What was the original Britney album tracklist?

[PlayboyMommy]

As we all know, before Britney was released, Jive originally meant to release Britney and a Crossroads soundtrack album separately. Britney herself stated on multiple interviews at the time that she had co-written all but two songs on the album. If we were to take out all the songs originally meant for the Crossroads soundtrack (Bombastic Love, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, I Run Away, I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman & Overprotected) there would be 19 songs left

Quote

Am I a Sinner (Produced by Riprock & Alex G)
Anticipating (Produced by Brian Kierulf & Josh Schwartz)
Baby Can't You See (Produced by The Neptunes)
Before the Goodbye (Produced by BT)
Boys (Produced by The Neptunes)
Bring Me Home (Produced by Brian Kierulf & Josh Schwartz)
Cinderella (Produced by Max Martin & Rami Yacoub)
I'm a Slave 4 U (Produced by The Neptunes)
Intimidated (Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins)
Let Me Be (Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins)
Lonely (Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins)
Mad Love (Produced by Riprock & Alex G)
My Big Secret (Produced by The Neptunes)
She’ll Never Be Me (Produced by Riprock & Alex G)
That's Where You Take Me (Produced by Brian Kierulf & Josh Schwartz)
Unknown title (Produced by Wade Robson)
What It's Like to Be Me (Produced by Wade Robson & Justin Timberlake)
When I Found You (Produced by Peter Kvint)
When I Say So (Produced by BT)

Out of this songs we know that Before the Goodbye and Mad Love were not finished so they were never part of the album. Then she also mentioned how Baby Can't You See ultimately didn't make the cut and how she didn't want to release Cinderella in the first place which leaves us with 15 songs, 9 of them co-written by Britney

Quote

Am I a Sinner (Produced by Riprock & Alex G)
Anticipating (Produced by Brian Kierulf & Josh Schwartz)
Boys (Produced by The Neptunes)
Bring Me Home (Produced by Brian Kierulf & Josh Schwartz)
I'm a Slave 4 U (Produced by The Neptunes)
Intimidated (Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins)
Let Me Be (Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins)
Lonely (Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins)
My Big Secret (Produced by The Neptunes)
She’ll Never Be Me (Produced by Riprock & Alex G)
That's Where You Take Me (Produced by Brian Kierulf & Josh Schwartz)
Unknown title (Produced by Wade Robson)
What It's Like to Be Me (Produced by Wade Robson & Justin Timberlake)
When I Found You (Produced by Peter Kvint)
When I Say So (Produced by BT)

Taking all this into account, what do you guys think the original album tracklist looked like? 

[Louis-j]

You just responded to your own question 

[Louis-j]

Just a shame She'll Never Be Me never got officially released, it's so good.

I remember having it ripped on my compilation CD back in the days.  

[Isla]

Well except Before the Goodbye DID make the album, as a bonus track

the leaked songs (except maybe Mad Love?) probably would have been on the album. Bring Me Home maybe as well.  At least in place of Overprotected, Not a Girl and I Love Rock N Roll (and maybe Bombastic Love, cause I think that song was originally meant to be used for Crossroads)

Isn’t there also an unreleased song called Turn On the Night?

[PokemonSpears]

4 hours ago, PlayboiMommy said:

Out of this songs we know that Before the Goodbye and Mad Love were not finished

 

[Roxxy]

4 hours ago, PlayboiMommy said:

Out of this songs we know that Before the Goodbye and Mad Love were not finished so they were never part of the album.

What is this

[PlayboyMommy]

15 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

 

 

6 minutes ago, Roxxy said:

What is this

Notice how the song is missing a bridge and instead reuses the chorus from the previous verse, supposedly Britney was meant to record a verse for it but for unknown reasons it never happened

[Roxxy]

16 minutes ago, PlayboiMommy said:

Notice how the song is missing a bridge and instead reuses the chorus from the previous verse, supposedly Britney was meant to record a verse for it but for unknown reasons it never happened

Receipts? Hehe.

I don't think Jive - who was definitely not a slacker and a flop during peak Britney - would allow for a song to be included on the album if it was unfinished. Moreover, BTG is not just a deluxe edition bonus track in the 2002 re-issue (which I also bought) but it was part of the standard edition for the UK/Australia (they always kinda share the same version). It was never just a bonus track. With that being said, there's just no way that a track that made the cut for a regional standard edition would be unfinished. It is preposterous. 

[PlayboyMommy]

37 minutes ago, Isla said:

Isn’t there also an unreleased song called Turn On the Night?

Rumour goes that when I'm a Slave 4 U was first released a radio station received a promo CD with a snippet of Turn on the Night as a B-Side, then the radio station held a contest for it and the winner posted the lyrics online

Mind you this all happened in 2001 when everyone would be quick to believe what they just read on a forum without hesitation

The lyrics themselves are mostly nonsensical and badly put together

Quote

Lets go
Lets get out on the town
Something's going on
And I wanna be around
Something's not right
If I don't get out tonight
Turn on the night
Make sure everything all right
Hair done, nails done right
Best bet I'll be home at 5:00
Cause when I go out
I go all out
Me and my girls
Nothings in our way
Turn on the night
Turn on the night

Aint no man gonna change my mind
Cause best bet I'll be going home by myself
Cause you know me
You gotta hit me one more time
Before I give you the time of day
Wanna drive me crazy?
Show me how you dance
If you can move your hips the way I move mine
Let me see, let me see
Turn on the night
Make sure everything all right
Hair done, nails done right
Best bet I'll be home at 5:00
Cause when I go out
I go all out
Me and my girls
Nothings in our way
Turn on the night
Turn on the night

 

[Roxxy]

Ok so I did some digging and found an old thread where members have said that BTG was unfinished - 'according' to the producers. I just wish there were receipts/links so I will be enlightened. 

[PokemonSpears]

32 minutes ago, Roxxy said:

Receipts? Hehe.

I don't think Jive - who was definitely not a slacker and a flop during peak Britney - would allow for a song to be included on the album if it was unfinished. Moreover, BTG is not just a deluxe edition bonus track in the 2002 re-issue (which I also bought) but it was part of the standard edition for the UK/Australia (they always kinda share the same version). It was never just a bonus track. With that being said, there's just no way that a track that made the cut for a regional standard edition would be unfinished. It is preposterous. 

It's hard to tell

there's an article with alleged statements of Britney about the song BT produced (Before the Goodbye)

Quote

CDNow is reporting additional comments from Britney Spears’ press conference Wednesday that took direct aim at BT when asked why his tracks didn’t end up on ‘Britney’. Spears said, “Actually I was really disappointed that we weren’t able to [use] the tracks that BT had done. We had recorded so many songs and he was one of the last people I had recorded with. It might wind up on some of the tracks overseas.”

When questioned further by surprised reporters who wondered if it was her decision, Britney added, “No, I was actually disappointed they weren’t good enough to make the album. He’s a genius in whatever he does, but the type of music the tracks he ended up doing for me don’t fit the type of music I was going for.”

source

But then he said it wasn't true

Quote

Brian Hiatt of Entertainment Weekly spoke with BT (born Brian Transeau) about the tracks he produced for Britney Spears’ last album ‘Britney’, but weren’t used on the American version of the album. BT responded to the report that had Britney telling reporters his tracks were “not good enough” saying, “I don’t know what the hell that was all about. I saw that [comment], but I find it totally hard to believe that she said that. Because we’re totally cool – I see her and stuff and we hang out.” BT says Spears told him that she was misquoted. “That’s come up and she’s like, I didn’t say that, that’s total bullsh**.” The full story at ew.com has since been removed.

source

There's also an article from 2002

Quote

Britney Spears’ ”Before the Goodbye” is a full-fledged dance-pop anthem, a potential hit driven by pounding Eurodisco beats and a choir’s worth of backing vocals, courtesy of producer BT. But odds are that you haven’t heard the track, since Britney and her handlers booted it off her latest album.

”She and I have talked about this in great detail,” says BT (born Brian Transeau), who leaped from the dance ghetto to ”TRL” after lending an electronic sheen to ‘N Sync’s hit ”Pop.” ”[My songs were] too different from what the rest of the record was like. The record ended up with very sort of Neptunes-y, R&B-type slant on it. And the stuff that we did was dance music. The stuff didn’t make sense for the American version of the record — they put it on everything else.”

”Before the Goodbye,” has, in fact, surfaced as a bonus track on various import versions of ”Britney,” though another BT production, ”When I Say So,” has yet to see release anywhere, according to his management. But ”Before” — which has also turned up online as an illicit MP3 — is, in its own way, at least as musically daring as anything on the stateside version of ”Britney.”

source

 

And not necessarily answering the question of OP about what was the tracklist, but a little bit more of the process of how they picked it:

Quote

What was the most challenging aspect of recording this third album?

Most challenging aspect? I’d say I was really nervous when I first went into the studio because I was like, can I even write? But it was a lot simpler than what I thought. I just sat with people who made me feel really comfortable, and I had a lot of time for this album and the last two albums I did I didn’t. So this was probably been the most laid-back process in making an album that I’ve had. So I’ve really been blessed in that, seriously. So it really hasn’t been that complicated. Well, probably the most complicated thing was when we all sat down and we had to pick out the songs, because I recorded like twenty-three songs, to pick out the ones that were going to make the album. So many people were like, ‘I like this one, I like that one,’ but we all definitely came to an agreement.

source

 

[PokemonSpears]

Fun fact, Brian Transeau, producer of Before the Goodbye, introduced Britney to her personal trainer who helped her to get her killer body back in the early 2000's

Quote

After meeting Bobby through a mutual friend, music producer Brian “BT” Transeau — the mastermind behind ‘NSYNC’s “Pop” and Britney’s “Before the Goodbye” — the iconic entertainer, then 18, started breaking ground on what many consider to be her best body ever. Just months later, the superstar unveiled her insanely fit physique (expertly sculpted by Bobby) at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000. 

source

 

[Roxxy]

4 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

It's hard to tell

there's an article with alleged statements of Britney about the song BT produced (Before the Goodbye)

But then he said it wasn't true

There's also an article from 2002

 

And not necessarily answering the question of OP about what was the tracklist, but a little bit more of the process of how they picked it:

 

But where's the part that says it was 'unfinished'? I totally know the feud and the reason for why it wound up as a regional standard edition track, but 'unfinished'? Also, since it was mentioned in one of those that it was part of the 23 prior to the tracklist selection, then it would mean it was finished. Record labels decide the tracklist after all the songs are on its final-final mix (unmastered).

[Roxxy]

2 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

Fun fact, Brian Transeau, producer of Before the Goodbye, introduced Britney to her personal trainer who helped her to get her killer body back in the early 2000's

 

Fuuuuuuu. Justin looks so hot. 

[PokemonSpears]

2 minutes ago, Roxxy said:

But where's the part that says it was 'unfinished'? I totally know the feud and the reason for why it wound up as a regional standard edition track, but 'unfinished'? Also, since it was mentioned in one of those that it was part of the 23 prior to the tracklist selection, then it would mean it was finished. Record labels decide the tracklist after all the songs are on its final-final mix (unmastered).

Oh, yeah it definitely doesn't sound like it was unfinished, for what he said

[PokemonSpears]

2 minutes ago, Roxxy said:

Fuuuuuuu. Justin looks so hot. 

in another universe, they could've done gorgeous babies

[Alex_1991]

5 hours ago, PlayboiMommy said:

As we all know, before Britney was released, Jive originally meant to release Britney and a Crossroads soundtrack album separately. Britney herself stated on multiple interviews at the time that she had co-written all but two songs on the album. If we were to take out all the songs originally meant for the Crossroads soundtrack (Bombastic Love, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, I Run Away, I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman & Overprotected) there would be 19 songs left

Out of this songs we know that Before the Goodbye and Mad Love were not finished so they were never part of the album. Then she also mentioned how Baby Can't You See ultimately didn't make the cut and how she didn't want to release Cinderella in the first place which leaves us with 15 songs, 9 of them co-written by Britney

Taking all this into account, what do you guys think the original album tracklist looked like? 

1) I Run away has nothing to do with Crossroads. 

2) She said "every song except two" for In The Zone. 

3) She never, ever spoke in public about baby can't you see. 

4) She stated that Cinderella was her favourite song. 

I don't think they had a totally different tracklkst ready. They had this idea of the two different records and they were going in that direction, but they changed their mind like midway, before slave and boys were recorded and before the "Shock Your Mind" title. 

Mad Love, Sinner, Intimidated were probably part of the original body of work. 

 

[Roxxy]

2 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

in another universe, they could've done gorgeous babies

Period!!! 

Also, the way that you came to the rescue with receipts and saved me from falling into the Britney album rabbit hole of questioning everything I knew for 19 years. I love youuu~ ❤❤❤

[Roxxy]

9 minutes ago, Alex_1991 said:

1) I Run away has nothing to do with Crossroads. 

2) She said "every song except two" for In The Zone. 

3) She never, ever spoke in public about baby can't you see. 

4) She stated that Cinderella was her favourite song. 

I don't think they had a totally different tracklkst ready. They had this idea of the two different records and they were going in that direction, but they changed their mind like midway, before slave and boys were recorded and before the "Shock Your Mind" title. 

Mad Love, Sinner, Intimidated were probably part of the original body of work. 

Except for 2 and 3 which I don't know anything about, this is a period, period, period. It's periodT. 

And yeah Intimidated was definitely part of the original because I have this unauthorized Britney bio book from the Britney era where it was an interview and she mentions Intimidated. And I always thought what was that all about when there's no Intimidated on my cd. I never even knew that it was a real song until 2004. 

[Acer]

I remember the interview with Dido back to 2001, where she talked es about her experience for writing for Britney. She said, that she had strict way about what to write from Britney’s management and had written  2 songs for Britney.  One we know, but the second one ?