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A review of GLORY

jrsn21

By jrsn21
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It’s not far-fetched to say Glory on first skimming listen reminiscent closely to multiple pop records from the last 12 months that has defined top 40 radio (namely Revival, and Purpose). But with Britney ‘s touch and vision, everything just sounds better.

 

Musically, Glory feels current and future-proof enough to appeal to the newer generation. Name a genre trend on top 40, Glory supplies it. At the same time, it magnetized waves of legacy fans with vocals, confidence, and swags of the “old Britney”, be it ITZney, Blackoutney, or even Circusney.

 

Track-by-track thoughts:

1-5

 

Spoiler

 

1.       Invitation: A big surprise and also a great choice for an album opener. From the mesmerizing chanting-like background to her chilling icy vocals, everything sounds right. It’s a brand new Britney, and also an old Britney that we thought we’d never hear again. She swerved completely into vibey moody pop ala Broods, Tove Lo and Britney made it hers. 10/10

 

2.       Make Me: It’s not quite the best choice for a first single AFTER hearing the rest of the album. But if there’s any song from Glory would have expanded her audience and given her a nice push on streaming, where Britney is still somewhat left out, it would be THIS SONG. It shows every GOOD aspect of her vocals from low range to falsetto, and attracts a whole new horde of listener thanks to G-Eazy. That’s what  supposed to happen anyways, until the hiccup with the music video. 9/10

 

3.       Private Show: Something new. It’s cute and sexily quirky and would happily get along with the likes of How I Roll and Mmm Papi. She pushes her vocals to territories fans haven’t heard in years. Now the bad part, it’s annoying and melodically colorless, like a music box with cute noise that keeps going on loops. Plus it feels honestly LOST in the album, like a 5 luckily gets to hang out with the 10s. 5/10

 

4.       Man On The Moon: Vocorder-ney? Check! Real-vocal-ney? Check! New-vocal-ney? Check! Day-dreaming-ney? CHECK! The Moon? CHECK! It’s like Lucky has grown up, stopped crying at night, and finally found a freedom to love the man on the moon! A classic Britney case that every fan would quickly memorize and sing in every occasion. MOTM would please fans who have followed her from the very start and younger fans who seek for a “speak my mind” song of the moment.  “I can’t compete with the stars in the sky. I’m invisible”.10/10

 

5.       Just Luv Me: to a casual listener, it is Good For You on steroid. The comparison to G4U here is unnecessary because of the same writers and producers. However, if going all the way back to her catalog, Just Luv Me delivers ITZ goodness, from the hypnotizing synth to the legendary breath-sing from Ms. Spears. Who would have though 14 years later we would hear that voice again. 9/10

 

 

 

6-10

 

Spoiler

 

6.       Clumsy: plug a song from each of her last 4 albums and put in a blender, we have Clumsy. It has the vocal acrobatics of Blackout, the simple and repetition of Circus, the banging bassline and chanting of FF, and the messiness in structures of BJ. The high point of Clumsy lies in a single word: OOPS! 7/10

 

7.       Do You Wanna Come Over?: if Clumsy is a bad and clumsy throwback, DYWCO is the exact opposite. “Let me rub your back, you can set limitations. Honey if you want, we can let out frustrations. Do you wanna come over?” Inviting and flirty Britney is back on her mission and she is ready to do whatever you want. The song is full of nostalgic moments: The Boys-like guitar riff, the verses remind us of Lace And Leather, the pre-chorus with a slight Perfect Lover feel, and the chorus couldn’t get more Get Naked with the mysterious male vocal exchange. 9/10

 

8.       Slumber Party: her voice is sweet like candy lotion. Dabbing smoothly on the dancehall beat, Britney essentially describes in details a slumber party on an island in the Caribbean with pillow fights, candle lights, building bed fortress, using bodies to make videos, and going ******* crazy to the music. Yes, she curses and does not give a *****! Since when did Britney gives Rihanna a run for her money in this department? Also a Hotline Bling mashup is foreseeable in a near future. Britney is living up her Island Fantasy™, y’all! 9/10

 

9.       Just Like Me: melodically, this one sounds like a left-over from ITZ and reminds me of the glorious TOMH. It is also a thing Britney wanted to do for a long time, pop-rock.. Lyrically, I cannot help but think of this as her reaction to the sequence in “Cry Me A River”: “Before I think I start to run, but you can’t even face me. You know exactly what you’ve done… I see you on your back, and I just can’t believe, She looks just like me”. 10/10

 

10.   Love Me Down: Another track that makes me think of other artist, in this case, Gwen Stefani. I can almost imagine Gwen voice on the whole track. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, Love Me Down is elevated to another level with Britney’s touch. The sassy sing-talk was classic Britney and executed just right. A super catchy hook and a hint of inescapable Hot 100 tropical swing is a formula for a hit. 10/10

 

 

 

11-17

 

Spoiler

 

11.   Hard To Forget Ya: The album took an unusual upbeat turn to fill us with cheesy cliché and sweet nothings. Britney showed them how Bubblegum Pop is done. 8/10

 

12.   What You Need: Britney continues to show us what she is capable of with a slightly Xtina-esque, over the top number. To be honest, her real voice at the higher range is not smooth or ear-friendly, especially when it gets stretched out thin like a baby’s voice. It feels exhausting after a few listen. At least she redeems it all at the end with “That was fun!” Thank you! 6/10

 

13.   Better: Words cannot express how much I have wanted to hear Britney do an on-trend tropical house track! It’s "so good, so good, so damn so good, so damn so good, so right, so good!" She ventures to unfamiliar waters with ease and quality. One of the Better tropical track out there, comparable with offerings on tropical house-pop pioneer, Kygo. 10/10

 

14.   Change Your Mind (No Seas Cortes): Britney has a horrible habit of putting better songs as her Bonus Tracks, and this is no exception. This is probably her first ever attempts to go multilingual (heck, even Avril and Beyonce did before her) and appeal to more audience. Can we have a remix collab with JLo already? 10/10

 

15.   Liar: If Beyonce attempted it with bluegrass, Britney jumped on her little sister’s home turf, pop-country! The bonus tracks just keep getting more interesting as we go down. She sounds as natural as Carrie and Miranda on their respective country radio banger! And of course, any semi-callout track from Britney would be a subtle jab at JT. “Baby talk talk talk, keep lying through your teeth. You know I know that you know I know, that you’re a liar liar”. 9/10

 

16.   If I’m Dancing: I don't know what to make of this song, at the intro it sounds like that Charli XCX song, then it becomes a How I Roll on ecstasy, then it goes into full Bollywood mode in the chorus while at times the beat drops hints of Bey’s Run The World. 9/10

 

17.   Coupure Electrique (or in common tongue, Blackout): Either Britney has been having lunch with Celine or sneaking in at the boys’ French class. “I forget the world, if you do. Make love to me, my love, like a blackout… A moment with you in the dark, like a blackout. You are the light”. The lyrics is simple and pretty French 101, the vocals are icy and concise, delivered on a hard-hit beat and a repetitive 2-note-synth like a light continuously flashing on and off. It’s quite shocking to learn that she managed the song entirely in French. An A plus moment! 10/10

 

 

 

A few missteps here and there ruined the flow of the album, like Private Show would have been just a standalone track that coupled with the perfume. It’s cool in its own lane, but belongs nowhere on the album. The weekly release promotion has not really done the album justice when literally all the weaker tracks were picked. Then the drama with David Lachapelle, the original Make Me video, and the album cover has really hindered the starting success of the era.

 

Still, GLORY gives us everything we have wanted and more! We have classic Britney vocals. We have ITZ and Blackout throwbacks. We have top 40 trendy tropical house and dancehall. We have some Latin, French, country, and even Bollywood. And most importantly we welcome back the Britney who has creative controls of her career.  She is the best when she is in charge!

 

9/10

 

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