Music: Britney Spears

By Josh Tyrangiel Monday, Nov. 12, 2001

Forget the reality whiplash of Sept. 11; it was always frivolous to care about the artistic development of Britney Spears. Her promoters may call this album an evolution, but, like all things Britney, it's no more than a successful diversion that just happens to have titillating words and groans. I'm a Slave 4 U and I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman are rebellious (but not really, silly!); Boys offers the wisdom, "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em," while Let Me Be and the Max Martin-produced Bombastic Love are irresistible pop. So what if it sounds exactly like her other two albums? Musical evolution will take care of Britney soon enough.

--By Josh Tyrangiel

Most Popular »

Full List »
  1. Five Things the U.S. Can Learn from China
  2. Five Things the U.S. and China Actually Agree On
  3. China Investigates Deaths After Swine Flu Shot
  4. How a Bank Robber Became an Antihero in France
  5. Happiness Paradox: Why Are Americans So Cheery?
  6. (Vetted) Question Time: Obama's Chinese Town Hall
  7. Good and Bad News for Boxing: Only One Pacquiao
  8. World Leaders Put Off a Climate Change Treaty
  9. Spanish Outraged by Teen Masturbation Workshops
  10. Box-Office Weekend: 2012 Masters Disaster
  1. Five Things the U.S. Can Learn from China
  2. Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games?
  3. Did a Time-Traveling Bird Sabotage the Collider?
  4. China Investigates Deaths After Swine Flu Shot
  5. Happiness Paradox: Why Are Americans So Cheery?
  6. Five Things the U.S. and China Actually Agree On
  7. Good and Bad News for Boxing: Only One Pacquiao
  8. Postcard from Minneapolis
  9. The Meaning and Mythos of Manny Pacquiao
  10. Spanish Outraged by Teen Masturbation Workshops

Quotes of the Day »

Get & Share
" 'Unfriend' has real lex-appeal."
CHRISTINE LINDBERG of Oxford's U.S. dictionary program, on why unfriend was chosen as Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary; it refers to removing someone on a social-networking site like Facebook
More Quotes »
For use in rail of Articles page or Section Fronts pages. Duplicate and change name as necesssary to distinguish.

Time.com on Digg

POWERED BY digg

More on TIME.com »

Quotes of the Day »

Get & Share
" 'Unfriend' has real lex-appeal."
CHRISTINE LINDBERG of Oxford's U.S. dictionary program, on why unfriend was chosen as Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary; it refers to removing someone on a social-networking site like Facebook
More Quotes »

Today in Pictures »

Stay Connected with TIME.com

Learn More »