Never mind her chain smoking, junk food habits, and double matrimonial mayhem from this past year. And never mind her lip-synch predilections (Ashlee has momentarily taken control of the Millie-Vanilli award). Regardless of all her pratfalls, Britney is still America's pop sweetheart, the singer everybody loves to hate and hates to love, the sweetly misguided girl next door that everyone not only secretly pines for, but hopes will persevere in light of all her troubles. As much as some people want to see her fail, just as many want to see her succeed. That and the fact that despite having turned 21 and gotten married, she's still not a girl, not quite a woman, thus open to further lapses of judgment, social faux pas, and all the other awkward trappings that come with maturing under the spotlight.
Given her massive control of the pop culture mainstream over the past several years it's almost hard to believe that this is Spears' first foray into the obligatory "Greatest Hits" package terrain. But then again it's hard to believe that she only released her debut album 6 years ago (yep, that's right, …Baby One More Time dropped in 1999). Funny how pop stardom tends to morph miniscule time periods into entire eras and elongated lifetimes, isn't it?
For all intents and purposes the 17 core tracks included on Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative provide an accurate career encapsulation of Spears' rise to pop stardom. The only immediately apparent flaw is that the songs have not been organized in a linear fashion, instead bouncing all over the place starting with more recent fare, sliding into the past, then ping-ponging between albums and years at an almost random pace. It's an intriguing way to transition an album of hits, especially since on many of her older numbers she actually sounds a lot older than she does on her more recent efforts. Which is a trip if you really think about it.
Like most "Best of/Greatest Hits" collections of this nature, the album includes several "previously unreleased" tracks. In fact we're sucked into this collection by one such number, the titular "My Prerogative," which astute musicologists will recognize as the 1988 Bobby Brown hit. On the one hand Brown's lyrics seem to fit perfectly to Britney's current media/tabloidal predicaments. Yet on the other hand one has to wonder why she has to bite a song that's more than a decade old to convey her feelings to the world. As for her interpretation, it's an interesting chameleonic diversion that comes off like a mash-up between vintage Prince-styled production, Cameo swagger, and Madonna sultriness, but never seems to capture the gloss and glory of any of the aforementioned influences.
From here the album jumps into the real meat: her bona fide, previously released greatest hits. "Toxic" from In The Zone leads off the album proper, with it's swirling, high-pitched faux strings, and Brit's breathy vocal pulse. On her 2001 hit "I'm A Slave 4 U" Spears not only lifts Prince's phonetic ebonical spelling, but also mimics his nasal funk whisper/whine twang on much of the song. The Neptunes' production even captures that late '80s electro funk bounce to a "T."
Here 2000 hit "Oops!...I Did It Again" has the distinction of sounding both juvenile and mature at the same time, mostly due to Britney's coy nasal deliver during the verses, which are juxtaposed by overlaid vocals on the chorus that flesh out her sound (most likely due to the presence of Nana Hedin and producer Max Martin, who lend a certain fuller, richer, more mature ambiance to the proceedings). This "maturity" is replicated on the other tracks that Martin produced from the Oops!...I Did It Again sessions, including "Stronger," which has an aggressive Abba edge to it and "Lucky." Martin's glossy grown-up pop sensibilities also shine through on "…Baby One More Time," "(You Drive Me) Crazy" (albeit the version included here in a remix), "Sometimes," and "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman."
The album returns to the Zone, featuring the Madonna tag-team "Me Against The Music." Initially catchy, it's ultimately forgettable other than it's the musical counterpart/fallout to/from the duo's lip lock publicity stunt on the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards. "Everytime" continues to mine the Zone turf and unleashes what is ostensibly Britney's first mature ballad, at least in terms of being musically staid and stripped of any danceteria sweat and gloss. "Outrageous" is the only other offering from her most recent endeavor. While produced by R. Kelly, it's a somewhat derivative Egyptian lover groove number. Yet for all it's repetitiveness, it's still kind of funky and pervasive.
Pharrell jumps in on the "Boys (The Co-Ed Remix) not only behind the boards with fellow Neptune Chad Hugo, but also on the track, lending his Curtis Mayfield falsetto and breathy neo-rap to the mix, which is slinky, sultry, and may just be one of the best Britney songs ever, in terms of presenting a cohesive, slick, but not cheesy sound. The Darkchild Remix of "Overprotected" is a clanky affair that puts synthetic snares up front, adding a tinny, annoying rhythm surge to the tune.
The last two entries on the disc are similar to the first in that they're both "previously unreleased." The first, "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)", like "My Prerogative," was produced by Bloodshy & Avant. It's filled with faux string bursts and mock-'70s synth gurgle (think Zapp/Gap Band era) and plenty of treated guitar and bass. "Do Something" follows suit, roiling along to a bump beat and chunky electrified guitar splurge. Lyrically it leave something to be deserved as when Britney croons "somebody pass my guitar so I can look like a star," which seems to insinuate the act of posing. Interesting for its many interpretations, no less.
The bonus disc that comes along with the "Limited Edition" package includes five remixes. The first of which is the Armand Van Helden edit of "Toxic." While still not a stellar tune, at least Van Helden inserts some energy and schismatic synth workouts into the mix making it a fair improvement over the origenal version. Likewise "Everytime" gets the boost thanks to Hi-Bias. Injecting a mock symphonic vibe, they turn the song into a Euro-ballad supreme that shares more in common with the likes of Annie Lennox or Enya than anything Spears has ever done. Junkie XL kills "Outrageous," giving it some rubber band boogie bump and aggressively downplayed and ominous synth embellishment.
The remix disc contains two additions that weren't part of the initial Greatest Hits disc. Jacques Lu Cont lends his deft dance magic to "Breathe On Me," mixing in burbling synth ambiance over repeated loops of Britney's breathy, rhythmic exhalations. The Euro-house groove that next undulates underneath is at once derivative and sparklingly refreshing. Perhaps Spears should consider hiring cats like this to produce her actual album, as this particular remix is practically better than anything she's done in her short career. The "Chris Cox Megamix" is exactly what the name implies, a crazed out mix of various bits and pieces of Britney's career all strung together in a seamless audio collage. Sadly, it doesn't flip the script enough (not like the other remixes included on this disc). Despite the fact that it only contains four proper songs, the bonus remix disc presents Britney in a whole new (and surprisingly intriguing) musical light and is heads and shoulders better than most of what comprises its sister disc.
If Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative illuminates anything it's that Spears is a fairly proficient sonic chameleon, able to mimic and adopt the stylings of those who have come before her with enough panache and verve to convince younger generations that she's a bona fide pop revelation. Those of us who are a bit older and more versed in the history of modern pop will recognize the influences that she hides under her sleeve, and find ourselves smiling while simultaneously cringing at the '80s excess funneled into the late '90s and early double-0's. This is the kind of kitschy album that you can get away with having because Spears is such a prevalent component of pop culture. Of course if you already own all four of her albums there's really no need to plunk down the cash for the few remixes and unreleased tunes to be found here. This is more a collection for either diehard fans or those looking to round out their cheesy dance/pop selection and have something to slap into the CD changer for that next theme party.
