By Lawson Wrigley & Jack Crossing

The name “Britney Spears” has a lot of connotations. To some, Britney evokes the pinnacle of reality-television, as she blessed us with forever-iconic reaction-GIFs from her X-Factor U.S. days. To some, she’s a Chemist Warehouse mogul, through her array of diverse and sweet perfumes. And to others, she is the only person who’s doing Instagram correctly.

But, when all that’s said and done, Britney Spears will always be remembered for what she’s done to the music industry. Since her debut record, Britney Spears has been unapologetically pop, shifting the fundamental elements that made up the industry to suit herself. And thus, what better way to celebrate this pop princess than my critically analysing her career so far! Here are Ms. Spears’ albums ranked from worst to best.

9. Glory

Is it rude to consider Britney anything other than a single’s artist? With many no.1 hits, the joy of listening to a Britney tune is that it was overplayed on the radio and therefore forced into our memories to be relived in some shitty Sydney night club. This is why Glory falls flat. The first single ‘Make Me ft G-Eazy’ was underwhelming and boring and latter single Slumber Party ft Tinashe failed to arouse much attention either.

It’s clear that Britney is trying to play off current trends here, ‘Revival’ album by Selena (ironically the most Britney sounding work in latter years) and the safe guitar sounds of ed Sheeran and Justin Beiber’s ‘Love Yourself’, but she’s a few years too late. Don’t get me wrong, it's one of her most cohesive records, it’s just a shame it’s one of her most forgettable.

Special Mentions: Invitation, If I’m Dancing

8. Britney Jean

From the moment the internet caught hold of an un-autotuned lead track Alien, Britney Jean became just as much of a PR mess clean-up as it was anything else. Whilst its production credits were star-studded (Diplo and David Guetta), the hits were few and far between. Luckily for Britney, Work Bitch came to do some extremely heavy lifting – with an eventual cultural resonance that no one could have foreseen.

As much as Work Bitch saved many a career, with lowered unemployment rates resulting, a greater Britney Jean did little to save Britney’s – widely speculated as her last (and definitely least) album at the time of its release. While there were decent attempts at electro-pop magic, such as in Body Ache, the record in total seems a near-miss and bass-lacking… at times unbearably tinny and even head-ache inducing.

Special mentions: Work Bitch, Body Ache

7. Britney

Britney is a confusing attempt at the starlet trying to identify herself. Released just before the iconic ‘Crossroads’ film starring Britney as the leading lady Lucy. The film also featured her cover of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock N Roll’, something probably better left uncovered. This film, ironically about discovering yourself something Britney still hasn’t managed to do on her third LP. Following a similar soft rock-pop sound of earlier albums Britney, contains a lot more interesting experimentations, from the Neptunes excellent lead single ‘I’m a slave 4 u’ and album track ‘Boy’s’ their production suggests Britney’s biggest talent, identifying and employing current music themes into her music.

But unfortunately, Britney continues to have more filler than punch with many of the other singles and album tracks adding less spice and more bland to her third release. It’s clear school girl Britney’s time is running out, she was almost 20 when ‘Britney’ was released, and to keep up with her peers Britney would have to evolve or be written a more mature storyline. It’s clear this album is an attempt to break this idea but it, unfortunately, it doesn’t succeed.

Special Mentions: Boys

6. ...Baby One More Time

For ...Baby One More Time, we have everything to thank. In 1998 an icon was born, in signature pony-tails and crop-top-tracksuit combos. School uniforms were launched into fashion, and today, even still moments of her first album resonate. During the album’s initial tracks, Britney doesn’t let us breathe. (You Drive Me) Crazy and Sometimes set the tone for her 90’s sound, and the music industry more entirely. That said, track four brings a quick drop off, and in Britney’s discography, we start to skip through. Born To Make You Happy serves the record’s often-forgotten fourth single - with a homemade-feeling piano instrumental bringing a wholesome quality to Britney’s first full project.

Whilst widely regarded as a little immature, with plenty a forgettable filler track, ...Baby One More Time’s commercial success was undeniable. A hefty 25 million copies sold attest to a time when purchasing tangible albums was ritual - and in that, conceiving of a new cult. The cult of Godney, of which Britney’s ‘bitches’ would gradually assemble over the course of the 2000s.

Special Mentions: You Drive Me (Crazy), Born To Make You Happy

5. In the Zone

Arriving after transitional album, ‘Britney’, where she attempted to shed her teen pop origins, In the Zone was when the adult woman was finally revealed. Introduced by the excellent ‘Me Against the Music’ which sees Madonna and Britney excellently vocally interpolate. Madonna foreshadows Britney’s dive into more adult themes and clubbier sounds, most overtly, ‘Touch of my Hand’ and the sexy dance tune ‘Breathe on Me’.

Where she falls down, is her ability to convince her audience, from singing about ‘my sex drive’ to ‘my shopping spree’ in the same deadpan over-processed vocals. She’s singing about adult themes but hasn’t been able to convince us wholeheartedly just yet.

Special Mentions: Breathe on Me, Everytime

4. Circus

After an unimaginably turbulent 2007, seeing her in and out of rehab, custody battles and hair-lengths, ‘all eyes’ were on Britney. An epic return to music in Womanizer saw Britney not only stepping back into the centre of the ring, but commanding it flawlessly (and constantly raising the bar for us all). Circus for Britney was fully realised, from its artistic imagery and perfume co-promotion, to hits that would stick as her biggest. Womanizer debuted as no.1, and went on to be the year’s most-streamed music video. In Circus she seductively commentated a world that observed her ‘entertaining’ year prior, with an epic chorus to match. If You Seek Amy saw Britney hit poetic highs, with cheeky lyrical content that we are still gawking over.

Whilst Circus is undoubtedly top-heavy, Lace and Leather shines in the album’s second half, with a twangy guitar riff to remind us of the album’s seductive motivation. Radar, too, is strong, despite its random bonus-track placement in Circus, after an initial Blackout release. So much as the album was single-heavy and otherwise skippable, boy were those singles big ones.

Special Mentions: If You Seek Amy, Lace and Leather

3. Oops!...I Did It Again

Debuting at the top of the chart with first-week sales of 1,319,000 copies in the USA (her highest debut week and the highest debut week for a female until Adele’s 25) and spawning the hit singles, Lucky, Stronger and Oops!... I did it Again, this album saw Britney Spears release more mature work and build on the success of her debut to create a more cohesive and stronger album.

It had her first co-write ‘Dear Diary’ and saw her continue to work with Swedish Pop legend Max Martin. With genius extra tidbits, like the phone call between Britney and her friend at the end of ‘Don’t go Knocking at my Door’, where they discuss Britney’s lack of satisfaction, which teasingly fades into her cover of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Clearly, peak pop-factory Britney managed to pull it off in true rock-pop star style.

Special Mentions: Don’t Go Knocking at my Door, Oops!… I Did It Again

2. Femme Fatale

From the outset, Femme Fatale doesn’t pretend. Britney ushers in her carefree, electro-pop era (immersed in synths) for an endlessly-catchy Till The World Ends, and she reminds us to ‘keep on dancing’. By the album’s third track, she already comes full-circle, with a no.1 debut in Hold It Against Me, and an impactful Inside Out, where she reflects on the toxic ex that “drove [her] crazy” and paved a career of hits.

The rest of the album sees polished electronic production carry Britney through moments of club-ready fervor, ultimately reaching her climax in Gasoline, with a ‘you set me on fire’ hook to ground the album’s second half. Femme Fatale is light-hearted, yet heavy-hitting… it’s varied, yet coherent. And as much as the autotune is abundant, Britney doesn’t seem to be reaching as much as she will in her subsequent records. The only drawback for Femme Fatale is that Britney seems passive to it all. If it weren’t for such a strong instrumental, Britney would be able to take more control, and us to the ‘next level’ with her.

Special mentions: Inside Out, Gasoline.

1. Blackout

The beginning of a rebirth, Blackout, saw Britney Spears not even attempt to emerge from the blackish ashes of her famous breakdown 8 months earlier but instead emerge herself in the drama of it all.. Seen as the peak of her excellent trilogy of albums after her breakdown. It is not only lauded as her best album, although it only debuted at #2, it is seen as one of the most influential albums of the early ’00s. Its sound can be heard in some Selena Gomez singles (Bad Liar, Good For You, Hands to Myself), to even ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ by Taylor Swift and the Reputation era.

This album saw Britney trying to grapple with the many of her real-life issues, from her divorce, to her public humiliation, to her struggle with fame and through it all she didn’t seem to give a fuck. Sonically ahead of the game, Britney may never release anything so deliciously dark again.

Special Mentions: Radar, Get Naked (I got plan)

Pulp Ranked: Britney Spears’ Albums