Your first reaction/impression to ITZ?

[FullyDattAndDatt3full]

What did you think about ITZ, im more recent, but preferably back then?

it was a change in direction isn't it?

extra question FOR THE KEEN ONES: your initial reaction to Blackout

i must say i loved Blackout so much when it came out but i was also a junior, didn't analyze the change too much...

but i was happy, thought Blackout direction is something to be proud of, took it as a good sign

[FullyDattAndDatt3full]

but these days i just love Blackout more than ITZ, and i think i love Femme Fatale more than Blackout, Britney Jean more than Glory tho (why Britney Jean over Glory? cause i have overplayed Glory, it is boring to me now)

[MX3]

So I Was 14 when in the zone came out - I had been a Britney fan up until that point, but it was starting to not be “cool” to like Britney, she was overexposed, lots of comedians etc poking fun at her, plus punk and emo music was big back then and that’s the direction puberty was taking me. 
 

So I was ready to ditch mBritney and be full on emo. But in the zone came out and it was like “and I ope!!!” So good, so mature, so strong, so quintessential Britney vocals etc I was like … welp guess I’m making room for this album amongst my angst!
 

seriously I was emo as **** and spritzing on curious before school in the morning. 
 

a Stan was born. 

[Million Billion]

ITZ: I only knew MATM but as soon as I heard the entire album Brave New Girl, Everytime and Breathe On Me were an instante fave. Toxic and Touch Of My Hand were a grower tbh, I didnt like them at first listen, it actually took me some weeks (I would say) to fully enjoy them. 

When I knew Britney was planning to release Toxic as a 2nd single I listened to it more often. I remember living for Shadow, it's a shame it was never a single but I get it, 1 ballad was enough for the era. 

The remix for Me Against The Music sounded weird to me, still to this day, I mean I felt it meh. I would have liked Britney to perform the original track on the tour. 

One of the verses from The Answer reminded me of Slave (like 4 seconds of it) but aside from that I have never liked that song neither then nor now. 

 

For Blackout, almost all tracks were instant faves. I kinda remember started hearing leaked versions of each track to the point that I wasnt fully sure if it was a real Britney song or a demo so by the time the album was released I had heard like 6 or 7 songs, so I was like 'oh this is that one song o heard'. 

Obviously we all heard Gimme More but I remember living for Heaven On Earth, Everybody and Hot As Ice. Break The Ice gospel intro felt like  an EARgasm. When the animated video came out I just felt like 'what a way to waste such an amazing song' 

[FullyDattAndDatt3full]

4 minutes ago, Million Billion said:

ITZ: I only knew MATM but as soon as I heard the entire album Brave New Girl, Everytime and Breathe On Me were an instante fave. Toxic and Touch Of My Hand were a grower tbh, I didnt like them at first listen, it actually took me some weeks (I would say) to fully enjoy them. 

When I knew Britney was planning to release Toxic as a 2nd single I listened to it more often. I remember living for Shadow, it's a shame it was never a single but I get it, 1 ballad was enough for the era. 

The remix for Me Against The Music sounded weird to me, still to this day, I mean I felt it meh. I would have liked Britney to perform the original track on the tour. 

One of the verses from The Answer reminded me of Slave (like 4 seconds of it) but aside from that I have never liked that song neither then nor now. 

 

For Blackout, almost all tracks were instant faves. I kinda remember started hearing leaked versions of each track to the point that I wasnt fully sure if it was a real Britney song or a demo so by the time the album was released I had heard like 6 or 7 songs, so I was like 'oh this is that one song o heard'. 

Obviously we all heard Gimme More but I remember living for Heaven On Earth, Everybody and Hot As Ice. Break The Ice gospel intro felt like  an EARgasm. When the animated video came out I just felt like 'what a way to waste such an amazing song' 

i remember loving Heaven On Earth demo so hard, but thats what this production and sultry Britney vocals just might to do ya

[HisNameisChase]

In the Zone: MATM was a risk, but the song itself is nice but lacks in production. Madonna also does not offer anything to the song. I remember being so mad about the many cutaways from her amazing dancing.

Toxic was a cultural reset. 

The whole album was so good. I remember finding it to be trance-like.

Blackout, the CD, lived in my car for an entire year straight with nothing else playing.

[SosEtaSeth]

It was definitely a polarizing album to listen to on the first time. I loved the teenybop bubblegum pop sound that BOMT, OIDIA, and Britney so perfectly mastered, and it definitely took a bit of time for me to get used to Britney Spears sounding more assertive and mature.

However, as time goes on, and I listen more to her later work, In The Zone seems like the perfect foundation for what would later be Blackout and Circus, which are some of her best work, by far.

[Onyxgirl17]

I died… and was reborn 

[LeavinExhaleByYearEnd]

ITZ is my fave by far. It really put Britney into adulthood and respectable woman owning her both professional and personal   lives. I bought the CD as soon as came out and spending the rest of that year listening in high volume. It didn’t receive much praise from the media but still think it’s Britney best work maybe tied with Blackout.  Media really focused on her life and her music got ostracized by the general public. The same media that today praise her for liberating from c ship. Shame on media. 

[Freakshow__]

I remember the exact moment i listened to ITZ for the first time. It was a whole different thing than the previous albums and i remember loving BOM and TOMH... I would listen to The Hook Up and Shadow A LOT. I also remember my mom telling me "THAT SONG IS SO GOOD" when she heard Toxic for the first time. Sweet memories. 

I didn't like Boom Boom tbh and i was so dissapointed with the rumours of it being the second single... thankfuly that didn't happen. 

[ZoneGirl]

We've had a thread like this back in the day (maybe the late '00s/early '10s). I remember the music sounding totally different than what we were used to. One review said Toxic sounded like Britney from outer space. That was apt! I did not like that song at first. I thought it sounded way too different. I loved BOM and Shadow from the jump though. I loved that Britney was doing something NEW with her sound. It's still one of my favorite albums. And I'll always choose it over Blackout. I always say: There would be no Blackout if there were no ITZ.