What was the general public, fans, media's reaction to Gimme More?

[RadicalOptimism]

12 hours ago, argentinian.in.telaviv said:

A moment that change my life, forever.

The song and album deserved #1 

[DollyParton]

Gimme more was iconic from the very first moment it got released.

 

Oh, good old times. I remember it was the only short time in Britney’s career that it was actually ‘cool’ to like/listen to Britney. She started to rebel, being more herself instead of the fake blonde Britney Spears role she always had to play. People started to take her music more serious, saying she was growing as an artist.
 

Sadly that didnt lasted long, the conservatorship got her back in controll into the ‘Britney Spears’ brand, as we all know..

[rik]

People hated her.. I remember this despite   onlybeing  in 4th grade…. The VMAs performance was insanely panned however when gimmie more and piece of me dropped everyone died. My sister was in 9th grade and everyone her age/older was downloading it illegally on limewire. There was no denying the catchiness of gimmie more. It was a hit. People loved the song and the phrase “it’s Britney *****” became history. The next year people went to the circus tour and would name their Facebook albums of pics from the tour “it’s Britney *****”. 
 

the video however was a different story. As someone who was just GP And watching it on the original YouTube (at the time avrils girlfriend was the most viewed video on the internet), people were confused as to why she was just “stripping”. In retrospect, Perez Hilton and fans knew she was planning a video with this whole funeral concept 

[Brit52]

21 minutes ago, Rik said:

People hated her.. I remember this despite   onlybeing  in 4th grade…. The VMAs performance was insanely panned however when gimmie more and piece of me dropped everyone died. My sister was in 9th grade and everyone her age/older was downloading it illegally on limewire. There was no denying the catchiness of gimmie more. It was a hit. People loved the song and the phrase “it’s Britney *****” became history. The next year people went to the circus tour and would name their Facebook albums of pics from the tour “it’s Britney *****”. 
 

the video however was a different story. As someone who was just GP And watching it on the original YouTube (at the time avrils girlfriend was the most viewed video on the internet), people were confused as to why she was just “stripping”. In retrospect, Perez Hilton and fans knew she was planning a video with this whole funeral concept 

My circus pics were 100% in an album titled "its britney, b*!" LOL

But I remember bringing Blackout to my hairdressing school when it was released and I recall one of the girls saying "wow this is really really good" and I was so dang proud

[StephenDallas]

When I heard ‘it’s Britney *****’ I knew I was gay, the inner *******ual awakened  

[HereIgoOnMyOwn]

14 hours ago, princessmimi said:

I was 13/14 when it came out and I remember people bashing it and calling her fat,

which was ridiculous cause she wasnt.

She just had a baby a few months earlier and managed to still look good.

Ironically the body she had in 2007, would be considered hot and sxy now.

Due to the level that she has accustomed us to with a perfect body and face, when she appeared in the brunette gimme video with a belly without abs, it caused astonishment in the fans and in the general public, who was not used to seeing her that way in video clips. But what people forgot was that at the time she had just been a mother (with two pregnancies in a row) and public scrutiny.

[Steel Magnolia]

Gimme More and the leaked Blackout tunes turned me into an instant stan.

However...

The video received a similar reaction as Chaotic...I'm sure Jive must have been horrified.

[DjRobney]

I still haven't found my wig after that release.

[Brat]

GP was in shock

[JP9101]

2 hours ago, DollyParton said:

Gimme more was iconic from the very first moment it got released.

 

Oh, good old times. I remember it was the only short time in Britney’s career that it was actually ‘cool’ to like/listen to Britney. She started to rebel, being more herself instead of the fake blonde Britney Spears role she always had to play. People started to take her music more serious, saying she was growing as an artist.
 

Sadly that didnt lasted long, the conservatorship got her back in controll into the ‘Britney Spears’ brand, as we all know..

Not here sorry 

i remember gp bashing Britney new music vision 

I loved it

But a lot of people abandoned her during blackout 

[Stefani]

Dunno about the GP, but I remember a lot of positive reactions from fans on UKMix. I haven't checked Pulse Music's boards, but I'm assuming that people there  were also excited about the song. The VMA performance was another story, though.

Btw does anyone know any other active music forums that have old threads from the early or mid 2000s? 

[rik]

2 hours ago, Brit52 said:

My circus pics were 100% in an album titled "its britney, b*!" LOL

But I remember bringing Blackout to my hairdressing school when it was released and I recall one of the girls saying "wow this is really really good" and I was so dang proud

Omg stop the accuracy

i love it. Legit blackout was and is still considered the more exciting album by most that listen to both or did at the time!! 

[SosEtaSeth]

I was very young when Blackout came out, so a lot of the memories are just a blur. But, I do remember a lot of folks liking the song, but bashing the VMA appearance and the MV that followed after.

[LeavinExhaleByYearEnd]

18 hours ago, CrazyButItFeelsAllright said:

I was shook. 
I was proud. 
I was overwhelmed. 
I was blindsided. 
I was like it’s Britney, *****. 

Media trashed her, called her fat, unbothered, out of her mind.

[LeavinExhaleByYearEnd]

https://www.vulture.com/2022/03/the-vocal-turbulence-of-britney-spears-gimme-more.html

[andrew hayden]

i remember thinking the production and voice intro was tacky ...that was a moment on insanity because soon enough it was my jam, alot of people who wrote her music off were surprised by how good blackout was.

[SJK]

It was massive when it came out and was really big on the radio even without promotion. The opening line instantly became iconic. Critics and GP were all about the song. 

Gays officially started to stan her during this era. 

Everyone was talking about her VMA performance, I remember it was on every magazine and media outlet. 

[Lisa88007]

General public loved the song. They did not like her image/MV/performance. She was criticized based on her image and performances, but if it weren’t for the song, her career would have struggled. The song gave her another mainstream hit and it made her music cool again, especially in the clubs and college parties. For a moment she wasn’t looked at like a s** kitten but more like a rock star/ rebel. 

[filmandstage13]

Remember, the song debuted much before the video or the performance.

This was pre-streaming, but at the peak of mp3 downloading (both official and unofficial).  I think the first version I actually heard was an unofficial remix with TI that I found online, so when it debuted (I think on her website?) I was surprised he wasn't on it.  But it sounded sooo different than what she had released to that point - and definitely stood out based on what was out at the time.

It was dark - it was moody... It was a bop, but still somehow a bit mellow?  Also - the intro was iconic from the start, and made so much sense considering her persona at the time.

It's also hard to overstate just how secondary the music was compared to the other headlines she was making.  I think people were surprised she had found the time to put out music at all.  It was impossible to look at objectively, so I think you'll see a lot of the reactions of the time were something of a confirmation bias for what they already thought of her.

It was less obvious a hit to me compared to some of her earlier smashers, but wound up being one of my all-time favorite Britney tracks. 

The VMA performance had a fairly immediate and bad reaction, but I think mostly those reactions didn't age well.  I kinda love the performance.  It's so iconic (although I hope it doesn't make Brit sad - because that would make me feel differently about it).  People ate her up and spit her out because that's what everyone was doing at the time.

The video was definitely panned.  I think fans had heard about a funeral scene and other aspects of the eventually deleted concept, so when we saw the final, it was definitely confusing and disappointing.  I think there was a sentiment that she was hard to work with at the time (which I'm not sure is actually true), so I feel like the consensus was that Jake Sarfaty salvaged what he could.

Much like the album as a whole, the song's legacy has only grown as time passes.  And like many groundbreaking, now-acclaimed things, the song's beginnings were less auspicious.  But at the time, it DID become her highest charting single since BOMT with all the sales.  If I'm remembering correctly, Crank That by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em was super popular at the time and probably kept this at bay.

[mihai.serban]

I was a teenager and I perfectly remember this being on the news. When I saw the segment I was stunt. I felt in love instantly. From that point on I became a Britney fan! I start searching her, learn about her life and listen to all of her songs

At that point I didn't even know that Toxic, Ops and Baby were her songs. 

It was such a turning point in my life. Everything changed. I was changed! It connected with me instantly and it was my safe place. The song let me connect with my inner self and helped me express the real me. It helped me discover what I really love

 

As for the public opinion: everybody was in shock! Everybody was like: "she's done it again! Oh Britney, you're a mother and this is what you do! Oh my god, she's crazy! This is outrageous!"

 

So for me is one of the best things that ever happened in my life! ❤

So, thank you Britney! 🤗