A spirit born of earth and water

18. Hold Me Closer (ft Elton John) | 7.812 Highest Scores: 10: (Slayer, Nick F1, Nick Jonas), Lowest Scores: 1: (One For Sorrow)


At #18 is Hold Me Closer, a collaboration between Elton John & Britney Spears, released in August 2022 as a single from the digital reissue of Elton John's collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions. The song combines elements of Elton's songs "Tiny Dancer", "The One", & "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" . This marked Britney's first new release in 6 years and her first release after the termination of her controversial conservatorship. Upon release it had a polarized critical reception, but nonetheless became a commercial success by topping the charts in 4 countries including Australia & Hungary, and reached top 10 peaks in 19 countries, including the UK & USA. In the UK it became her 24th top 10 hit & highest charting single in 10 years, while earning Elton John his 35th top 10 hit.

Throughout the rate this & 'MOW' constantly swapped places, this managed to edge out in front at the very last minute. While it was nice to see Britney getting a big hit again, however, I am surprised that this has managed to rank so high on here, especially given the many better and more iconic songs it has beaten. This is not a bad effort by any means with the idea of 2 legendary icons of music collaborating together is always a welcome surprise, even if this doesn't quite hit the mark the same way his previous hit 'Cold Heart' did. The song itself is a fun effort with its thick basslines gliding through the poppy production quite well and mash ups of his songs flows quite nicely. The vocals from both artists are way too autotuned and the layered textures feels a little off, but the piano, synths, melodies & guitars saves this from being a total loss. An decent effort overall even if doesn't take any real risks, at least it put Britney back in the charts again where she belongs.

I do like 'Hold Me Closer' but am a little surprised it's made the top 20 here!

It was a great moment, seeing her get this success. This song was so unexpected and it was lovely seeing how happy she was on instagram with how well the song did.

It'a olay. No way is it better than Outrageous or My Prerogative or Do Somethin though

HMC is good, but I'm not sure it's 18th good

Hey Britney, we can dance all night long

17. Me Against The Music (ft Madonna) | 8.145 Highest Scores: 10: (Nina West, Anita Hanjaab, Slayer, Nick F1, One For Sorrow), Lowest Scores: 4/4.5: (Jessie Where, pippa)


At #17 is the collaboration between Britney & Madonna - Me Against The Music, released in October 2003 as the lead single from Britney's 4th studio album In The Zone. Written by Britney, Madonna, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Thabiso "Tab" Nikhereanye, Penelope Magnet, Terius Nash and Gary O'Brien, with production helmed by Penelope & Tricky known collectively as RedZone Entertainment. The producers came up with the song after bonding with Britney in New York & one of the other tracks they presented was titled 'Pop Culture Whore', which her management like, but Britney rejected. During rehearsals for the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards, Britney played a finished version of 'MATM' & asked her to collaborate & she accepted. Upon release the song received mixed reviews from critics, but nonetheless it became a commercial success by topping the charts in Australia, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland & Spain, as well as hitting top 5 peaks in several other countries such as Canada, UK, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands & Sweden. In the USA it managed a #35 peak on the Top 100 Billboard charts, making this Britney's 10th chart entry & Madonna's 50th. It was also the first song in chart history to credit Madonna as a featured artist,

This was certainly a well timed duet as it came months after their high profile MTV Music Video Awards performance which caused a massive stir & grabbed many headlines across the globe. Having both legendary artists capitalize on that moment with a fun upbeat song was a smart move. I know this isn't considered one of Britney's better leading singles & the fact that it got overshadowed by the follow up 'Toxic', but I've always loved this defiant upbeat pop R&B number with its intense verses, frantic guitar riffs, throbbing beats & of course Britney's rapid fire vocals are slick and tight which really helps this catchy number pop. The addition of Madonna really elevates the production & just her presence alone makes everything worthwhile. Sure this song isn't nowhere near represents the best of each artist, but its an entertaining bop and does a decent job of setting Britney up for one of her most career defining and successful eras.

I never liked this and I feel like I was being generous giving it a 4.

 

Although I'm thankful for the fact it gave us this absolutely genius parody:

 

For me ‘Me Against The Music’ seemed good at the time, but I found it now pales in comparison to a lot of her singles catalogue

I never liked this and I feel like I was being generous giving it a 4.

 

Although I'm thankful for the fact it gave us this absolutely genius parody:

 

 

Yes I remember that parody, I remember the French & Saunders one which was hilarious, pity its not on YouTube.

A collab between Britney and Madonna could've been much better than that!

Eh???

 

Me Against The Music is one of her best EVER!!!

 

How can it pale in compariosn to robotic songs she had no control over that came afterwarda?? :lol:

 

MATM is a classic

Hotter than the A-list

16. Till The World Ends | 8.145 Highest Scores: 11: (Chapman), 10: (Nina West, spiceboy, Slayer, Nick F1, TimConArtist, Nick Jonas), Lowest Scores: 5/5.5: (blacksquare, Pandamic Tension, Scene)


At #16 is Till The World Ends, released in March 2011 as the 2nd single from Britney's 7th studio album Femme Fatale. Written by Kesha, Dr. Luke, Alexander Kronlund, and Max Martin, while the production was handled by Luke, Max Martin and Billboard. The song was treated with different remixes for its release, most notably the 'Femme Fatale Remix', featuring rapper Nicki Minaj and Kesha, which was released in April 2011. Upon release it received universal acclaim from critics with many deeming it far stronger than the album's lead single 'Hold It Against Me' & attained international success, hitting top 10 peaks in several countries including Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden & Switzerland. In the USA it was also successful with the solo version reaching the top 10 , becoming her 11th top 10 hit there. The Femme Fatale remix propelled the single into the top 5 in both the USA & Canada. In the UK it underperformed on the charts by peaking at #21, making this her 2nd single to miss the top 20 & 2nd lowest charting single behind 'Radar' in 2009. The song appeared on several best songs of the year lists, such 'Rolling Stone', 'The Village Voice' & was voted by readers as the Best Song of the 2010s on 'Billboard'

The last of Britney's 2010's era to feature here as well being the final 'Femme Fatale' to drop out. This was easily the best thing to come from an otherwise generic era with this cracking piece of electro dance pop with its thumping bassline, swirling synths, sleek electronic dance grooves & a catchy chorus which thanks to the euphoric production makes everything sound gigantic & instantly commands your attention. This club ready banger is just pure joy through and through, and with it being the opening track to 'FF' sets the tone perfectly. This deserved to be so much bigger in the UK as it easily outshines everything else Britney did during the 2010's.

Edited March 16, 20241 yr by Nina West

Aww love this track. Arguably it’s fallen back in the rankings for me but still a banger

I didn't really like this when it was first out, but I ended up changing my mind and it remains a grade-A banger to this day :wub:

 

It's a shame they messed up its UK release by releasing it midweek and as a result it ending up peaking at #21, it was actually quite an enduring long-runner and almost returned to that position later on. I wonder how it would have done with a full proper first week? I'd guess probably top 15, maybe on the brink of top 10 which would have looked much better on paper.

Edited March 16, 20241 yr by Jessie Where

Make Me was done really dirty here. :cry:

 

Hold Me Closer within her Top 20? :o Well, ok…!

 

Till the World Ends going no higher than #21 in the UK chart was a shame, it truly felt bigger than that peak suggests. Although #21 ended up looking gigantic when I Wanna Go made it to #111 and Criminal missed the Top 200 entirely. :drama:

 

Interesting to see My Only Wish This Year so high. I’m fairly sure if it hadn’t become more exposed in the last few years that it wouldn’t be this high up. A great song though, always a go-to for me at Christmas time.

 

I do love Work Bitch for being the bop that it is… but there is an ick factor to it regarding it almost entirely being Myah Marie vocals. The audaciousness of her team and label to get away with that! It’s only really her fans online who are aware but it’s never made any noise beyond that. It’s actually kind of surprising that the lack of Britney vocals throughout Britney Jean never caused a wider controversy (whereas this did happen with some posthumous Michael Jackson songs, which became controversial for likely not having Michael’s vocals on them - to the extent that they were withdrawn from availability after a few years). I have to wonder whether Britney ever realised herself that it’s not her voice prominently on Work Bitch. Clearly it was a good mimic of Britney’s vocal quirks to be more than passable, but… why not just use Britney’s vocals? :( Oddly there ended up being a version of Work Bitch that Britney performed to that actually is her own vocals. Anyway the reason I launched into this is that, on balance, I’m fine with how it’s done in these results - I’d rather see genuine Britney vocal songs ahead of it, regardless of the fact that it’s a banger.

I did not know that about Work Bitch! :o You've just put a right dampner on the song for me Jay!!!!!!! :cry:

 

Hold me closer has no place being in the top 20!

I did not know that about Work Bitch! :o You've just put a right dampner on the song for me Jay!!!!!!! :cry:

Sorry! :cry: I still enjoy it if I don’t focus on that though so you should too. You better work, bitch! :whip:

This is why no song after Blackout, and Circus at an absolute PUSH, can be ranked higher rhqn anything before it. It's not really her music after Blackout.

It's been a while

15. Break The Ice | 8.375 Highest Scores: 11: (TimConArtist, GTH, blacksquare), 10: (Slayer, Nick F1, Nick Jonas, Tafty, Eduardo, Lukuzz), Lowest Scores: 1: (Jessie Where)


#15 is Break The Ice, released in March 2008 as the 3rd and final single from Britney's 5h studio album Blackout. The song was written by Nate "Danja" Hills, Jim Beanz, Keri Hilson and Marcella Araica, while production was handled by Danja and vocal production was handled by Beanz. "Radar" was originally planned to be the album's 3rd single, but this track was released instead after it was chosen by a poll on Britney's official website, where it received 39% of the total votes. The original concept for the music video was to have chair dancing sequence similar to the video for "Stronger". However, due to her personal life struggles at the time, this idea was cancelled and Spears came up with the idea for creating an animated video instead & was also meant to have a remix featuring Fabulous for its single release, but again that was scrapped. Upon release it received critical acclaim from music critics & became a moderate success commercially by reaching top 10 peaks in Canada, Ireland & Finland, then charting within the top 40 in several other countries such as Sweden, UK, Australia, New Zealand & Germany. In the USA it reached a moderate #43 peak, becoming her 17th chart entry there.

A little interesting fact for you guys, despite being the lowest ranking 'Blackout' single, it in fact gained the more 11's than the other 2 higher ranking singles. Trying to choose singles from an album packed with cutting edge gems must be a daunting task, so that's why the label left it up to the fans to choose one and they choose correctly with this instant standout moment which was an excellent choice with its atmospheric and well crafted electro grooves, icy synths, crunchy beats, & slick production, all of which makes this a brilliant track that deserved so much more success than it got. A very different yet adventurous offering from Britney despite coming from a very turbulent time in her personal life, showed that she wasn't afraid to take risks and deliver something incredible.

Always really disliked this, I wish it hadn't been a single.