Maps of Music

Britney (2001)

Where the lyrics of Britney take you, and where it was really made.

Britney was Spears's third album, and it made her the first woman whose first three studio albums all debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Key places

Master Sound Studios, Virginia Beach (2001)

Recording site Master Sound — Master Sound Studios in Virginia Beach is listed as a place where the album was recorded. Spears recorded 23 tracks for the album, several of them co-written with Brian Kierulf and Josh Schwartz. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Right Track Recording, New York City (2001)

Recording site MSR Studios — Right Track Recording in New York City is listed as a place where the album was recorded. It is one of several New York studios in the album's recording locations. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Battery Studios, New York City (2001)

Recording site Battery Studios — Battery Studios in New York City is listed as a place where the album was recorded. While recording the album, Spears sought a sound that an older generation would pick up on. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sound on Sound Recording Studios, New York City (2001)

Recording site The Record Plant — Sound on Sound Recording Studios in New York City is listed as a place where the album was recorded. The album was self-titled because most of its content described Spears herself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Britney is the third studio album by American singer Britney Spears
• Released October 31, 2001 by Jive Records; first released in Japan on October 31, and in the United States on November 6
• Pop and R&B record with EDM influences, occasionally dipping into disco, hip-hop, rock and electronica
• Lyrical themes include coming of age, adulthood, control and sexuality
• Worldwide sales of over 10 million copies; one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century

Background

• Moved away from the teen pop styles of ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)
• Spears began to embrace a significantly more mature sound
• Spears herself took a more prominent role in development and co-wrote six of the tracks
• The album correlated with the feature film Crossroads (2002), in which three of its tracks were featured
• To promote the album, the Dream Within a Dream Tour ran from November 2001 until July 2002

Recording

• Producers included Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, who returned from Oops!... I Did It Again
• Spears worked with her then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake
• For the first time, Spears worked with hip-hop producers the Neptunes
• Spears recorded 23 tracks for the album
• Tracks by electronic musician BT were excluded from the standard edition; his contribution Before the Goodbye appeared on international editions

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi; American singer known as the "Princess of Pop".
• Began in the early 1990s in the musical Ruthless! and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.
• Signed with Jive Records in 1997; debut single "...Baby One More Time" topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
• Debut album ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) are among the world's best-selling albums.
• Credited with driving the late-1990s revival of teen pop.
• Sold an estimated 150 million+ records; one Grammy, six MTV VMAs, seven Billboard Music Awards.
• Placed under a conservatorship; it was terminated in 2021 after her testimony.
• Announced leaving the music industry in 2024; catalogue reportedly sold for about $200 million in 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the album generally mixed reviews, praising musical progression and criticizing the increasingly provocative image
• Entertainment Weekly's David Browne found the provocative image unnatural
• PopMatters' Nikki Tranton complimented the production but questioned whether Spears was ready to establish herself as a grown woman
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani said the record fills the guilty pleasure role but called for Spears to grow
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave a positive review, saying the album strives to deepen her persona
• A Billboard reviewer called the project a nicely varied, wholly satisfying collection
• Dotmusic's Chris Heat praised her willingness to take risks
• NME's Ted Kessler recognized the release as a coming of age album
• The A.V. Club's Stephen Thompson panned the album, saying the music just isn't catchy
• Spin's Craig Seymore said she sounded almost human but found the style as coldly anthemic as ever

Reappraisal

• Metacritic gave an average score of 58 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, which indicates mixed or average reviews
• Critical opinion remained polarized

Records

• Debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 745,750 copies
• Spears became the first woman whose first three studio albums debuted atop that chart
• Second-highest first-week sales by a female artist at the time, behind Oops!... I Did It Again
• Debuted atop the Canadian Albums Chart with first-week sales of 44,550 copies
• Peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart and in Japan on the Oricon Albums Chart
• BPI platinum for shipments of 300,000 copies to retailers
• Debuted at number one in Austria, Germany and Switzerland
• IFPI double platinum in 2002 for two million shipments across Europe
• ARIA double platinum; peaked at number four in Australia
• Fifth best-selling album of 2001 globally, with seven million copies
• RIAA quadruple platinum; 4,400,000 units sold in the US as of March 2015
• Nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards (2003)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Spears performed at Super Bowl XXXV on January 28, 2001, shortly before appearing on Total Request Live to premiere new material from the album.
• Spears premiered I'm a Slave 4 U at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, where the performance was criticized for her use of a yellow python as a stage prop.
• Spears cancelled a scheduled Australian press conference after the September 11 attacks two days earlier, saying holding it would have been inappropriate.
• Three tracks from the album were featured in the film Crossroads, and the album was cross-promoted as the film's soundtrack.
• Spears's Crossroads co-star-era promotion let her promote the film and the album at the same time in early 2002.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact