 July 2021 09:54 (two years ago) link

the why I assume includes a lot of misogyny and ableism

― Left, Thursday, 1 July 2021 09:56 (two years ago) link

This is an absolute travesty.

― treeship., Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:25 (two years ago) link

It is beyond terrifying that your rights can be taken away permanently after a mental health crisis.

― treeship., Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:26 (two years ago) link

I can't find the tweet I saw last night that delved into it a little more clearly, but apparently that Variety article from yesterday was just reporting on a ruling made in November 2020, before her testimony, and has a very misleading headline.

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:29 (two years ago) link

I mean, not to dispute how tragic and horrible this entire thing is, but apparently she still needs to file a new petition and her request was not freshly quashed after that testimony.

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:31 (two years ago) link

It's like they timed it with Cosby's release just for maximum shittiness. Ugh.

― birdistheword, Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:49 (two years ago) link

agh, missed jon's posts. nm

― birdistheword, Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:49 (two years ago) link

it wasn't a ruling made in november, it was a ruling on the request to have her dad removed from the conservatorship then

timing is just coincidental

― ufo, Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:51 (two years ago) link

*the request made then

― ufo, Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:51 (two years ago) link

Right sorry, I was trying to find the tweet that cleared it all up. Important takeaway that was buried in the Variety article and not mentioned in the misleading headline, is that it wasn't a fresh denial in light of her testimony from last week, which is the narrative that, perhaps understandably, took off on twitter last night.

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:53 (two years ago) link

one month passes...

Britney's...free?

https://www.tmz.com/2021/08/12/britney-spears-jamie-spears-conservator-step-down/

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 12 August 2021 20:59 (two years ago) link

(Not quite yet as such, but read the whole thing.)

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 12 August 2021 21:00 (two years ago) link

Sounds like it's true (for those who avoid TMZ links): https://variety.com/2021/music/news/britney-spears-father-jamie-spears-quits-conservator-1235040690/

― Shallot Shortage 2021 (morrisp), Thursday, 12 August 2021 21:21 (two years ago) link

six months pass...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZ3CYZ4gF5l/?utm_medium=copy_link

:/

― circa1916, Saturday, 12 February 2022 23:03 (one year ago) link

not a word of a lie 🙌

and like we can go easy on the slantyface, ya grl don’t need that energy unless she goes nazi or antivax or whatever (knock on wood)

― SEES! TURNS! (cat), Tuesday, 15 February 2022 02:34 (one year ago) link

six months pass...

what do we think about "cold heart" pt 2?

i like it on first listen. obviously very shameless.

― (grim) pump track (wales) (map), Friday, 26 August 2022 17:11 (one year ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hLtlzkoGPk

― (grim) pump track (wales) (map), Friday, 26 August 2022 17:15 (one year ago) link

It's no Solid Wall of Sound.

― MarkoP, Friday, 26 August 2022 17:43 (one year ago) link

Britney's voice is not suited to this kind of melody at all, I actually love her vocal fry and how she uses it to convey sexiness or urgency or sadness in so many other songs but this doesn't work.

― boxedjoy, Friday, 26 August 2022 17:56 (one year ago) link

"Her US chart history really is odd, I would have thought "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Piece of Me" were top tens also"

I know this comment was three years ago, but yes, I didn't realise until that post that "Slave 4 U" wasn't even a top twenty hit in the US. It reached number 27.

I always assumed she had hit after hit, but purely in terms of single chart placings she had a freak #1 with "Baby One More Time" in the US then had flop after flop until 2007-2012 then flop after flop again. She was far more popular on our side of the pond. I wonder if it's something to do with chart rules in the US. They have weird chart rules about radio play.

e.g. "Born to Make You Happy" got to number one here in the pop-loving UK but wasn't even released in the US. I always thought that song sounded sad. There's an air of desperation about it. There's a certain kind of song I associate with standing in Blockbuster Video or McDonalds on a winter's night at 09:30 and the rain is lashing down and its miserable, but there's supposedly cheerful pop music on the tannoy that sounds desperately sad because you're in the Blockbuster / Argos / McDonalds contemplating your life choices.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Saturday, 27 August 2022 19:47 (one year ago) link

eleven months pass...

https://www.vulture.com/article/britney-spears-conservatorship-fans-conspiracy-theory

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 1 August 2023 14:55 (four months ago) link

https://www.vulture.com/article/britney-spears-conservatorship-fans-conspiracy-theory.html

(maybe this link works)

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 1 August 2023 14:55 (four months ago) link

Interesting article... some of these folks need to get a grip. (Wonder why it doesn't address the recent Victor Wembanyama thing)

― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 1 August 2023 16:33 (four months ago) link

stories like this really make it clear how thin the line is between Qanon & the rest of the general public

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 1 August 2023 16:54 (four months ago) link

three months pass...

Her audiobook is currently free on Spotify — anyone else listening to it? I’m on ch 13 iirc.
I love the part of all musical memoirs where they talk about their childhood relationship w music.

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, 14 November 2023 23:07 (three weeks ago) link

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