Britney
by Britney Spears
  • Record Label: BMG/Jive
  • Release Date: Nov 6, 2001
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. AllMusic
    Sep 21, 2011
    90
    It's enough of a reinvention to suggest that Britney will know what to do when the teen-pop phenomenon of 1999-2001 passes for good.
  2. Billboard
    80
    A nicely varied, wholly satisfying collection.
  3. Blender
    60
    It's hard to listen to the rest of Britney without imagining what the album would have sounded like had [the Neptunes] produced the whole thing. [#4, p.121]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. CDNow
    40
    Too much of Britney is dictated by Max Martin's teen-pop formula.
  6. Dot Music
    60
    While she's been guilty of gluing sure-fire singles together with rotten fillers on her previous two albums, Britney uses this opportunity to take the odd risk and adds a welcome edge to her sound.
  7. E! Online
    50
    Most of the good parts of the Britney that originally hit us, baby, one more time (then oops!...did it again) drown in breathy vocals and multiproduced, tweaked-to-perfection studio gimmickry.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    50
    Other than the absence of ellipses in the title, ''Britney'' finds pop's poster girl for virginal vamping in an awkward adolescence, wavering between playing it safe and busting a few tentative new moves.
  9. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    Britney and 'Britney' still works best when making a good pop cheese and dance sandwich.
  10. PopMatters
    60
    Many of the tunes are good for a romp around the kitchen (or the dance floor, if you prefer) but the girl is right when she says she is yet to come into her own both as a woman and a recording artist.
  11. Q Magazine
    60
    While her normal source of junior raunch [Max Martin] churns out the usual fesity hits... the remaining chastity-endorsing mush is nowhere near as exciting. [Dec 2001, p.131]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. Rolling Stone
    60
    Britney is by far her most personable album, the most consistently playful and the least wince-inducing.
  13. Spin
    50
    Amazingly enough, she does sound almost human. [Jan 2002, p.108]
    All this publication's reviews
  14. The A.V. Club
    10
    An unmitigated drag.

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Most Discussed Album of 2001
13
#13 Most Shared Album of 2001

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 518 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 395 out of 518
  2. Mixed: 49 out of 518
  3. Negative: 74 out of 518
  1. Kaleido
    Sep 10, 2011
    8
    Definitely not Britney's best album: as she says, she was not a girl, not yet a woman. She was still finding her style, en fact you can hear aDefinitely not Britney's best album: as she says, she was not a girl, not yet a woman. She was still finding her style, en fact you can hear a more grown Britney in the lead single as well as the same sweet Britney of the previous two albums in "That's Where You Take Me".… Full Review »
  2. SairoS
    Oct 25, 2005
    10
    One of the best albums I've ever heard1 Too bad they made a terrible choice about the singles...
  3. ilovemusic18
    May 9, 2018
    10
    Still my favorite Britney album to date! It's sad that this was her first album to not have a top ten hit in the US, but I think the US wasn'tStill my favorite Britney album to date! It's sad that this was her first album to not have a top ten hit in the US, but I think the US wasn't ready for "sexy" Britney yet. The singles were successful in other territories, so maybe Americans were still trying to hold on to the "innocent" Britney. The album was released only a year and a half after Oops!...I Did it Again, so maybe it was slightly ahead of its time.It was definitely a transition album for her, though, with I'm a Slave 4 U and Boys having R&B and hip-hop vibes to them, but it still gave us those typical girl power/coming of age anthems that we love, like Overprotected, Cinderella (my personal favorite off the album, and one of the tracks that she co-wrote), I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman, and What It's Like to be Me. It's definitely full of songs that you will want to sing you heart out to in the car!… Full Review »
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