...Baby One More Time - Album Review

Official Album Cover

Some basic stuff: Released on January 12th, 1999 by Jive Records (which remains her record label today), it became a world-wide hit, selling over 25 million copies worldwide becoming one of the most successful albums of all time and was a #1 debut album. It was generally well received by critics and epitomized the "teen-pop" sound of the late 90's.

International Edition

1. ...Baby One More Time - Written solely by Max Martin, this song shows why he's still around today; for a rather slow tempo number, it's masterfully crafted. The song opens with an almost sledge-hammering piano melody (if you can call 2 notes a melody) and keeps time with a light high-hat/snare drum beat. It's during the verses that Britney puts in the work, her nasally-vibrato shifting notes while building up to the chorus. Here, her voice isn't as distinguishable as it was, layered over itself and beefed up by gospel-like background singers. It's pop gold, though it's not entirely clear what she wants you to hit her with, Britney is clearly singing about love, and it works. Produced with then-frequent collaborator Rami Yacoub, not only does this song embody the traits that defined teen-pop, but the same elements are used in today's pop productions, less surprising when you consider that many of these are the work of Martin. - 10/10

2. (You Drive Me) Crazy - 1 word, cowbell. Who knew? For her third single off the album, Britney kicked up the tempo, and the lyrical intensity. No longer singing vaguely about love, this time she declares it explicitly; "lovin' you means so much more". Here, she doesn't try terribly hard vocally, but instead relies on the little nuances that make her voice instantly recognizable; breathy moans, cat-like "owww"s and affected pronunciation of words "me" as "may". Co-written and produced by Martin and a slew of other Swedish writers, he again uses the winning verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus arrangement that pop music relies on, and adds a hard-rock edge near the songs end, over the cowbell beat and light synths. The single version differs from the album version (see below), but this is the one I remember from back in the day. - 10/10

3. Sometimes - The second single off this album was a ballad, produced by Per Magnusson and David Krueger, and written by Jörgen Elofsson, the "slew of other Swedish writers" mentioned above. Opening with wind-chimes, guitar and a toy piano sounding melody, it may seem at first to be a cheese-fest, but then the beat kicks in. It's hard to believe that this is a 17 year old girl performing this song, it doesn't come off as in-sincere in the slightest and shows us some imperfections with love. This is the first song where Britney really belts is (1:25) and you get a taste of her vocal ability, which is usually necessary in a ballad. The background singers shift from whispering harmonies to actually taking on some verses solo, and in the last round of choruses, Britney sings above them, modulating the chorus and going off on a little diva-tangent. We all do Sometimes. Get it? - 8/10

4. Soda Pop - I'd love to see someone try and guess what a songs called "Soda Pop" is about/sounds like. And truthfully, the song does kind of remind one of Soda Pop. Written and produced by Eric Foster White, who appears on 6 of the album tracks (8 if you count B-Sides), this song stands out from the others on the album. After intros from Britney and some black guy speaking REAL fast, the songs busts into its chorus, with Electric guitar twangs and a reggae beat propelling this up tempo number, the structure is non-typical of pop-productions, but proves to be common with the songs produced by Eric White. THIS is the song where Britney REALLY belts it (2:11), it's a powerful thing, you can almost see her in the vocal booth with her eyes closed and her "I'm SANGING" face on. A fun filler track, you can't help but smile, if quizzically, at this song. I have no idea what this song is about, but the clock is ticking so we can't stop. - 8/10

5. Born to Make You Happy - Her 4th overall single, but an international only release, this mid-tempo ballad of sorts is a high light on the album, and another song that is surprising that she sung it at so young. This song is a classic Britney song, it features many elements present in her first 3 album especially; choir background vocals, snare-drum/high-hat beat and a killer chorus. The song opens with a simple guitar melody, and like many of her other songs, the beat kicks in while she moans "oh yeah". The theme in the song isn't hard to pick out, it's in the title, and interestingly enough, the songs lyrics were apparently sexual in the beginning but Britney insisted they be changed. (The title seems a whole lot dirtier now). Written by Andreas Carlsson (I Will Be There, Deep In My Heart) and produced by fellow Swede Kristian Lundin, the song fits right in with the rest of the album, really only standing out because of it's single status. - 8/10

6. From the Bottom of My Broken Heart - Produced and Written by Eric White, the final single off the album slows down with it's ballad-status. The one constant with all the first album singles is the theme of love, yearning for it, running from it, and now losing it. Britney does a bang-up job vocally, she still keeps the little nuances that distinguish her voice while also pushing her voice. The effort shows on the second half of the song, and without it, her borderline falsetto verses would have rendered the song flat. Thankfully though, her voice builds strength as the song progresses, mirroring her introspective reflection of a failed relationship. A bit of a snoozer, it adds diversity to the album thematically and has a jazzy-guitar playing over an R&B beat that would fit in with P!nk's debut album. 6/10

7. I Will Be There - Britney reunites with Max Martin on this upbeat track, and like much of this album, she's listing the reasons why she's the one that you want. The song opens with yet another guitar line, this time acoustic layered over electric, and some light synths, definitely a Martin production. Similar to "Sometimes", the background singers take on some of the pre-chorus lines solo, doing a call-and-response with Britney. Thankfully the verses of the song are more interesting than the chorus, so she really shines through, employing no vocal assistance during her verse-time other than harmonies. The end of the song showcases a Britney-favorite in her first two albums; layering the chorus over itself, but having one chorus modulated and sung with a different rhythm. For example, the main chorus goes through the lines "when you need someone" before the second chorus starts in with "when you need someone", and finishes with "I will be there" while the first chorus  goes through :just turn around and I will be there". - 9/10

8. I Will Still Love You (featuring Don Phillip) - Britney's first collaboration, a heartfelt duet. Another Eric Foster White solo affair, the song opens with spoken lines from Britney over a waving synth and sharp drum line. Piano chords help build the song up to the chorus as Britney and Don trade verses, eventually singing together. The song is truly sappy, with lines like "when the stars are falling, I'll be calling", but it's not that bad. Surprisingly, Don Phillip is white, though that may just be me, I also thought the singer of the Toy Story theme song was black, what can you do? The song was intended to be almost a musical backdoor-pilot to launch Don's musical career, however this would appear to have failed, there's not much to be found on him. - 5/10

9. Deep In My Heart (International Bonus Track) - Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Andreas Carlsson co-wrote, with Magnusson doing the producing. A piano-synth-drum track, it doesn't stand out, but fits in pretty well with the existing material. "I want you for the rest of my life" croons Britney on the chorus of this basic mid-tempo. The production is really the most interesting part of this song, opening with an R&B style beat, shifting to a euro-pop chorus, this shows that there was diversity to be found in the teen-pop of the 20th century. There's really nothing else to say about this song. - 3/10

10. Thinkin' About You - Yet another Eric White song, this time co-written with Mikey Bassie, the sound is similar to his others on the album, similar beat, guitar strums, and it does show off Britney's voice more, she swoops from her lower register to push with her higher one on the second half, building up the song vocally as the instruments rise. What's interesting about this song is the theme in the lyrics, taking a leaf from "(You Drive Me) Crazy", "I spend my days with you, I spend my nights thinkin' about you", it's clear she's infatuated with someone, a feeling that is undoubtedly common with teens of a similar age. It's a step above an album filler, but not single-material. - 7/10

11. E-Mail My Heart - The final 2 songs for the album, I must confess, I did not keep in my iTunes. But, on second listen, this one isn't that bad. It's just not that good either. Eric White written and produced, this is his slowest number on the album. The song's title and lyrical theme is probably what makes it stand out, becuase as she's begging "I'm sorry, oh so sorry, can't you give me one more chance?", she's also saying "forever e-mail my heart", which is a bit of an oddity, but it was 1999, she can't be waiting by her home phone all day. Honestly, this song is boring, total album filler. - 2/10

12. The Beat Goes On - This is the other song I don't have on my iTunes, and quite honestly, it is Britney's worst cover. Not that she did the original dis-service, she sings quite well, there's something about Eric White that seems to being out the best in her voice, but the song's chorus is what weighs it down, repeating the songs' title over a spacey-synth instrumental. The drummer for this song goes OFF, which is kind of a fun listen, but not enough to save the song. - 4/10

* (You Drive Me) Crazy [The Stop! Remix] - This version of the song was released as a single, and the first 2 seconds reveals why; "CRAZY" sings Briney and her chorus over the song's infamous piano line, setting the standard for the energy in the song. The cowbell driven instrumental is replaced by the NBA-style synths that were so popular with the teen-pop singers of the day, and Britney adds some ad-libbed moans "ohh" and "yeah"s as well as some spoken words "sing it!". The title of the remix comes in at the 2:10 mark where she yells "stop!" and the music follows suit. The beat drops, only the be built back up to the song's modulated chorus. This kind of remix doesn't really change the song significantly and has the same producer as the original track, but it's a fun, amped-up version of the classic. 9/10

13. I'll Never Stop Loving You (B-Side to ^) - This additional track was actually the albums second cover song, the original by R&B singer J'Son. Produced by Magnusson and Kreuger, the song is a pretty slow one, which is clear from the opening, dreamy synth notes. Nuff said. - 3/10

14. Autumn Goodbye (B-Side to title track) - How this Eric White affair missed the album, I'll never know, the song shows his penchant for opening with the chorus, done mostly A Capella with a few, light synth notes underneath. All about what happens after "summer love", "I never promised you a happy ending", the song is ironically upbeat for a song that even calls itself "bittersweet", but since it's all about not being sad after saying goodbye, it's understandable. - 9/10

* I'm So Curious (B-Side to "Sometimes") - This song is notable as it is the first song that has Britney credited as a co-writer alongside Eric White, who also produced the up-beat number. To be honest, this is one of my favorites from this era, and I'm again baffled at how it didn't appear on even the bonus track versions of the album's tracklisting. They could've replaced the slower, R&B-influenced numbers for these upbeat pop-rock ones, but I digress. "Is this goodbye or hello?", the lyrics have Britney wondering "do you feel the same as I do?" and is also noteable as she is credited for the main vocals as well as the soft, harmonizing background ones. - 9/10

*Born To Make You Happy Remix (B-Side to the original) - Titled a "remix", the song is actually a refined demo of the original song and the major difference to be found is in the chorus where she sings "that's the way our life should be", extending the last word and omitting "I don't know how to live without your love", and ending right before "I was born to make you happy". Britney ad-libs some noises, spoken words and laughter over this version, and the instrumentation for this version is guitar driven, while the album version is synth lead. It's 26 seconds shorter, but 5 seconds longer than the radio-edit of the original, and though the tempo stays the same, the energy in the song is cranked up, no longer a ballad, it becomes a pop-rock number, almost an anthem for love. - 9/10

Overall: The album is a classic, it's one that a grew up with so the nostalgia factor is there, but there are some really good songs on this album, while they might have dated instrumentation, they are still great pop songs. It's hard to find an album let alone a debut album, where all the tracks are great, and this wasn't one of them, but the B-Sides make up for that, though 2 are just remixed tracks. Britney established her sound her, not just vocally, but musically, as many of the albums collaborators returned for her second album. I'd be hard-pressed to find a fan of pop music that doesn't love this album, which is now not only a classic, but iconic. - 8/10

Highlights: I Will Be There, Thinkin' About You, Autumn Goodbye, I'm So Curious

Fun Facts: "...Baby One More Time" was originally written for the group TLC ("Waterfalls", "No Scrubs") and when their main producer Dallas Austin turned it down, Max Martin refused to give it to anyone else. And then he met Britney. Nuff said. The title track was originally called "Hit Me Baby One More Time", but was shortened to avoid controversy, hence the "...". The album was originally intended to be self titled, as seen on the back side of the title track's single. 

It would have looked something like this:

Made by yours truly

Sources: Album booklet, single back covers