...Baby One More Time

So, I love 90's music. It is my favorite decade, but I think that late 90's pop is some of the worst music ever written. This however, isn't that bad (besides soda pop). I don't think it is great, and I will never listen to it again, but it isn't unlistenable. The ballads are really boring though. High 2.

I’m glad my wife knows I’m doing this project otherwise there would be questions. Seriously, though, Britney is the best modern example of being chewed up and spat out by the industry. Truly a sad tale and this album is the beginning of all that 2000s nonsense in pop.

Pop!

...I don't want more babies.

Not my style.

Didn’t need to listen, heard plenty of songs when I was younger

I like the main song but the rest isn't super my taste

I mean, apart from the title song, there aren't any songs that I should have listened to before dying. It just made me realize more that most early Britney songs sound the same. But like ... it isn't BAD per se. 4/10 fav songs : Baby One More time & (You drive me) Crazy

Teeny-bop pop. Ugh

This album is like totally awesome.

While she has a couple of good pop hits, this feels more like teenage girl pop and I couldn't finish the album.

Why in the world is this on the list? I really tried to keep an open mind, but it just confirmed why I don't listen to pop music.

Did not consider Britney to be much of an album kind of artist but we actually enjoyed this one more than expected. It did help that a lot of the stronger Britney songs are to be found here. Very iconic late 90s pop.

3,5

Ok there are a couple of duffs but as a pop record this is pretty iconic

Britney!!! Hell yeah

I feel like as an album listen it's not mindblowing, but it is fun to look back on it as a sort of historical document for the influence it had on pop production in the 2000s, even if I think this style was done better later on. Also, the titular single is an absolute all time banger.

Was damals oft als popkultureller Schnellschuss mit Bubblegum-Attitüde abgetan wurde, zeigt in der Retrospektive eine überraschende Tiefe und Beständigkeit. _"...Baby One More Time"_ hat sich nicht nur als Titeltrack ins kollektive Gedächtnis gebrannt, sondern auch eine ganze Generation geprägt – und darüber hinaus einen Platz im musikalischen Kanon verdient. Die Songs auf dem Album haben sich über die Jahre als erstaunlich langlebig erwiesen. Titel wie „Sometimes“, „(You Drive Me) Crazy“ oder das atmosphärische „Born to Make You Happy“ wirken heute reifer und substanzieller, als es der damalige Zeitgeist vielleicht zuließ. Was einst als „Teenie-Pop“ belächelt wurde, fühlt sich heute wie ein Stück Musikgeschichte an. Neben den Chart-Erfolgen zeigt das Album eine erstaunliche Konsistenz. Selbst die weniger bekannten Tracks tragen mit melodischem Feingefühl und gutem Arrangement zur stimmigen Gesamtwirkung bei.

Even trying to be completely objective, the songs just aren’t there

Ja… was soll man da groß sagen 😂 Die Anfänge von Britney halt

Oh my god, it's my childhood. The first couple of tracks were inescapable around TV/shops/radio/school/football matches/literally everywhere for what seemed like an eternity to a 6/7 year old who has just been allowed to start watching Kerrang! I can see why the title track was so universal - tightly produced and precision engineered to send primary school discos into a pre-hormonal frenzy, a pop classic. The whole album is a lot of the same shit, every song sounds like the closing credits music to a different Disney summer blockbuster - this is the sound of America at its zenith, right before before the new millennium downfall. Don't like it. Don't like the industry which created and grew fat from it. I don't like how much I don't like all this! If all those guitar squeals and mini-solos aren't on a PRS, I'll be amazed. Bass slides everywhere. Didn't want to come into this and just give it 1 star by default - but the longer I listen, the more repulsive it gets. Manages to be both boring and annoying, can't live up to the first track. Sorry, Britney.

I'd give it a 3 because of the impact at the time, even though I'm not revisiting. I do like it more than a 2.8.

Huge pile of shit

The musical equivalent of cotton candy at the state fair that's been sitting around for a while, getting a strange texture from the humidity in the air, and you just know that anything that touches it is getting stained pink. I don't fault Britney Spears for essentially doing as she was told. I fault the greedy adults around her who valued mainstream appeal and sales numbers over anything with artistic integrity.

i actually really liked the first three tracks. I really thought I was gonna enjoy this but then soda pop started playing and it snapped me back to reality. its very of its time and cheesy, but I don't mind it. still pretty mediocre, and at best, very iconic

I did not enjoy this. It seems rather simple.

Of course there's the title track, but Sometimes felt like it could have been a 70s ballad. Soda Pop feels like a cheesy bubblegum pop song, definitely reminds you this was an album by and for teens. Born To Make You Happy feels like it was made for the credits of a 2000s teen movie. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart: I didn't expect so many sad pop songs, I figured there would be more like fun party stuff. I Will Be There is more 2000s teen movie music. I Will Still Love You: I definitely expected a bit more energy to this album, a lot of it is much slower than I expected. Email My Heart is the most 1999 teen girl thing I can think of.

1 %hit 99%skips

The title track is oh sooo good, but the rest of the album is utter garbage. It’s bubblegum, supper sappy. If it was not for how good the title track is, this is a great example of a 1* album.

Cynical. Totally manufactured pop. This is the Ultra Processed Food version of pop music, mostly made up of synthetic chemicals that are designed to be addictive, and containing no natural ingredients or anything of any nutritional value.

#freebritney

I wanted to give this time of day and review it objectively and I have. Sadly even without prejudice it's an overlong set of formulaic teeny pap songs dropping off the teeny-pop factory conveyor belt that could have been composed for any boy/girl/manufactured band/singer of the 1990s/2000s. I'll give her this though - she does have a good voice and delivers them well.

Let's face it Britney Spears was the female version of The Backstreet Boys. At least that's what I kept hearing throughout this album. I guess what really gets me as far as my appreciation is that I am really just not that into the General sound of the '90s boy band. Maybe with the exception of Hanson but that's another story. Honestly other than the two really big singles, the title track and "(You Drive Me) Crazy", there wasn't really much that I could sink my teeth in to or even really appreciate. "Sometimes" wasn't so bad but nothing I put on by my own free will. And as far as bottom of my own "From The Bottom of My Broken Heart" isn't really my kind of ballad. I think the B side "I'll Never Stop Loving You" was a slightly better ballad. The rest of the album to me was basic '90s pop that I can either take or leave, but mainly leave. I did not, however, like the cover of "The Beat Goes On". They tried to update it, but it just didn't really work for me. 5.4 ★★½

A few classic hits, but mostly teenagers pop by the numbers. 2 stars

I'm not sure why this album is in the book. Even by the standards of Britney Spears' discography, I don't think this is her best work. The title track is a pretty catchy track with some nostalgia value, "Sometimes" is okay, and the cover of Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" is probably the most palatable thing here. The rest is generic late 90s pop filler that's as timeless as a glass of milk. 2 stars.

3.5

So this one has sold as many copies as Queen’s Greatest Hits and Eric Clapton’s Unplugged but perhaps is fair to say hasn’t held up quite as well. The title track is a totally iconic, classic, perfect bit of pop that is head and shoulders plus a few pigtails and sexy schoolgirl uniforms above any of the other songs here. Probably a whole high school as well. There are a few other singles near the start that are somewhat decent but to be honest once the rancid raga of Soda Pop happens the album becomes irreparably shaky and even though the tracks after it aren’t quite as awful it sort of collapses into real characterless, generic teeny pop bilge and then more crap at the end with Email My Heart and Beat Goes On cover. The bonus track Autumn Goodbye is actually a pretty killer bop and I would select the single version of Baby One More Time with its remixes and B side of Autumn Goodbye over the full length debut in terms of being more essential and loaded.

It's a pop classic. The hits are the catchiest, most memorable songs. The filler (and there's a lot of it) is actually fun and goes by fast. Britney ruled the end of the 90s and early 00s for a reason. 4/5

you know what, it was fun. I had fun with it. 70/100

Bland

Some red hot bangers on display here from young Britney, with the title track, crazy and Every Time all great pop songs. Like every other pop record on here, there's a massive disparity between the hits, where literally every songwriter and producer on the planet has had their go, and the album tracks, where Britney sings into a karaoke mike with the Casio keyboard demo in the background.

Good fun, a throwback. But I'd probably not listen again 3

There are a couple of really good songs, a couple that are kind of catchy, and a handful that are pretty generic. Not a bad album. I remember thinking I was too old for it when it came out and I was 20.

++: ...Baby One More Time, (You Drive Me) Crazy, Soda Pop, Deep in My Heart, Thinkin' About You, The Beat Goes On +-: Sometimes, From the Bottom of My Broken Heart, I Will Be There, I Will Still Love You, E-Mail My Heart -: Born to Make You Happy 5,5/10

Not really into Pop music. she is a pretty good singer though.

Unlike many albums on this list I do understand why this album is among the 1001 albums. It is historically a "big" album, an important album in terms of influencing others. But that does not change the fact that this is simply pop music. And not especially good pop music. But it was at the start of and shows the way music has taken in the last 25 years, becoming simpler and simpler and easier to listen to. It enters your brain, it leaves it immediately and doesn't leave any trace behind. It is - if you like this kind of music - nice for now only, not for after five minutes, not to mention for after one day/week. So easy only, you don't have to think. You're only consuming like a robot for a kick of joy, which disappears more or less simultaneously when listening.

Annoyingly catchy

Man, those first two songs are sheer perfection. I hope every day that Britney knows how much joy she brought and that she lives a peaceful, happy rest of her life now.

This is pretty much the definitive 90s/00s pop album. It was manufactured almost in a lab-like way: come up with catchy hooks, write the songs around them, include generic but relatable lyrics, find an attractive, marketable star to sing them, and then release it on the world. And it worked, incredibly well. I'm not really a fan of this type of music in that I don't listen to it regularly, but I do enjoy enough of it when it comes on. Even so, I find the formula to be irritating. It's a type of pandering that turns art into consumable goods. Respect to any musicians that are successful and profit from their work, but that isn't the point of music. Rant aside, it's easy to critique this album from a musical standpoint. Being a pop record of that era, there's not really much emphasis on anything other than the hooks. A lot of the compositions are similar and sound similar. I really don't remember much at all of the music on this album, other than the iconic intro tones on ...Baby One More Time. The voice is good, but not really an all-time great. As I mentioned above, the lyrics are generic, but still somewhat relatable. All that said, its impact and staying power have to be commended, and I agree with it being on the list. Somehow, there are still some pretty good songs on there, at least from an earworm standpoint. As a 90s kid, I can't tell you how many times I heard the singles on this album growing up. And I still know most of the lyrics to all of them. You can sing along, or just sit back and enjoy the ride. Millions (maybe billions?) of people have had that experience in one way or another, and BS may be the most iconic celebrity of the early 2000s. She's still a cultural icon today, even though I have no idea whether she still makes music. So, how to rate an album that's value comes only in the least meaningful way from the actual quality of the music? For me, it's not very highly. While this is a fun listen, it's not much more than that. I know what you may be thinking ("Leave Britney alone!"), but holding this up against equally-successful efforts or some of the amazing musical works that have had only a fraction of the success shows that it's really just not great artistry. At least, in my opinion. Overall: 2/5

holy shi why it is so good... 4.5

2.5 stars It’s not revolutionary, but it’s consistent pop. Not gonna lie my wife got me into it. But beyond the hits there are good tracks.

Honestly I haven’t listened to this whole album before - soda pop was a weird song and email my heart just cracked me up. Not an amazing album other than the iconic bangers

Iconic Princess of Pop, truly the sound of a generation (not mine). As far as I am concerned, it starts out as a 5 based solely on the importance in shifting the tone of the music industry away from 1990s grunge towards ultra-produced, scientifically manufactured pop/girl group/boy band music that we’re still in today (see: BTS). I checked the composer/lyricist credits - the MVP of this album is Jörgen Elofsson who wrote Baby One More Time, (You Drive Me) Crazy, and Sometimes which are the first three/best songs. Then I took away 2 stars because after the first three tracks the songs are total schlock (WTF were they thinking with Soda Pop and E-Mail My Heart!?!!). 3⭐️

I was extremely unexcited when this album came up today. I am, unfortunately, tangentially VERY familiar with this one because I had a sibling who was a huge Britney fan. We all even saw her live in Chicago at one point. I also watched a lot of TRL in ‘99/‘00. All that to say, for someone who was/is not at all into this kind of music, I know way too much of this album already. Nevertheless, here we go… The beginning of this album (“…Baby One More Time” through “Sometimes”) will not be new to anyone who lived through the Y2K crisis. They were big ol’ pop hits and I don’t have much to say about them. Next up are the real time capsules… “Soda Pop” is so late-90’s it hurts. Why are we skatting here? Didn’t we get enough of this with Mmmbop? Apparently not, much to Shaggy’s delight a few years after this. Next is the equally late-90’s “Born To Make You Happy”, which gives me big yikes in 2025. This is probably still celebrated as a Trad Wife anthem in certain circles, but I want nothing to do with it. Next, I think “From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart” was also a single, or maybe it was just a local favorite in my house. Either way, and that track helps reset things a little bit. But after that, the rest of the album feels remarkably unremarkable. “Email my Heart” is the the possible exception, but only because its premise is too corny to ignore. I know she didn’t write any of these songs, and was only ~19 when they were recorded, so I won’t fault her too much for the questionable decisions here. This isn’t an album I’ll be revisiting, but it was kinda fun(?) to force myself to give it a full listen all these years later.

Yeah

This is like eating too much candy. It is the best thing in the world but then ur stomach gets sick after too much. This is an overload of immaculately written and produced pop music, but by track 10 I was exhausted

AHHHHHHHH FANGIRLING cuz wow. This is sugary sweet. In the bestest way. Just pop brilliance, which is my favorite thing. Need to relisten but this would be high on my list…

I really enjoyed this aside from the odd experimental reggae tune.

I was so excited for a full on pop album but it just lacks energy. Some good moments but it drags too long

2.75

Influential on the 2000 pop landscape? Yes. Necessary to actually listen to before I die? Probably not.

This album definitely had a few bangers that shook the pop world. Overall it's pretty saccharine and cringe-inducing at times but nothing awful.

3.5 stars

Not really my thing. But I 100% understand it's placement on the list. Monumental in modern pop history.

90s Disney channel pop. Not for me.

No.

It’s Britney, bitch!! Real talk all of these were fun

Bubble gum pop perfection. Not my preferred style or genre. But a banger is a banger

I completely agree it should be on this list. But it isn't really my taste. There were a few songs I liked though.

A classic that I know too many words to

Britney ran so Beiber could walk……

More significant than enjoyable.

Does it deserve to be on the list? Absolutely! Is it an easy 1 star rating? You bet! Does it mark the downfall of the western civilisation? Likely so. Britney’s debut is just completely vapid, and there's something really unnerving about a 16 year old girl singing “I was born to make you happy” - a song written by two men.

A rare 1 star album that actually deserves a spot on this list. Because of course it does! The title track is a pop milestone, but there are so many horrible tracks on here that it’s hard to fathom - “Soda Pop” anyone?! Some of the lyrics are also weird if not problematic when you consider Britney’s age. Nevertheless - this should definitely be here, 1 star or not.

Hilarious first pick. I remember over 15 years ago my good friend who is a virtuoso guitarist broke down Britney's Blackout Album, from a production standpoint. This is a man I still to this day greatly respect, and I always held reverence for Britney due to this, and this kick-started the choke hold pop music has on me now. As a Death/Black/Doom metal purist (at the time) I remember finding it rather interesting. I believe it was the same year that I discovered Lady Gaga (as we all did) in 2008. From there I've been a fairly steady fan of pop, especially in 2017 when I discovered Carly Rae Jepsen, but it began with the Blackout Album and The Fame (from Gaga). This album was released just after she turned 17, so she was 16 when she recorded it. I'm keeping that in mind. Baby One More Time - Classic, 10/10, no notes, don't even rub two sticks together, just play this one. Classic Britney, forms the Britney Trifecta (Baby One More Time, Oops I Did it Again, and Toxic) (You Drive Me) Crazy - You can not convince me this is not Hit Me BabyOne More Time 2.0, the end of the hook 1000% sounds like it's about to say "Hit me baby one more time". Max Martin really copy/pasted this one. It's like watching Saw 2 after watching the first one; it's not bad, but maybe give it some space. If it was later in the track list it would've have hit harder. The very end of the pre-chorus gives Madonna vibes, which are not really felt elsewhere in this album, as far as I can tell. Sometimes - This single cover is very early 2000s core, but the song is mid. Soda Pop - wtf is happening, lol no, this lowkey turned me into a lib, wtf is this. This is genuinely horrible. Born to Make You Happy - Instrumental too wavy, guitar with the OD delay for no reason but it's crispy though. Kinda wild subject matter for a 16 year old? Bridge has these kinda obnoxious keys, very artificial (I definitely would have drowned these in reverb because cloudy), but the hook and production is 10/10. Use of layering and background vocals for emphasis is VERY well done, especially in the hook. The layering is insane, from an engineering nerd aspect. "I don't know how to live without your love" sounds INCREDIBLY lush. I would give a $100 bill to see what effects and side-chaining/buses were used to make this happen. I Will Still Love You - Sounds like they tried to make a Sheryl Crow song for teenagers, also idk wtf a Don Philip is but it's a no. Deep In My Heart - What in the Mario Kart/Wii music is this? Sounds like something you would hear at a bar/cafe/club type thing next to the ocean in a Final Fantasy game. It also somehow vaguely sounds like a Christmas Song on a cruise ship while also shopping at a mall in the future. Thinkin' About You - Mid/bad song overall, but the phrasing of the chorus is hilariously bad, especially the "thinkin about you". Autumn Goodbye - This is literally Final Fantasy Music. Upon second listen this is actually kinda fire, but I will never listen to this song ever again. Best: Baby One More Time, Born To Make You Happy Worst: Soda Pop (also kinda offensive) Overall: 2.5/14, But those 2 are FIRE; I'm giving (You Drive Me) Crazy a half a point because it's literally the same as the intro/title track.

Strange pose for the cover. Pleasant hits, with lots of filler.

I didn’t listen to it all so I can’t rate it fairly. But the fact that I didn’t listen to it all goes to show that it wasn’t enjoyable. Music for teenage girls and I’ve never enjoyed the album track even after hearing it for most of my life. I might revisit the album to give it a fair rating but I doubt that will happen. Dated late 90’s, early 2000’s pop…

The hits are fun, nostalgic, upbeat. The rest are awful, insincere filler.

How did she ever make it big ?

Recognizable, poppy

This is kinda tough to review. I mean, is it dead simple corny bubblegum pop? Sure, but that’s what it says on the box. Reasonably catchy, a bunch of hits that were as big as anything. Billions can sing along to the singles here. I have to say Britney’s staying power is a riddle to me. She’s not the best vocalist or anything, and the production was somebody else’s responsibility. Nevertheless she has staying power that contemporaries like Christina Aguilera don’t have. Call it two stars.

Goes down pretty smooth, and really a massive nostalgia trip. Probably about 50% filler, but kind of a perfect encapsulation of late 90s pop music.

Helt ok, lite störande ibland.

Sappy

I was probably the last person on Earth to have never heard the title song before, but that's all over now. I like the pounded-out piano riff on the chorus a lot! The rest of the album is done well enough, if a bit unmemorable. Probably not something I'll be coming back to, but yeah, I definitely had no excuse for not having heard the hits off it before, so I'm glad I did finally.

Delicious.

It can't be overstated how big of a pop culture icon Britney Spears was in the late 90's/early 00's. She basically was the face of the teen pop explosion that would dominate the radio during this time. Of course, a lot of this success was buoyed by the Swedish songwriting duo of Max Martin and Rami, both of whom were behind a majority of those catchy 90's/00's pop hits that seemed to come from every direction. This album was manufactured to become a smash hit and launch Spears into the stratosphere. Yes, this is purely bubblegum and teen pop as evidenced by the silly, lovey-dovey lyrics ("E-Mail My Heart" sure is...something) and catchy hooks (evidenced by the first three mega-single tracks, right off the bat). I can totally understand this album's inclusion on this list though, as it catapulted Spears into the limelight and began a new era headlined by female teen pop stars. I was very young when this album was big too, so this hit hard in the nostalgia department.

everyone where who gives this one a bad rating IS BORING!!!

🎧 I did not expect to be giving …Baby One More Time five stars, but here we are. Let’s acknowledge this for what it is: a game changing pop album populated with banger after banger after bop. I know I heard it a hundred times as a kid in 1999/the early 2000s but hearing Born to Make You Happy with fresh ears honestly kind of floored me.

Too popish for my taste 3/10

I put off listening to this album for a long time because I didn't think I would like it very much, and while it's definitely not the most groundbreaking pop album of the decade, it's still very much has extreme cultural and historical value for what it is, the rebirth of the teen pop genre. It wasn't quite as peppy and up going as I would have thought it would be just based on the hit single being at the very beginning, but it was still pretty good, there were a couple of songs I didn't really care for but overall I would honestly say it's a damn good project. 3.5/5

5s all the way!

I confused a number of 18-25 year old sailors by blasting this in my office

Point for nostalgia

OH BABY BABY

Title song is a clear outlier. Rest of the songs are very boring and sound the same. Bubble gum pop, which is weird for such a popular artist

Here's one from my childhood. Most of the songs I didn't know were quite sweet sounding. Soda Pop was kinda weird though. The Beat Goes On wasn't a great cover, but I'm not a fan of the original either. The best song was Born to Make You Happy.

Boring bland pop album from the 90s

4. It slaps. It's a 4.5, but some are weaker and strange. Email my heart is hilarious.

Good Lord that was bad. Who knew Brittney had a reggae track?

I like my fair share of white girl music, but this is not it

The hits still hit so hard, but the b-sides haven’t aged well. Email My Heart? Lol

Two stars because of Soda Pop

What a surprise to see this on the list. Brave choice from the authors. But I agree she shaped music in this era. A few of the songs are good, basically the hits, albeit very commercial. But there is also a lot of crap in the album beyond the hits. Three stars.

I will have to go back to my other albums that I rated a 1 and give them a bump up to 2. This sucks. The first three songs were all singles and are either ok or at least I've heard them so much that at least tolerable. The album goes downhill from there. If you like psuedo dancehall but done by Britney Spears or the Swiss then there is something for you. Throw in some songs rejected by Mariah Carey sung by someone with a much lesser voice and you have "Baby one more time."

It's Britney bitch !!! <3

Ummm....no

This is LONG. Like impressively long. I can see the title track having some cultural significance, but did the rest of this album need to be on this list? Maybe it was influential due to the fact nearly every song seems to have a key change?

I don't get it. Even today.

Sorprendentemente aburrido

Solidly produced and performed bubble gum pop. If you expect neither more nor less than that, you won't be disappointed.

There are some ok songs but this isn’t good as an album

Teen pop equaling the end credits of bad romance movies. The described reality of the songs is at best delusional. Most well known song is "Baby one more time".

A collection of pop ballads, some quite good. All a bit samey though as it goes on. 2.5 stars

Misogyny is a large motivator for me

Is it a perfect album? Nah. But it's nearly perfect pop music when it does hit the mark. This is Max Martin at the moment even he starts to begin to understand he's... Max Martin (do I hate I have to mention him first? Yes- perhaps admits to the power of the pop machine, though); when that meets a girl so clear in purpose, dream, and talent at the perfect time, it's kinda explosive. This is one of the last albums I remember being EVERYWHERE at the time, perhaps before music stopped being that exactly. Granted, I was a 12 year old girl at the time this was released so it's hard to find a more perfect test audience for this. The holier-than-thou judgement and condescendsion was harsh on this at the time- and persists. Call me a poptimist, but well crafted music is well-crafted music- even if pop music. Admittedly, the second half isn't as strong as the first (the corn of email my heart, anyone?) but when it's hitting on all cylinders.... Phew.

Classic. I got some weird looks for the album cover, however.

my sister used to listen to this all the time. not for me, but it's fine

this album would be better with more slowcore elements

This album came out my Senior year of high school. So I know the pop hits, but didn’t know the rest. Britney is a guilty pleasure to me. The rest of the album after the first 3 tracks reminded me of 90’s R&B (like BoyzIIMen or KC & JoJo) more than pop music.

Starts with 2 complete bangers, but the rest is throwaway

Better than Coldplay.

2.5/5

one more time, crazy, born to make u happy

wait that girl from those how I met your mother episodes made music!?

Bubblegum pop. Britney is a great performer, but it is not my cup of tea.

Not my style, but the musicianship is WAY higher than I recall. Quality work, but I’ll never revisit it.

Iconic for its time.

It's a great teen pop debut.

According to "The Rolling Stone" magazine, this is the greatest debut album of all time.... ... anyway, the album itself had some bangers, and it wasn't bad. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Britney Spears, as well as her controlling father, conservatorship, sexual assault allegation, and the fact she currently thinks she's five years old, can't make me rate this higher than it is(And I was very generous with this rating too). Favorite Track: "Baby One More Time".

How do I rate this? I don’t like the music, but as a teen I’ve been to many parties, where the music was played, and being a drunk teen is fun. The record is significant in music history, so it might be fair to put in on this list. However, this type of pop music is just so cookie cutter, and the music from other artists of the same kind (both girls and boy bands) was just not good

2 great songs (title and You drive me crazy) but the rest doesnt really lift up

Appears to be on here more for its commercial success than critical acclaim. Which tracks because overall as a full record its pretty lackluster. Britney sounds quite mature for being just 17, but the songwriting plays way too much into the "desperate girl longing for a man in her life" trope which in general I dislike. 4/10

Impossible to give this 5 stars after hearing ‘email my heart’ however there are enough bona fide pop bangers on here to make it an easy listen and tick the right boxes for those with certain music sensibilities.

2-3 great tracks and then it declines

Title track is great, but not the rest of the album

2/5

Repeat listen

Very corny. It was interesting to hear some of the other songs on the album other than the singles.

Weak stuff ⭐⭐

Some good songs and you can tell why it was so big when it came out, even if it feels dated and is not really my thing. I have an old co-worker who calls this "teeny-bopper music" and at least in this instance, he's totally right. Britney's voice, specifically the choice of vocal stylings at times, gets annoying while listening to a full album. It's almost too clear that it's a teenager playing at being an adult. It's really interesting to see 25 years on how these songs and others by the primary songwriters on here get new life in the form of Tenacious D's awesome recent version of "...Baby One More Time" and the really fun stage musical & Juliet.

Teen boppy pop to the max. There are bright spots that are energetic and fun, but boy does this album get worse as it marches on. Everything after “Thinkin’ About You” exists just to reach the track threshold for an LP. What was worse, “E-mail my heart” or the Cher cover? Hit me baby…. Maybe never again?

Meh

I thought it would be somehow interesting, because, well, it's Britney Spears' debut, it has to be culturally significant or something. It turned out to be two very famous hits that sound pretty much the same and some unlistenable trash. '...Baby One More Time' is almost a masterpiece next to the rest of the tracklist, and I really wonder what would I think had I never heard it before. Is it any good or it only seems so, because I don't know the world where it's not iconic?

That kind of music makes me travel back to time when I was listening to radio with my parents in the car as a kid.

My little sister loved this album, I think. She also loved N*Sync and Backstreet Boys. I never got into those bands (descendants of NKOTB), but I recognize this as part of my sister’s formative musical journey. Her taste is far more sophisticated than mine now, and her tolerance and appreciation for modern pop is also much higher than mine. I assume it is the Britney effect. I can’t give this album a fair shake because I can’t make it through any songs past the title track. I’m sorry, Britney. The first song is a classic though. “toxic” is my favorite Britney jam (late stage Britney).

pop drivel

The Good: nothing The Bad: nothing The Ugly: everthing I refuse to listen to this album. Nothing against Britney as a person, or a singer, or a dancer. The reason I refuse to listen to this album is that I don’t understand at all why this is something you need to listen to before you die? We’ve all heard “hit me baby one more time”, and now we can die...

Sugary fun pop hits sprinkled between mildly repetitive filler tracks. Britney’s performance is consistently terrific within a few of these samey trappings. Besides one more time, I enjoyed “I will be there” and “the beat goes on” is a surprisingly good cover.

This was the first album of my own I ever got, for my 10th birthday, so I'll always have a soft spot for this album in my heart. I haven't listened to it in probably 20 years, so I thought coming back to it as an adult would feel like coming in with a fresh ear, but I found myself singing along to every song on the album. ...Baby One More Time defined an entire generation of pop music with its formulaic industry production, the key changes in the middle of most songs, and the occasional guitar solos thrown in. Britney's vocals remain emblematic of the bubblegum pop genre. While my music sensibilities have changed, this album holds up. Favorite track: From the Bottom of My Broken Heart

It's formulaic and created to be precisely what would appeal to the largest audience possible (is that an oxymoron?). The greatest songwriters and composers in history mastered a formula, then transcended it. Britney's team is obviously not operating at that level here, but there is something to appreciate in their absolute command of the pop formula. Is every song about teen love and heartache? Yes, and that isn't particularly appealing, but I still can't help but be pulled in by the chorus in "Baby One More Time" or the cheesy ballad "I Will Be There." "E-Mail My Heart" might be my favorite track on the album just because it's hilarious. Baby One More Time is half pop bangers and half skippable filler songs. I have to wonder why this album was included on the list when there are certainly better Britney albums. I guess it's because Britney broke the mold in a way with Baby One More Time and became a pop star when people thought there would never be another Madonna. I would've preferred listening to one of her later albums.

Exactly what I thought it would be: teeny bopper music for year Y2K. Points for trying some different things with "Soda Pop" and "The Beat Goes On."

there's a certain insipidity to how music marketed for teens sounded in the 1990s and 2000s. it always centers around borrowed sounds from adult contemporary balladeers and contemporary r'n'b cliches that never go further than a wink and a nod to the burgeoning hormones tormenting its audience's minds. in this sense, "...Baby One More Time" is no exception. "Soda Pop", "E-Mail My Heart" and "I Will Still Love You" feel less like pop music and more like simulacrums of pop music for an audience that producers, marketers, and executives had no idea how to relate to. and yet. listen, i'm not gonna say this is getting a B rating just because of the title track. there's actually a lot to like here other than it; for example, i really enjoy the other two tracks that Max Martin wrote here, i enjoy the (forgive me) Persona 4-esque groove of "Deep In My Heart", and "The Beat Goes On" is a respectable little downtempo jam. of course, nothing more needs to be said about how well Britney pulls off the singing here, pretty much pioneering pop star vocal fry like 15 years before it became the norm. but c'mon, man. the first track is perfection. it's like two bullets colliding in the air at the Somme, something so miraculous that any attempt to repeat it feels like charlatanism. the chorus feels ritualistic, cult-like in a way, building everything up and possessing you to scream "AND I" and "STILL BELIEVE" at the wrong times because you're already swept up in the fever. it's terrifying. how did they pull it off? also, i'd like to say how appreciative i am of Britney's albums always being so short. in the age of CD fillers, she gave you just the right amount. her longest record is 49 minutes. it's admirable.

the hits are hits for a reason, but the same can be said for the non-hits

There’s been worse albums on this list (only 34 in), but there is zero moments that are special about this album. This came out when I was a freshman in high school and I remember how big of a deal it was then and how you couldn’t turn a corner without seeing/hearing the lead single. It blew my mind as a 15 year old, and I sit here even more bewildered that a legit music critic/author felt that this needed to noted in the annals of history. This album was trash, it’s not a dumpster fire, or anything like that. It is just generic, regurgitated pop. Britney doesn’t have an amazing voice, its not awful either, maybe a C- in terms of pop stars. The music is so bland too, even bad pop music will get my toes tappin from time to time. The melodies are catchy, but that is far from a reason to immortalize this record. Putting this album on this list is the equivalent of putting 7/11 pizza on the 1001 dishes you need to eat before you die list. I’ve heard these songs, I never enjoy hearing these songs but sometimes these songs pop up. I’ve eaten 7/11 pizza, I am never happy when I eat 7/11 pizza, but sometimes you end up eating 7/11 pizza. The entire time I wrote this review (and assuredly for hits to come) the title track’s hook looped through my head painfully. 2.5/10 #34/1001

I’m so sorry, Brittney. Gifted beautiful singer but “they” stole her real voice turning her into someone else. This was the beginning of the destruction at no fault of her own.

"E-mail my heart" :D alun hittien jälkeen puhti loppuu nopeasti, ja aika vaikea kuunnella kun tietää, millainen koneisto tämän tuotti (ja miten Britneytä kohdeltiin). Tässäkin kannessa 16-17-vuotias?? 2/5 koska hypertuotetun karkkipopin uranuurtaja.

I purposely avoided listening to this album my entire life until today. Britney finally busted my cherry, and I’ll never be the same again. I feel dumber and gross. Never again.

This was cheesy. But that's ok, I don't mind some cheesy pop every now and again A very nostalgic album. Baby One More Time was a huge song in my childhood. Britney is an icon I'm not the biggest fan of her music, but since reading her book I appreciate her music much more #FreeBritney 4 ⭐️

Despite being old enough to have experienced this album come out originally I never actually listened to the entire thing because I was not a pop music fan. It was enjoyable Sunday morning listening. Hit a little bit of nostalgia and I think I have a better idea of where a bunch of samples that I've heard in other songs came from.

These are some HEFTY 90s vibes but I was still not prepared for soda pop

Look, I could pretend that I'm a sophisticated music listener and above this bubble gum crap, but I'm too old to care about being a music snob anymore. Also, it would be a complete lie. I was a twelve-year-old girl when this album came out, and I was obsessed. I still remember the first time I saw the video for "Baby One More Time" and immediately knowing everything was going to be different from then on. It wasn't long before that song was absolutely everywhere, and then Britney was as well. The rate at which she exploded was insane. I saw her on the tour for this album in 1999 at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, which held just over 3,000 people. The next year, my gift to my childhood best friend at his bar mitzvah was tickets to her new tour (spoiler: why yes, he is gay) and we saw her at the E-Centre in Camden with over 25,000 of our closest friends. Okay, on to the actual album. It's bubblegum pop. There's nothing super profound here. But the songs are catchy, her voice is better than we gave her credit for at the time, and though he'd already had some minor success with Robyn and the Backstreet Boys, this is the album that launched Max Martin into the stratosphere and influenced the next decade or more of pop music (for better or worse). That said, even if you love cheesy pop music, this album isn't all winners. There are some pretty corny ballads and it does get a bit repetitive — the first half is definitely better than the back half. But there are plenty of bangers on here, and five of the songs were hit singles for good reason. The title track, "(You Drive Me) Crazy" and "Born to Make You Happy" are probably the best tracks. I personally prefer the video version of "Crazy", but the album version is still great in its own way. "Soda Pop" is ridiculous but annoyingly catchy, and the bizarre cover of Sonny and Cher's "And The Beat Goes On" is oddly endearing. I didn't remember several of the songs just looking at the titles, but my brain had no trouble digging up lyrics I haven't heard in over 20 years, so I guess that's a testament to the album's staying power. Maybe it's the nostalgia as I approach middle-age, and you can judge me all you want, but I still dig this album. I'm glad it's on here. 4/5

i can see why the millennials loved her. the rest of the album pales in comparison to the hits. Would I listen again: to the singles Deserves to be on this list: yes 3.2

I’m not sure what to do with this one. Some of it is catchy but I mostly feel sorry for Britney. She was only 16 when this came out and the way it was marketed says a lot of sad things about the industry.

Some decent pop but got a bit boring after 40 minutes of it. 3 stars

Not good

1. …Baby One More Time - 10/10 2. (You Drive Me) Crazy - 8/10 3. Sometimes - 9/10 4. Soda Pop - 6.5/10 5. Born to Make You Happy - 8/10 6. From the Bottom of My Broken Heart - 9/10 7. I Will Be There - 7.8/10 8. I Will Still Love You - 8/10 9. Deep In My Heart - 7/10 10. Thinkin' About You - 8/10 11. E-Mail My Heart - 8/10 12. The Beat Goes on - 7/10 13. I'll Never Stop Loving You - 7/10 14. Autumn Goodbye - 7/10 8/10

Oh no! Why 1001 albums? Why? 0.5 /5 Album 38/1001

I tried, I really did.

what a time to be alive - apparently this got taken off later editions of 1001 Albums, but I don't know what the problem is - EMAIL MY HEART??? gold.

classic but no musical genius

Some catchy stuff on here (title track, soda pop), but too much filler/dull ballads to get over the two star mark

Let's be honest

de eerste twee zitten vastgebeiteld in mijn kop...dus die vallen mee... rest is te catalogeren onder de K van koeiedrek

In the late fall of 1998, or maybe it was early 1999 - either way, it was during my senior year of high school and “…Baby One More Time” had already been released as a single - there was a rumor in my central New Jersey Catholic high school that Britney Spears was going to be moving to New Jersey in order to be closer to New York City and was considering attending my high school. Now, I can’t verify if the basis for this rumor was true in any way, only that it spread through the halls of my school like wildfire for a few days towards the end of the last century. I suspect that the rumor was due in part (or maybe in totality) to the video for “…Baby One More Time”, in which Spears was clad, provocatively, in a private/catholic school uniform. I can say pretty assuredly that there were few, if any, of my male classmates who liked Ms. Spears’ music, but the video? Yeah, that video was a hit with the teenage-boys-in-private-school demographic. Because of that, when the rumor that Britney Spears might attend our school came along, the male segment of the school’s population was pretty psyched about the news. The girls in my class, I think, were a lot less excited about the prospect of a newly famous pop-star, who was primarily known for dancing kind of seductively in her catholic school uniform, attending our school. Can’t say I blame them. Thinking back now, it would have been an incredibly awkward and toxic environment for someone to enter into. I mean, it would have been impossible to have a “normal” school experience if you were in Britney Spears’ shoes. You would be automatically put on a pedestal by some, you’d be the object of contempt or jealousy by others and it would be very difficult to know who to trust, because who knows what kind of ulterior motives people might have in getting to know you. It sounds nightmarish, to be honest. Clearly this rumor turned out to be nothing more, or I would have started this review with, “I went to high school with Britney Spears” instead of telling you about a rumor that went around my school, but that is pretty much the extent of my connection with this record. To use a tried and true New Jersey-ism, this album “is what it is”: Sugary pop music for teenagers. It’s not the first album of its type and it certainly won’t be the last. Should it have been included on this list? I don’t know. I’m inclined to say no, but I’m not a pop music fan. It did give me an opportunity to reminisce about a strange couple of days during my senior year of high school, so, for that, I’m giving it 2 stars.

I usually grant a 3 if it's decent but not to my liking, cleverly played but not my genre or a window into a certain time. Well, this is a time that I grew up in, but since I wasn't an impressionable girl and to young to be feeling pubescent longings over her videoclips, I was merely an outsider looking in. Thus this sugary teehee pop kinda gives me the proverbial ick. That being said nobody can deny she was surounded by competent songwriters and that she could cary a tune! Some songs shine cause they are incredibly catchy (...baby one more time; crazy; sometimes; Born to make you happy) other by being outdated(E-mail my heart; Soda pop). Weirdly I kinda enjoyed this. But don't tell 10 year old me..

You can certainly hear the money poured into this, she had lots of support - at least in this aspect. Not so much in the rest of her life which is a terrible story. Mostly semi-disposable late 90s pop, but well enough done.

Sometimes is a highlight. Good pop but probably won't listen to again

Idc. Fine for what it is I guess.

I don't care

far too poppy for me - was about 30 mins longer than I could reasonably stand. cover of the beat goes on was the least worst song on here

Fav: …Baby One More Time Least Fav: Soda Pop One trick pony, the album. Britney’s voice is really good but can only go so far when it’s quite repetitive

This really is an album of two halves. The first half is banger after banger; just the biggest pop songs of the time and still infectious to this day. Sadly, the second half is dragged down by a few too many ballads that feel incredibly dated now with that superficial 90s production. Still, it can’t be denied that this is an important album as a showcase of the dominance Britney had back then.

She's nutty af lately, but sure was the sweetest sugar-pop queen in 1999.

guilty pleasure when i was a 20yo

I'm completely biased with this album. This is a huge childhood favorite and definitely an important album when it came to my musical tastes.

I liked it more than I thought I would.

A lot better than I expected! I still despite the voice used on 'Baby One More Time'

Baby One More Time and You Drive Me Crazy are absolute timeless bangers, shame nothing else sticks out for the remainder of the album. Very hard carry from these two songs

Too poppy

Some classic, sing -a -long late 90s pop but some awful and dated tunes too. Was surprised at how many of the words I remember but there are lots of very forgettable tracks too. It was fun to play to the kids but I can live without listening to it again

Important? Sure. But so was Mussolini. Certainly not as evil or abhorrent, but can you make 90s pop music that is? If so, it would at least be more interesting than this. Aside from a couple tracks, this album feels like an attempt by the production team to prove they are competent musicians. Really no shade to Britney, because if anything is to blame for the mediocrity or schlock on this album, it's the everlasting wisdom of a label. Christgau said it best. Madonna next door. 3.5/10 Favorite Song: ...Baby One More Time

7/10 I like the stones. Love them even. But this album was more top hits but less cohesion. Still a hood record but probs middle of the road for me among the stoned records. Favorite song: Brown Sugar

Fitting that this was served up to me on April Fool's Day

#542. Like the Christina Aguilera one, this album is very of its time, which is well past its expiration date. 2/5: not for me

Probably enjoyable if you like that kind of thing, but still not the worst pop album I ever heard. 6.9/10

rating original tracklist only ...Baby One More Time - 5/5 (You Drive Me) Crazy - 4/5 Sometimes - 3/5 Soda Pop - 2/5 Born to Make You Happy - 3/5 From the Bottom of My Broken Heart - 3/5 I Will Be There - 3/5 I Will Still Love You - 2/5 Deep In My Heart - 3/5 Thinkin' Bout You - 3/5 E-Mail My Heart - 2/5 The Beat Goes On - 2/5 Average score: 2.9/5 (rounding up) only ever heard the song Baby One More Time prior to listening to this album and i can see why. most songs on here were either just okay or just tolerable enough for me to not call shit. maybe if i'd heard this back in the early 2000s i'd be blinded enough by nostalgia to give this higher praises

She's too moany-whiny. The talent here is the song-writing and pop-production and sex-appeal. Britney herself is overrated.

I have no idea what to do with this. The only thing I can say is, it's amazing that this was written before AI generated music. Or perhaps this explains AI music? "Email my heart" - worth listening just for that title and the earnestness of a song that surely should be a spoof!

Eh? 3/10

Pretty decent pop album

oh lord. Well the nice thing is that I can exit this album any time after the 12th song. ...Baby One More Time is still a certified bop. and into (You Drive Me) Crazy has got to be one of the strongest pop 1 2s in the whole list of these albums. Sometimes is now the third song in a row about a distant/abusive lover and now its starting to get a little odd. I really commend Brittney for trying to go into a more soulful register with her voice. Born To Make You Happy? What the hell is this album? Some of the beats sound like they came out of a goddamn Casio keyboard. The Beat Goes On is a good cover. Autumn Goodbye is very bad.

some bangers, decent overall

I thought the nostalgia would make this more listenable, but I didn’t even recognize more than 2-3 songs. While I can tolerate bubblegum pop as standalone songs, a whole album of it definitely tries my patience. “E-mail My Heart” is pretty funny, though.

i really thought i was gonna have a hot take on this album here. this album really comes out swinging with the first two tracks and i was like "there's no way this album gets as bad as people on here are rating it." well, i don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be, but it's definitely a really middling late 90s pop album. it's nostalgic as hell and pretty fun to listen to for that reason, but i don't think i would say it's great. britney is one of the tragic figures of the pop music industry and her importance should not be understated - on top of that, she has a great singing voice and max martin's stuff on here is pretty good. but really most of this feels like filler.

It’s ok

fire album, absolute classic

I’ll admit, at times I can enjoy cheesy manufactured pop, but it’s still cheesy manufactured pop.

Although I was excited to get a different album vibe than what I’ve been getting for the past 3+ weeks, I have to admit that this kinda sucked and was a huge disappointment. I’ve never listened to a Britney album in full, and I don’t think I need to again. Other than the first song, I don’t really get it. And I definitely wouldn’t say this is an album I have to listen to before I die… I get it’s fun and I’ll give it that but I don’t know.

Britney Spears is in the list but e.g. Heart is not. That's the review. OK I'll try again...: music for people who don't really like digesting music which was made/processed/bought/sold in a factory by a ton of people notably and nearly tragically not really including the actual marketing ploy on the cover. This is all so utterly formulaic (ooo! a key change! didn't see that one coming...just like the previous song...) and fake - it's AI before AI. 3/10 1 star (feels a little bad lumping it with the Korn/KidRock/Slipknot genresofshit but this is straight-up terrible).

This only has two stays because of the title track which is a stone cold classic pop song that is a total ear worm. The rest of the album is teenage diary poems drivel lyrics. No one needs to hear anything other than the title track.

Хммммми ну чисто ради hit me baby one more time... Остальное ну просто голяк Слишком слащяво, 2/10

Because is pop and for the 1st song

Holy smokes, this list has actually recognised a pop album?!?! I'm overjoyed at this occurrence, pop music deserves a chance too! Granted, this probably wouldn't be my Britney choice for this list but the title track alone makes it pretty worthy. Also 'Born To Make You Happy' might be one of the most underrated pop songs out there. On the basis that I don’t know when I’ll next see a pop record on this list, I gotta go for 5 stars. Love from, a true pop girly

Big hitters aside, it's all a bit one dimensional. But you can't deny, the hits are HITS. Bittersweet to listen to with hindsight.

I don't really know what to say here. There are some complete classics on this record which have managed to survive for decades due to nostalgia and popular culture. I cannot recount how many time I went to weddings or parties where the DJ pulled out one of the popular tracks that are on this album. Baby One More time is forever engrained in my mind and I never actively listened to it at all. Does it make the music any good due to the perpetual pop propagation? I am not quite sure but it's evident that some of these songs hit a Zeitgeist for teens back in the day. Objectively, the latter of half of this album is entirely forgettable with grating production and utterly braindead lyrics. Hoenstly, it all sounds super dated and it's a product of this time I don't know what to write here.

As much as Britney basically revolutionized pop music, an album musician she is not. I get why it’s an essential listen but… not much going on here just yet in the Spears career.

Who cares? And not worth trying to remember why anyone ever might have. Gives pop music a bad name, really.

The dream of the 90s and the bumble gum pop that launched a thousand careers but most importantly, TRL (RIP).

БАЗОЧКА я люблю этот альбом это круто

Reminds me of high school, TRL on MTV, crazy how it all started and where she is at now. Hindsight on this album has provided a new better perspective.

Some solid pop songs on here. But ultimately don't think I'd come back to them other than the hits

She kinda has one song (except for the beat goes on that's unique and awesome)

Iky.

Love Britney.

E-Mail My Heart is a hilariously dated song. This is music by committee that for the most part is really good. The key change in Sometimes is great. The Beat Goes On is an interesting closer that’s very stylistically different from the rest of the songs here. Highlights were …Baby One More Time, Sometimes, and Soda Pop.

Va beh, la titular spacca. Ma anche (you drive me) crazy! (Non me la ricordavo). Pff, sono una via l'altra. Trovo che in qualche modo reagiscano con qualcosa del mio inconscio. Perché anche se non mi riportano alla mente particolari ricordi o momenti, sembrano associate a periodi felici (anche se non è vero o comunque non erano periodi rilevanti). Forse è lo stile di quegli anni, associato a qualcosa inconsapevolmente. Ok magari erano le prime 3/4 a farmi questo effetto, ma il resto è comunque solido.

Perfect teen pop

It was fine.

I think this albums inclusion perfectly exemplifies what is wrong with most of the 21st century picks for a list like this, even if this album is before the turn of the century. The list was first made in 2005, and that causes a lot of (at the time) recent albums to have no time to sit and see if they truly are something worth sticking around for. Instead, it felt like the author needed to fill out the list with recent big artists to sell copies of the book; albums with one major hit, but not a lot of staying power otherwise. This strategy has worked in the lists favor since, just look at the Kendrick Lamar inclusions, but many of the albums don't feel like "albums" you should listen to before you die, but rather one hit single and ten to fifteen other tracks, and it really makes it the dullest part of the list, in my eyes. There is no wonder that this album (among many others) got removed to make room for new albums that fall into the same issues. Rinse and repeat. This album on its own merits is fine enough. The hit is decent but overplayed, and most of the other songs range from fine to okay, with only some true stinkers, but Spears has better albums, and if we were going to go with an album that had a hit on it by her before 2005, why not make it In the Zone and include Toxic?

Was soooo tempted to go with the “DID NOT LISTEN” option.

Some people need to get their heads out of their butts. Now, look, I hate making my reviews about other people's reviews, but, like... If you wanna find this album dated, that's one thing. That's fair enough, honestly; this material is **very** late 90's/early 2000's. I mean, for goodness snake, there's a song on here called "E-Mail My Heart". If that's not dated, nothing is. I'd get ragging on this album for that — though I wouldn't, myself. I actually kind of really enjoy it when music sounds so much like the time period it came from? Of course the stuff that withstands the test of time will always be better, but as if I'm not sometimes in the mood for the specific sound of an era, y'know? And if you're not into this kind of teen pop production and songwriting, I also get it. Y'know, the songs can sound maybe a little unspecial, which can not pair very well with how huge they present themselves. Although for me, I've always loved what an absolute steamroller these songs can be. For real, this whole era of teen music, from Britney to *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, is absolutely amazing. I'll acknowledge I might just be shallow, but even if the substance itself isn't much, how enormous they can sound more than makes up for it. And there's other stuff you could ding this album for. The dancehall thing on "Soda Pop" is a little "...Huh?" Not to mention, it's entirely fair to not like how this album presented Britney despite her age at the time. That's completely legit. No, my problem with these reviews from what I've scanned is that most all of the negative ones seem to boil down to just "I CAN'T LISTEN TO THIS; I'M AN ADULT." And, like... Are you serious? Are y'all for real? That's **really** enough of a problem in your eyes to give this album a 2 or even a 1 outta 5? Heck, to drag this album's average rating down to a 2.66? Allow me to quote someone who was mocked at the time for speaking the truth: leave Britney alone. I mean, OK, sure, some of this seems to be tied into how Britney was portrayed here, but come on. Unless you're listening to straight-up nursery rhymes or music made for actual toddlers, however old you are shouldn't matter. I'm in my late 20's, and that might not be too old in the grand scheme of things, but I hold no shame in liking these songs. They're good listens, even if most of them aren't exactly the most mind-blowing things in the world. I mean, in general I still eat Nesquik and read books like DOG MAN alongside "proper grown-up" fare. Let's not act like there's an age limit on things, eh? So, yeah, that's my review built out of complaining about other peoples'. In total... Honestly, I'd give it a good 4. Even as much as I like this album, there's still a part of me that feels like it blows its load a bit early? I mean, after something like the title track there's really nowhere to go but down. Still, it's not enough of a drop off to bring the album **that** far down. I'd give it a few more listens, and I wouldn't feel the need to switch over to porn 'coz it'd be "less embarrassing." Frankly, I hope there's more teen pop albums on here. Give us MILLENIUM! Give us NO STRINGS ATTACHED! Give us some also-ran who's not as good as any of the before mentioned but, damn it, just hit the spot! I'll be there to give 'em 4's — just you watch.

Despite the dated yet somewhat charming track E-Mail My Heart, this is still a good collection of enough sugar sweet tracks to put you in a sugar coma. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

I’m at a 3.5 that I will bump up to a 4, partially to spite the people that gave this a 2.66 average, and partially because I just had fun with it. I am a full blown sucker for this style of pop… if it’s done consistently well. This album comes out swinging on its first 6 tracks, and absolutely falls down on its final 5 tracks, though not for a lack of trying – simply a lack of perceived conviction. Britney Spears’ vocals are great throughout this album, and when she’s on fire, she’s in total sync with the music; even if it’s written for her, she’s got the conviction to make it her own and add her own flourishes throughout. That conviction goes away from Track 7 onward; the production is still fine, as are her vocals, but the lyricism feels like it was pulled out of a generic pop star songbook – it’s hard to describe the “lack of conviction”, but it’s easy enough to feel, especially with the difference in quality of the first 6 and last 5 tracks. Here’s the thing – I’m still a sucker for this style of pop. Yes, this album falls down a bit, but it’s still a really solid listen even at its most bland points. When it’s riding high, it feels really good & really fun – even cheesy tracks like “Soda Pop” or “Born To Make You Happy” just sort of keep punching until they win you over, or at least they did for me. I sort of understand why this only has a 2.66 – yes, it’s not Metallica or Black Sabbath or anything like that, but there’s room for this type of bubbly hyperpop with a Y2K feel & overblown Swedish production on the list. If nothing else, the cultural impact of Britney Spears & the boy bands & pop stars surrounding this general wave of the late 90s (i.e. NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, etc) makes this album worth being on the list, if only for a sense of historical context. So, yeah, I’m at a 3.5 bumped up to a 4 – really strong first 6 tracks, really flat final 5, but as a whole package, a nice, easy, commercially safe & bubbly 42 minutes that feels good to listen to, and occasionally has some really standout moments. I liked it. P.S.: "Deep in My Heart" is actually a fucking banger, but it's not on the original track list, which is criminal. Also, “Email My Heart” is an incredibly silly track, even for 1999.

I wish I could pretend I didn’t like this, but they cooked up a good ass pop album that definitely changed mainstream music going into the 2000s. Credit where credit is due.

FREE BRITNEY!!! There are 3-4 club bangers on here, the rest is typical pop album business. All enjoyable and easy on the ears. You lead off with THAT song, you can pretty much do whatever else you want.

Average pop album

Enjoyed it more than I thought I'd would!

Surprised to see this album on the list. It put out quite a few singles so I guess it belongs here. It's a good pop record BUT it was way too long. After the 10th song, I had enough.

Favorite track: you drive me crazy other picks: baby one more time, i will be there

Ok pop album

Her music's icky but I don't think the entire genre should be scrutinized. There are people twenty years before her that have made very, very good bubblegum pop. >cough cough< ABBA >cough cough<

It gets 2 stars because there are probably only 2 songs I’d listen to again. It’s throwaway pop that is long gone but an important milestone in the direction of music in the late 90s. Glad it’s gone though.

Imagine my dismay when this came up. I lived through it once already, isn’t that enough

Easy listen, was able to get the vibe of the songs on low volume without relistening too much. Sounds extremely 2000s. Low 3.

6/10 - It was pretty fun to listen to. The songs were all pretty similar but it was a good vibe. Baby one more time was the best song and others were kind of just a worse version of it, but all enjoyable.

I have a similar problem with almost all late 90s/early 2000s pop, which is that it sounds super dated, and often there's only one good song on the album and the rest is filler that's just a worse version of the good song. Also the albums are usually a lot longer than they need to be

absolute pop cheese. hasn’t aged well, but is kinda fun if you take it as unserious as possible.

Absolutely nothing wrong with this album, unless I wanted to explore any insecurities I might have about being known to like music performed by a teen who had everything handed to her on a plate, and had only to apply her honeyed voice to the lyrics. Happily, I either possess no such insecurities, or do not wish to explore them, so I'm giving this five stars and adding it to my Tidal library.

Few albums have, on paper (on the sleeve?), such a powerful opening trio. Just the names - ...Baby One More Time, Crazy, and Sometimes - kick the brain into nostalgia mode, where everything sounds sweeter and stronger than you remember. And those songs are all remarkably catchy, tightly paced, and well-arranged to achieve their intended orgasmic end. But they don't work as a trio. These were all produced as late-90s singles. They were designed to cut through all the other songs on radio and MTV. They were not intended to sit side-by-side. They're meant to shoulder other songs out of the way. While they don't have the effect of that Durutti Column record with the sandpaper sleeve that scratches up the records on either side, there is no sense of cohesion, no flow, no album per se. You may as well be listening to a pop station that plays 'only the best new music.' If you did that, you would skip some of the filler, which, for all the producer's expertise in the genre, can't touch the exquisite Born To Make You Happy. In 2000, when Billy Corgan was breaking up Smashing Pumpkins, he said that he could no longer fight the good fight against the Britneys of this world. He could have meant a lot by that, but he was coming out of a struggle with Virgin over whether or not he could release a triple album. He would leak the unreleased portion of the Machina Mystery onto the internet, essentially breaking up the album into downloadable shards. His grand artistic statement was not supported by the music industry. Britney's debut album makes no grand artistic statement, but it is as fragmented as any attempt to piece together Machina. It is one polished shard after another and they make no more sense together than apart. Pop albums have always been like that, to some extent, but, in 1999, it was starting to become clear that albums were on the way out. There are four songs here which, juiced up by nostalgia, are better than most songs on the albums generated thus far. That should clutch this album a respectable score, but it's not an album - it's a greatest hits compilation with seat fillers taking up space while the other hits are waiting to be written. I don't know how to score it. 2.5 Yesterday Peter Mandelson, British Ambassador to the United States, described Donald Trump as ‘a very consequential President’. It is a just statement. Ambassador Mandelson obviously feels it beneath his job description to say anything less than complimentary about the President but beneath his self-respect to say anything contradictory to the truth that Trump is working for the destruction of civilisation in the West. ‘…Baby One More Time’ is a very consequential album. Even if I had the inclination, I am not historian enough to trace either the scale of the (immediate) impact this album had on popular culture, the music industry, society I dare say, nor its true relationship to its cultural forebears - Elvis, The Beatles, Madonna…etc. What I will say is that I remember well this album’s appearance in everyone’s lives and I remember too the unmistakeable sense that some standard, perhaps several, had been successfully lowered. I tried today to give this album as fair a hearing as I would any. I listened twice. I listened attentively. Britney Spears’ debut album is utter trash. These songs represent musical and lyrical proceduralism of the lowest order. (You drive me) crazy is 3 minutes 19 seconds; it features the chorus four times and a bridge which is essentially the chorus with a sloppily modified harmony. Soda Pop, almost exactly the same length, features its same unmodifed chorus 6 times. The lyrics have the quality of having been quickly composed on the back of a napkin during a coffee break; each the mere unfolding of the conceit of its title with as little thought as possible. ‘Thinkin’ About You’ comes off as if it lacked even that first humble draft. That and the track which follows it, ‘E-mail my heart’, represent the low-point of an album that shouldn’t be capable of low-points, but there it is; the trough within the trough. This is an album as cynically disrespectful of its listeners as I have ever sat down with. That it was right about them, that it won, that Britney Spears was elected, none of that makes any difference to my conviction here. This was and is wrong. Shame on the people who made this. 0/5

Oh man, I wanted to like this, for her as the ‘underog’, but this was bad, bad like the ice cream dropping of your cone, bad

There will not be one more time of listening to this

Das ist kitschig, aber man kann es nicht schlechtreden. Das ist alles schon ziemlich eingäng und clever gemacht. 3 1/2.

You know, usually I get one of these pop albums and I'm not too excited about it, but it ends up being much better than I thought it would be. Not so with this album. The hit songs are still good, but everything else feels super generic. Even the production of this album feels uninspired. In retrospect, I feel justified in not giving a crap about this album in 1999 2/5

while i do enjoy britney a lot, this album really isnt that remarkable, except for the few songs on it that went completely viral and are still hits up to this day. all in all its pretty forgettable (to me personally) and doesnt hold up at all (+ the typical lyrics that dont really help its cause) still a classic 2000s pop album though

Noh...

This album is really weak with the exception of the title track. Just as bad as I remember it.

Not good.

lyrics are a bit too cheesy and over the top for me but still not a bad album by any means

+1 for the e-mail song which a beautiful time capsule. Honestly learning about Max Martin and his relationship to the English language makes some of these songs make a liiiiitle more sense. But as always with pop albums, can i please skip the middle 8 tracks of boring love ballads.

the hits are the hits, but the filler is some of the emptiest pop music ever recorded

the hits were the hits but the rest of this album felt like being an archaeologist, unearthing never before seen britney. i will never get over how funny "e-mail my heart" is

Wow I can see in my mind the CD with the flower on it? Right? Anyway I have to admit, listening today, there's some skippable filler in here but the hits are HITS and it's fun to hear her before her baby voice was fully defined. we luv u britney

The Beat Goes On proves this team was capable of more than trying to entertain men with the sex appeal of a teenager, which makes the rest of the album more disappointing.

That opening song is still pop perfection. Everything after that I can’t get into. 2/5

No. This was always weird and gross.

I never gave this album a shot when I was growing up because it came out when I was 18 years old and figured I’m never gonna listen to this, but it actually is not that bad

You know what's the killer and what's the filler. Just go listen to a greatest hits album instead.

Seriously? I guess it was popular and catchy enough...

Thematically, there are two songs: baby I love you, and baby I miss you. No points docked for that, I think it's a plus. A modern "I'll cry if I want to" by Lesley Gore, which I know realize might be an apt description as this album apparently revamped the teen pop genre. I recommend the deluxe edition for the club edits of ... Baby one more time, they're a time capsule of what remixes wanted to sound like in 1999

Wish I coulda been in society when this one dropped. Such a fun album. Not something I’d throw on much because it was a bit mortifying pulling into a parking garage with this on, but there are a bunch of hits and I enjoyed it a lot. Such a great aesthetic that it curates.

My first impression was that Britney looks EXACTLY like the girl from Zoey 101. Apparently they’re sisters. Who knew? Spears is generation defining quintessential 2000’s which for better or worse was about 10-12 years before my time as a teen. Starts with 2 absolute bangers before generally mellowing out and I feel like you get the idea after the first couple of songs. The songs you know are definitely going to feel timeless, the rest you can take it or leave it.

Seems like this album was included just to troll people. I fully expect to get Rick Rolled next and I’ll definitely enjoy it more.

Some duds on here but overall this is such a great pop album. She has stuff even better then this (Blackout) but for a debut this is fantastic.

Why? Why on this list? Oh well, it’s not reprehensible enough to get one star, but I’m giving it the bare minimum for not being awful.

...Baby One More Time (You Drive Me) Crazy

Knew this from growing up, absolutely a throwback to hear all these songs now.

I meannnnn, definitely a few all-time earworms here

Big pop with a lot of moans

…Baby One More Time is a pop junk food feast—a Big Mac with extra cheese, fries, and a milkshake of pure pop bliss. Max Martin’s hooks hit like a sugar rush, while Britney’s star power barely keeps it from falling apart. The title track is undeniable, but most of the rest? Filler bloat. Musically forgettable yet culturally untouchable, it’s a time capsule of late-’90s excess—greasy, over-the-top, and impossible to ignore.

It's brittany

Buoyed somewhat by four absolutely titanic songs, but even the album tracks have a fizz and charm to them that is undeniable.

I don't know where to start this review, but I guess I never expected to be sitting here thinking to myself that I have many thoughts about Baby One More Time by Britney Spears of all albums I listened to because of the generator. The main thing is well: this era of teeny bopper, turn of the century music is for the most part... not great for an album but has always a great single or a great song hidden in between all the fluff of the album (or the songs that I don't enjoy at least). I'm not gonna say this album is great since I find a lot of the songs to be either melodramatic power ballads or dance pop tunes which the former gets grating because it reminds me of those live action TV movies from Disney Channel and the latter IS very fun and I wish there was more of it instead of the former. Yet, I still can find something in those cheesy ballads in how they remind me of being like 10 or 12 watching those old Disney Channel TV movies and find some nostalgia in that era of TV that I remember pretty vividly and then just think "well it isn't great and isn't my kinda pop but it's really cute and even making me feel good??" Which is wild because again, I thought I'd be sitting here saying it's teen pop with the one good song and move on (and I mean yeah, Baby One More Time overshadows the entire album except for The Beat Goes On which kinda sounds like a very simple attempt at doing the sound of Debut or Post era Bjork and I'm still so surprised by it). I don't think I will sit and relisten to this again (unless I get dared to dive into her discography) but I feel it gave me a good enough time that I can't ignore that or avoid that it reminds me of a bunch of things I enjoyed once. So yeah, thanks Britney.

Fun!

Terrible. A shopping mall of an album. Of course it's capably written and smoothly produced, but life is too short for this over sweet shite.

fya

Such a perfect little time capsule of this era. Blockbuster pop with so much production value that it practically blinds you with how shiny it all is. Yes, it's kind of meaningless, but who cares when it all sounds this good?

the Pop Princess starts well, but then drops into generic sounds

Nope.

Even if you try, it’s hard not to have heard about Spears and her struggles. What I’ve read about her conservatorship issues makes me respect her on a human level. As far as this album goes, though, it sounds to me like what happens when you try to sexualize a former Mouseketeer for cynical commercial gain. There are a couple moments where you catch glimpses of sincere talent, but not enough to justify an hour-long pop album.

Easy to make fun of her vocal growl and lyrics, both of which were probably chosen/influenced by others. Campy, but not annoying, as the arrangements were decent.

Title track's the catchiest. The rest is competent, bubblegum pop.

No

I can't believe she used to look like she did on the cover of this album 3/5

5.5/10

Sometimes I'm scared of this..

Like chewing one of those cheap 90s bubble gums. Overly sweet, so much so that there is nothing to actually taste but sugar. Then it's just instantly bland. Zero nutritional value. You also get the nausea and disgust that comes with overstuffing yourself with candy. The album certainly has its relevance if you want to comprehend a very specific feeling of a very specific time period, but it still hurts to listen to all of it.

No, 1 Star - and not because I at my age am not the target audience obviously, I can appreciate good pop, but this is half baked, a poor excuse of an album, that it sold shed loads is just an indictment on the power of icky school girl videos and whatever that teen cover and title is selling to "teen" audiences at the time. That wiki entry was humorous while listening, trying to match up the gushing praise with the half finished dance pop and bad teen romance ballads that sound like those direct to video sequels that Disney did with lower quality control and hack songwriters instead of the A listers that did the movies, and that is somehow ground breaking. A fine example of exploitative manifactured music practices maybe gets it on the list., nothing else.

It's pure pop. It's dense. It's dated.

Iconic. But it does feel a bit like a hodge podge of sounds. Just throwing some things at a wall. Soda pop? Wth is that. 2.5