A Definitive Ranking Of Britney Spears Albums

As said in her infamous 2004 hit, Outrageous, "B. Girl ain't lost the beat", and she hasn't. Nearing 16 years in the music industry, 15 of them releasing albums, which have been extremely successful worldwide (100 million album sales), she is working on her ninth studio album and since November 5th will be known as #BritneyDay, I have bee provided with the perfect opportunity to go through and count down her greatest works.

8. ...Baby One More Time (1999)

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This album was ICONIC. This was everything to anyone who watched TRL EVER (so basically any cool kid in the 90s/2000s). It had some pretty beautiful ballads on it, but is ranked at #8 because, while phenomenal, it didn't really showcase Britney as an ARTIST and she only wrote ONE song for it.

Highlights: ...Baby One More Time, Sometimes, (You Drive Me) Crazy and Born To Make You Happy

7. Oops!...I Did It Again (2000)

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Britney's sophomore record didn't disappoint. It was definitely more of a spectacle than her debut and was more dancier with pop ringers that still sound modern nearly 15 years on. It also began to showcase more Britney and less of a typical, run-of-the-mill pop-artist (yes, we see you, Xtina). However, it didn't feel as personal as it could have been - Brit only wrote one song (Dear Diary).

Highlights: Oops!...I Did It Again and Stronger

6. Britney (2001)

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This was CLASSIC Britney, this album's point was: she's nearly there, but not yet, so back off. A maturing look and sound shocked the world but didn't let her down (sold 15M+ worldwide). The vibe you got off this album was: sexy, cool and hip-hop, and she had worked with some pretty A-list producers (Pharrell sound familiar?) to get there. She was beginning to find her own voice (she was definitely offering more creative input, writing 4 songs off the album) and was making some pretty awesome music along the way. One criticism could be that she was following the same "stop telling me what to do" motif in her music. However, still a stellar trifecta.

Highlights: I'm A Slave 4 U, Overprotected, I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman, Boys (Co-Ed Remix) and Anticipating

5. Femme Fatale (2011)

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This was probably Britney's best re-inventions lately. This was post-post-meltdown Britney who came back on the scene (again) and seemed more aged (in appearance), yet more mature in demeanor. She really pulled out all the stops in working with the best producers (will.i.am, Max Martin and Bloodshy, to name a few) to make some pretty hot bangers - in fact, the only reason this hasn't ranked higher is because she didn't write or co-produce a single track (except for the zinger, Scary - but that was a bonus track), but it definitely has some of my favorite songs on it.

Highlights: Hold It Against Me, Till The World Ends, I Wanna Go, Criminal, Seal It With A Kiss, Gasoline and Scary (bonus track)

4. Britney Jean (2013)

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This is Britney at her finest. Being a veteran Princess of Pop, she had striven to show us all she is more than just a pretty face (but seriously though, LOOK at that pretty face), and she definitely has. She has co-written EVERY single track on her latest album, some of which have been produced by good old friend, will.i.am, some vet DJs, like William Orbit (whom, as we have learned, Ellen DeGeneres LOVES) and David Guetta! Britney has definitely taken a more experimental direction with this, dabbling in EDM and trance and it has paid off - really, she has taken a masterfully creative approach to this album (Brit can do NO wrong) and has created this stellar abum which is her "most personal record yet".

Highlights: Alien, Work Bitch, Perfume, Tik Tik Boom and Now That I Found You

3. In The Zone (2003)

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This is Britney at the height of her career - no questionable marriages (yet), no accusations of being a bad mother (not even pregnant yet) and no drugs, excessive drinking or head-shaving (yet). This is the last Britney record before the ~meltdown~. At this point, she's just enjoying her status as Queen of Pop, by upstaging Xtina at the VMAs, working with the former queen of pop and making some of her more quintessential hits. This is where Brit REALLY took control and wasn't complaining about being treated like a little girl, for now, she had firmly cemented her place in Hollywood as THE woman. She started writing a lot more (she wrote 8 out of 12 tracks and even produced some). This girl was, for a lack of a better term - "in the zone" - some of her most defining hits are from this album (see below).

Highlights: Me Against The Music (gyrating all up on Madonna), Toxic (the quintessential Britney song - I mean - that diamond skinsuit tho), Everytime (the reply to JT's Cry Me A River - and my reply to all her haters that say she can't sing, because this showcases her vocal and piano-playing talents), and Outrageous (famous for being the song we only got see a partial video for because poor old Brit injured her knee during the videoshoot - but we did see her ~lick~ Snoop Dogg's beard). #rant

2. Circus (2008)

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Her most popular album in recent times. This was her REAL post-meltdown comeback, this is a modern-day pop classic. She once again enlisted the help of old friend Max Martin and they made some hits together. This set the Britney Army off and even brought her new fans - Britney was officially BACK - and we hadn't seen her act more like the Queen she is even since before this record came out - the tracks are LEGENDARY.

Highlights: Womanizer, Circus and If U Seek Amy (not Radar, because that was released from Blackout first).

1. Blackout (2007)

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This album, as agreed by pretty much most Britney stans is THE BEST album EVER. It was also underrated too (Britney couldn't really promote it with a tour, or anything because this was the infamous album synonymous with her notorious meltdown) - but was still a tribute to how some of our roughest and testing times can inspire some of our most precious masterpieces. I mean, apart from that constantly mocked 2007 VMA performance, she didn't perform any of these songs live until the Circus Tour in 2009, which by then, she was recovered fully and at new heights.

I don't know, but there must have been something about those troubling times that gave Britney some inspiration to work with some big names in R&B and hip-hop (Danja Hills, Keri Hilson, etc.) to make a dancier, more urban, edgier and grittier and darker album - maybe, this album signified something far deeper than the tracks on it, but how for the first time in her life, she had let go of all of her inhibitions and didn't care about the downward spiral she was going down - even losing control allowed Britney to be at her best and just live in the moment - and maybe that's what made this album so great (no wonder it was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - it's iconic - and face it, if people complained about half the people already inducted being high as much as they complained about Britney being high at the time, the hall wouldn't even exist).

Highlights: Gimme More ("It's Britney, Bitch!" - an iconic catchphrase and an iconic dance track that's so truly, amazingly dark, it makes us feel just a little more evil inside), Piece of Me (the iconic "lay off me or else ..." track telling her haters to just fuck off or bask in her glory), Break The Ice (fabulously urban and angelic with the use of a choir and Keri Hilson as backing vocals - one of my favorites, definitely) and Radar (basically the routine thoughts of a person who has just set her sights on an attractive bachelor/ette).

P.S. I also love Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004) for My Prerogative and Do Somethin', B in the Mix: The Remixes (2005), for And Then We Kiss, The Singles Collection (2009) for 3 and Music from and Inspired by The Smurfs 2 (2013), for Ooh La La, but couldn't count them towards the ranking as they were either compilation/remix albums with singles released from them or soundtracks - not official studio album releases by Britney Spears.