There's things about me you just have to know

21. Sometimes | 7.687 Highest Scores: 10: (Herbs), Lowest Scores: 2: (Anita Hanjaab)


Just falling short of the top 20 at #21 is Sometimes, released in April 1999 as the 2nd single from Britney's debut album Baby One More Time. Written by Jörgen Elofsson and produced by Elofsson, Per Magnusson and David Kreuger. Jive Records and Britney Spears A&R Steve Lunt said when the song was pitched, the lyrics had much more adult lyrics. Lunt gave the note that the song would be recorded by a teenager and therefore lyrics needed to be changed. Upon release it achieved worldwide success by topping the charts in Belgium, Netherlands & New Zealand, while hitting top 5 peaks in Australia, UK, Finland, Sweden & Ireland. In the USA it peaked at #21 on the US Billboard charts, despite enjoying heavy airplay, it wasn't given a physical release in order to drive even more album sales. The song created controversy over the writing credits. Steve Wallace, an Indiana songwriter, claimed he wrote "Sometimes" in 1990, but did not copyright it until 2003, four years after Britney registered the song's copyright. There was a claim of an e-mail being sent from Britney herself backing up this claim, but it was considered fake and the lawsuit was dismissed in 2005.

While this was never really a contender for the top 20 on here, it did slowly gain momentum throughout the rate after originally starting at the lower end of the top 30, but thanks to the slew of 9 scores it managed to settle at it's USA peak of #21. Who doesn't love a good old fashioned 90's heartbreak ballad & talk about a shocking contrast to the teen pop vixen Britney showed with her debut single & then slowing things down with this romantic girl next door bubblegum pop ballad. The keyboard synth melodies & gentle guitar strums gives this track a lovely dreamlike quality to it as the simple yet effective production helps everything flow smoothly as heads towards a very satisfying key change where Britney really gets to stretch her impressive vocals and display some impressive ab-libs. I've always loved this song and it deserves a lot more attention, the perfect follow up to an iconic debut single.

Here's another results re-cap 21-30:


21. Sometimes – 7.687
22. Work Bitch – 7.666
23. Hold It Against Me – 7.666
24. If U Seek Amy – 7.541
25. Make Me (ft G-Eazy) – 7.416
26. Criminal – 7.326
27. I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman – 7.312
28. I Wanna Go – 7.187
29. “3” – 7.083
30. Do Somethin’ – 6.958

Edited March 10, 20241 yr by Nina West

Such a dire song

Will always love Sometimes ❤️

'Sometimes' is cute!

Before the top 20 Britney countdown begins here's a reminder of what's left from each era:

Baby One More Time - 3/5
Oops I Did It Again - 3/4
Britney - 2/7
In The Zone - 3/4
Blackout - 3/3
Circus - 2/4
Femme Fatale - 1/4
Britney Jean - 0/2
Glory - 0/5

Greatest Hits - 1/3
Collaborations/Other - 2/9



As you can see both 'Britney Jean' & 'Glory' have lost all their singles & are therefore out of the running. 'Femme Fatale' has only 1 left despite having all 4 make the top 30, only 1 managed a top 20 placement here. 'Blackout' is the only album to still have all its singles in the top 20, making this the most popular era on Buzzjack. 'Baby One More Time', Oops I Did It Again' & 'In The Zone' each has 3 of their songs left. Then finally 'Britney' & 'Circus' each has 2 songs left in the running.

Edited March 16, 20241 yr by Nina West

Such a dire song

 

you need a perma ban!!

That 'Work Bitch' result is outrageous, I am not having that!

 

Never been a fan of 'Sometimes'

you need a perma ban!!

 

:lol:

 

You can't tell me yoi honestl like Sometimes and listen to it out of choice?!

TECHBICALLY ITZ is still 3 for 3, as Outrageous was a planned single and had no video. Imagine if she'd released Bretahe on Me or Early Mornin' or Youch Of My Hand!! She woulda had a Ray of Light sized era.

People can take everything away from you

20. My Prerogative | 7.708 Highest Scores: 10: (spiceboy, Anita Hanjaab, Slayer, Nick F1, Scene), Lowest Scores: 1: (Pandamic Tension)


Kicking off the top 20 at #20 is Britney's cover of the Bobby Brown hit My Prerogative, released in September 2004 as the lead single from Britney's first greatest hits compilation, titled Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. Britney's cover version is musically different from its original version, with the bass and new jack swing sound replaced with a synthpop sound & synthesizers courtesy of Swedish production team Bloodshy & Avant, who also produced her single 'Toxic' from her 4th studio album 'In The Zone'. Despite the lyrics not deviating much from the original version, instead they are changed to fit a woman's perspective & could be interpreted as a statement on Britney's life and the media reaction to some of her decisions at the time, including her engagement to American dancer Kevin Federline. Upon release the song received mixed to unfavourable reviews from contemporary critics, but nonetheless became successful worldwide by topping the charts in Finland, Italy, Ireland & Norway, as well as hitting top 10 peaks in several countries such as Belgium, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia & Austria. However, in the USA it failed to chart on the Hot 100 peaking at a mere #101 on the bubbling under charts, making this her first and to date only lead single not to chart on the Top 100.

Now this is quite surprising, didn't think that this would have ended up in the top 20 (even if it's only just grazing it), but nonetheless its still ranked there. On the one hand it did make sense for Britney to release a greatest hits album at this point in her career, even if it was driven by a series of events such as her knee injury she sustained a few months prior which ended her tour and ended the 'In The Zone' album cycle despite having plenty of mileage in it & her whirlwind romance with Kevin Federline, which meant that she would be taking time off anyway so why not release a compilation celebrating her fantastic discography. Okay releasing a cover can be a total cop out move, thankfully this was a really good effort that felt very approropite for that moment. The harsh electro basslines, the bhangra tinged production & dramatic strings works wonders along with the beat snaps, crashing synths and breathy vocals helps Britney make this cover her own & its certainly one of the better cover versions from a decade that was literally full of them, especially in the UK where pretty much every pop act at the time released one every month.

My Prerogative is such a great song, crazy how she can relate to it now again too.

Absolute banger and perfect for the time! Ir was also needed to move on feom ITZ, which was her best album ever, and draw a line under it after the accident.

He'll be all my own in a big red bow

19. My Only Wish (This Year) | 7.77 Highest Scores: 10: (Slayer, Nick F1, pippa, Nick Jonas, Tafty), Lowest Scores: 4/4.5: (Scene, Eduardo)


At #19 is Britney's X-Mas classic My Only Wish (This Year), written and produced by Brian Kierulf and Josh Schwartz. It was originally included on the Christmas compilation album Platinum Christmas from the year 2000. At the time the song received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. However, close to a decade after its release, reviewers felt the song was considered a modern holiday classic. In November 2020 the song was released as a promo single on streaming platforms 20 years after the album's release and has managed to chart in several countries worldwide thanks to strong digital downloads. To date it has managed top 40 peaks Denmark, South Korea, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary & Netherlands. It has also charted in both the UK & USA where it has earned gold discs in both countries for sales of 400,000 (UK) & 500,000 (USA) respectively. Since its release & resurge in popularity the song has been covered by many artists including Meghan Trainor who covered it in 2020 for her X-Mas album 'A Very Trainor Christmas' (awful title). In 2021, the song was ranked as one of the 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time, by Billboard. In 2023, Forbes listed it as one of the 15 Most Iconic Christmas Pop Songs.

Honestly I didn't know this existed until a couple of years ago when it was added to streaming, YES I know I'm a bad Britney fan for never hearing this. However, after hearing this fun little bouncy retro number I was quite pleasantly surprised with its joyful production, cute chorus & catchy melodies that despite being recorded more than 20 years ago, it has aged remarkably well and totally fits in with today's modern landscape. Normally I'm not one for X-Mas songs and while this is a solid effort, it ain't gonna change my mind anytime soon. On the whole its a pleasant enough bop.

It is criminal she has never acknowledged this songs existence!

It's a lovely little Christmas track and hopefully it gets It's rightful top 40 peak in the next few years, the way it's been improving on peaks every year for the past couple of them now!

I only just started to take notice of this over the past year or two, despite being aware of its existence for quite some time. I rinsed it the Christmas just gone!

Another will drop this evening & it will be a UK Top 3 hit

 

There's 10 of them left, but which one?

 

Another will drop this evening & it will be a UK Top 3 hit

 

There's 10 of them left, but which one?

 

Hold Me Closer?

Hopefully it’s Hold Me Closer. It’s way above where it should be for me.