Britney Spears Said Recording 1 ‘Blackout’ Song Was a ‘Spiritual’ Experience
Britney Spears‘ Blackout includes some of her most experimental songs. The “…Baby One More Time” singer said recording a track from Blackout made her feel spiritual. That’s a bold claim given the song in question. Notably, Blackout became one of the most important albums of the past 25 years.
Britney Spears’ ‘Blackout’ features some of her most intense singing ever
In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears discussed one of her best album tracks. “When I recorded ‘Hot as Ice,’ I walked into the studio and there were six gigantic guys in the room with me, sitting there,” she said. “That was probably one of the most spiritual recording moments of my life, being with all those guys quietly listening as I sang. My voice went the highest it had ever gone. I sang it two times through and left. I didn’t even have to try.”
“Hot as Ice” is a signature Spears sex song. The track isn’t what most people would see as spiritual music. However, the “Womanizer” singer has every right to derive her spirituality from whatever she pleases. For some people, spiritual music is a gospel choir and for Spears, it’s a freaky club song with a bleeping synth.
The track appeared on the album Blackout, which is often seen as Spears’ best record. “If making Blackout felt good, life was still tearing at me from every different direction,” the “Toxic” singer said. “From one minute to the next, everything was so extreme. I needed to have more self-worth and value than I was able to conjure back then. And yet, even though it was a very hard time in just about every other way, artistically it was great. Something about where I was in my head made me a better artist.”
Britney Spears’ record changed pop music
It took some time, but Blackout became one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 2000s. In 2020, Rolling Stone named Blackout No. 441 on their list of the 500 best albums ever. The magazine specifically praised the punk elements in the hit single “Piece of Me.”
Blackout helped bring a new R&B-influenced style of dance music into the mainstream. Records like Lady Gaga’s The Fame, Fergie’s The Dutchess, Kesha’s Animal and Cannibal, and the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. drew lots of inspiration from Blackout. Some fans have gone so far as to label Blackout “the Pop Bible,” which might be a little over the top. However, that title highlights how essential the album is.
How ‘Blackout’ performed on the charts
“Hot as Ice” was not a single and did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Blackout, on the other hand, was far more popular. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 34 weeks.
Blackout produced three singles: “Gimme More,” “Piece of Me,” and “Break the Ice.” “Gimme More” reached No. 3, “Piece of Me’ reached no. 18, and “Break the Ice” reached No. 43. One of the tracks from Blackout, “Radar,” later appeared on Spears’ next album, Circus. The Circus version of “Radar” also became a single, hitting No. 88.
“Hot as Ice” might not be everyone’s religious cup of tea, but Spears loved it.
