In the Zone original tracklist + Girls and Boys being Britney's favourite song off the album

[Alex Murr]

This is a very interesting article that relates part of the recording process and subsequent release of In the Zone and Britney's frustration at not being listened to by her label and for leaving out the songs she wanted on the album.

"Songwriter Michelle Bell first met Spears in 2002, when she was in the studio working with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who had remixed "Overprotected," a song from Britney's self-titled 2001 album. "She had on a blue thermal top and it had a little cigarette burn in it," Bell said. "I thought, this couldn't be her. This is her sister. She looked like she was dressing from the mall in Louisiana."
Spears' recent breakup with Justin Timberlake inspired several songs she wrote at the time, Bell said. During their sessions, Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," written about their breakup, was released. In its music video, he broke into the home of a Spears look-alike. "I think she was really hurt by 'Cry Me a River,'" Bell said.

Songwriter Angela Hunte, who co-wrote Britney's "Do Somethin'," recalled one recording session with Spears in 2002 in a New York City studio where Jive often put up artists, when Timberlake was also in the building rehearsing for an awards show performance.

"We couldn't hear [Justin] exactly, but you could hear the music, hear the voice," she said. "She was a little irritated by that. Then she came in and it was like nothing happened and we started recording and she was a complete professional from beginning to end."

"Everytime" has been described as Spears' response to "Cry Me a River," and an apology: "I may have made it rain / Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song's my sorry." Bell recalled the first time Spears played "Everytime" for her on the piano during their 2002 sessions. ("She definitely can play the piano, no one really knows that.") Bell told her she loved it, but Spears was hesitant about singing it for her A&R, the record label employee who would decide which songs would make the album.
"She said nobody really listens to her," Bell said. "She just wanted somebody to say I believe in you beyond this pop machine." Bell developed a good relationship with Spears and the pair worked on a number of songs together. "After a while, she sort of trusted me," she said. One song they wrote during the 2002 sessions, titled "Look Who's Talking," was about Timberlake but contained references in its lyrics only he and Spears would understand.

"That song was totally about him," Bell said. "It was all, let's not put it all out there. She was like, 'He'll know what we mean, but the rest of the world won't.'" In one line, Bell remembered, Spears used the word "justify" for its double meaning (Timberlake's album was titled Justified). "I was true to you / Justify my point of view," she sang. The song was covered by Korean singer BoA in 2008, and Spears' version leaked in 2012.
Some who worked with Spears around 2003 said her music was influenced by ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.
Spears wanted to experiment with her sound. "Chaotic," which became the theme song for her 2005 UPN reality show of the same name, was described by Bell as "animated." "(I've Just Begun) Having My Fun" sounded like a Britney-fronted No Doubt song, and "Falling" was country-influenced. She also wanted to try to record more R&B-sounding songs. "I think she wanted to go in an R&B direction like Justin was doing with 'Cry Me a River,'" Bell said. Spears' "Me Against the Music," which became the lead single for her 2003 album, In the Zone, bore more than a passing similarity to Justified's lead single, "Like I Love You," with its funked-out acoustic guitars and tight drum tracks.

Hunte called many of the songs that came out of these sessions "empowering." In regards to "Do Somethin'," Hunte recalled Spears thinking, "'I don't have to be unclothed to say what I'm thinking, I can just say it with these words. Leave me alone. I just want to do me.' I think what she meant by that is, I can just say what I feel. I don't have to be anything extra."
On "Take Off," Spears sang about tolerance, love, and peace. Bell called it her version of Michael Jackson's "Black or White." "It was about being tolerant about gay people. It was gay people, discrimination, basically loving yourself and being connected," Bell said. "I think it was ahead of Lady Gaga. I think people would have looked at her and thought she had something to say. It was ahead of its time. She talked about war and how war is wrong." In 2013, Bell tweeted some lyrics from the song: "They say get ready for the revolution / I think we oughta find some sorta solution."

But Jive wasn't impressed. "I think maybe they thought it was not close enough to her brand," Bell said. She called In the Zone "the filtered-down version of Original Doll, or the more pop version." She "wanted to make a record that was more vibey and more personal and honest," Bell said. Ultimately, Spears still hoped her songs would have their day. "I think she knew, I can come back to these songs later," Bell said.
When Spears' In the Zone was released in November 2003, none of Bell's or Hunte's songs made the cut, although "Everytime" did. Even without those revelatory songs, the album was adventurous and ****, and marked a continued evolution of her sound and image through songs like the Grammy-winning "Toxic," "Me Against the Music" featuring Madonna, and "Touch of My Hand," a song about mas*******n.

"I think the record label was like, no, you've got to stay the course you're on, which was a strong pop star, a little longer," Bell said. "It's a lot of pressure to keep that spot."

While most of Spears' original teen pop contemporaries had fallen off the charts, In the Zone debuted at No. 1, her fourth consecutive album to do so, which was at the time a record among female artists."

 

The Secret History Of Britney Spears' Lost Album

WWW.BUZZFEED.COM

---

<b>Ten years ago, Britney Spears said she was working on an album called <i>Original Doll</i>, but her label denied its existence.</b> The search for Britney’s “lost album,” and the...

 

Edited March 14 by Alex Murr

[Isla]

1 hour ago, ObsessedBritFan1 said:

Is there a way someone can check, like those databases where songs are registered? I have no clue, but you stans know where to look. 

Try ASCAP/BMI, just search for Britney Spears and see if the song is registered.

[Alex Murr]

19 hours ago, descg said:

Usually they have like 18 songs mastered and then selected 12 and the others for the bonus tracks and b-sides. 

Exactly!

The original list of officially released songs is this:

1 Me against the music (featuring Madonna)

2 (I got that) Boom Boom (featuring Yin Yang Twins)
3 Showdown

4 Breathe on me

5 Early mornin

6 Toxic

7 Outrageous

8 Touch of my hand

9 The hook up

10 Shadow

11 Brave new girl

12 Everytime

13 The answer

14 Don't hang up

15 Girls & Boys

16 I've just begun (Having my fun)

17 Do Somethin'

Then some ended up on B sides, DVD Extras and Greatest Hits.

[pop analyst]

21 hours ago, PlayboyMommy said:

I've been meaning to make this thread for a long time now and while I don't expect anyone here to have any real insight, I'm sure at least someone will find this interesting

Basically, I was going through old magazine scans one day and I found this interview where she mentions Girls and Boys being the song she's most excited about on In the Zone which at this point was at least a month ahead of its release

I thought it was interesting she mentioned a track that was only ever released as a B-side in Europe so I decided to search all the times the song had been mentioned around the time of the album's release date and I found two different reviews which mention Girls and Boys being part of the album

Perhaps more interesting of all, is this NYT piece written during the filming of the ABC special which reveal which other songs did and didn't make the cut amongst other things

Taking all that into account, as well as this Billboard article published in September which mentions her co-writing 7 instead of the final 8 track on the album, the working tracklist most likely included the following songs

• Boom Boom
  Brave New Girl
  Breathe on Me 
  Early Mornin'
  Everytime
  Girls and Boys
  Me Against the Music
  Outrageous
  Shadow
  Touch of My Hand

Considering how she fought for Toxic to be released as a single and has since referred to The Hook Up as one of her favourite songs, it's entirely possible Showdown wasn't originally part of the tracklist and was only added once Girls and Boys was cut

While this is all very nice, something about this whole story doesn't really make sense. You see, the way albums were released back then, the tracklist had to be decided on months ahead of the album's release date so the album could be mastered, pressed and shipped to every country to meet its release window, (There were rumours around this time Jennifer Lopez angered her label when she decided to change the name off one of the songs on her album once it had already been sent to be pressed) so the fact that the album had a totally different tracklist less than a month before it was released doesn't add up

To add further confusion, Linda Perry actually knew ahead of the time the song wasn't going to make to the cut. so what's going on here exactly?

Honestly I have no idea 

The way I see it, Jive gave the press either an outdated tracklist or a promo disc featuring said tracklist and forgot to tell them it had been changed

I live for threads like this?

Do you happen to have 'GQ', Nov '03 scans?

[PlayboyMommy]

59 minutes ago, pop analyst said:

Do you happen to have 'GQ', Nov '03 scans?

I was gonna tell you to just look on Xray but for some reason they only have the spread uploaded without the interview 

GQ - November - Your #1 Source For Britney Spears Pictures | Welcome to XRAY

XRAY.BRITSPEARS.NET

Some kind eBay seller uploaded a picture of the corner of the page where you can read some of it though and here's an old forum post featuring some but still not all of the questions, sorry I couldn't help you

s-l960-jpeg hosted at ImgBB

IBB.CO

---

Image s-l960-jpeg hosted in ImgBB

GQ Magazine: November 2003 | Britney Boards

SPEARS.PROBOARDS.COM

---

There's no two ways about it – Britney is a libidinous deity. This week we bring you instalments...

 

[descg]

5 hours ago, Alex Murr said:

Exactly!

The original list of officially released songs is this:

1 Me against the music (featuring Madonna)

2 (I got that) Boom Boom (featuring Yin Yang Twins)
3 Showdown

4 Breathe on me

5 Early mornin

6 Toxic

7 Outrageous

8 Touch of my hand

9 The hook up

10 Shadow

11 Brave new girl

12 Everytime

13 The answer

14 Don't hang up

15 Girls & Boys

16 I've just begun (Having my fun)

17 Do Somethin'

Then some ended up on B sides, DVD Extras and Greatest Hits.

Well I think Do Somethin was recorded after In The Zone, also My Prerogative (the song) for the Greatest Hits im not sure. But you can add Over To You Know and maybe And Then We Kiss (there is not a mastered leaked version but maybe they have it).

Edited March 15 by descg

[descg]

1 hour ago, PlayboyMommy said:

I was gonna tell you to just look on Xray but for some reason they only have the spread uploaded without the interview 

GQ - November - Your #1 Source For Britney Spears Pictures | Welcome to XRAY

XRAY.BRITSPEARS.NET

Some kind eBay seller uploaded a picture of the corner of the page where you can read some of it though and here's an old forum post featuring some but still not all of the questions, sorry I couldn't help you

s-l960-jpeg hosted at ImgBB

IBB.CO

---

Image s-l960-jpeg hosted in ImgBB

GQ Magazine: November 2003 | Britney Boards

SPEARS.PROBOARDS.COM

---

There's no two ways about it – Britney is a libidinous deity. This week we bring you instalments...

 

She never likes her nose.

[Isla]

3 hours ago, Alex Murr said:

Exactly!

The original list of officially released songs is this:

1 Me against the music (featuring Madonna)

2 (I got that) Boom Boom (featuring Yin Yang Twins)
3 Showdown

4 Breathe on me

5 Early mornin

6 Toxic

7 Outrageous

8 Touch of my hand

9 The hook up

10 Shadow

11 Brave new girl

12 Everytime

13 The answer

14 Don't hang up

15 Girls & Boys

16 I've just begun (Having my fun)

17 Do Somethin'

Then some ended up on B sides, DVD Extras and Greatest Hits.

Don't forget the original And Then We Kiss, Chaotic and Over To You Now, these were originally recorded for the album too.

Interestingly I found a thread on an old Popjustice forum from September 2003 which shared a 13-track tracklisting for the album with Chaotic on it as track 5, and The Answer as track 9. The rest of the tracks are the songs that made the actual album (although not in the actual order). No sign of Girls and Boys, and this was obviously before the album's tracklisting was confirmed, but still interesting to me and at it least confirms Chaotic's existence was known at the time.

Edited March 14 by Isla

[Isla]

26 minutes ago, descg said:

Well I think Do Somethin was recorded before In The Zone

How so? The song was originally intended for girl group Melodi Brown (who never released anything), their album was supposed to be released in 2003 so I always assumed after it looked like they wouldn't use the song Bloodshy & Avant gave it to Britney to record during In the Zone sessions (but it didn't end up being used for the album, so they used it for GH:MP instead)

[descg]

39 minutes ago, Isla said:

How so? The song was originally intended for girl group Melodi Brown (who never released anything), their album was supposed to be released in 2003 so I always assumed after it looked like they wouldn't use the song Bloodshy & Avant gave it to Britney to record during In the Zone sessions (but it didn't end up being used for the album, so they used it for GH:MP instead)

I dont know when she recorded, but someone can reject a song and then other person released in one, two, three, and so on... Boa released Look Who's Talking Now (In The Zone outtake) in 2009, 6 years later.

[ObsessedBritFan1]

4 hours ago, Isla said:

Try ASCAP/BMI, just search for Britney Spears and see if the song is registered.

Ok, I found Free.. Registered to EMI.

I'm thinking Glow is... Glow in the dark? Sung by Carishma 

[Isla]

52 minutes ago, descg said:

I dont know when she recorded, but someone can reject a song and then other person released in one, two, three, and so on... Boa released Look Who's Talking Now (In The Zone outtake) in 2009, 6 years later.

Well yes, but I don’t think Britney recorded Do Somethin’ before the In the Zone sessions. She only started working with B&A in 2003. 

[Isla]

51 minutes ago, ObsessedBritFan1 said:

Ok, I found Free.. Registered to EMI.

I'm thinking Glow is... Glow in the dark? Sung by Carishma 

Hmm who wrote/produce the Carishma song? That’s how we’d know if it was possibly for Britney.

[descg]

8 minutes ago, Isla said:

Well yes, but I don’t think Britney recorded Do Somethin’ before the In the Zone sessions. She only started working with B&A in 2003. 

I made a mistake, I wanted to say after.

[SJK]

On 3/13/2024 at 9:04 PM, descg said:

Im reading the Linda interview.

""Girls and Boys," a sinuous electroclash tune. Britney Spears is singing about mas******g while her lover sleeps beside her. The song -- inspired by Perry's impression that Spears wanted something edgier in her repertoire".

This is what I remember reading back in the day! 

[ObsessedBritFan1]

2 hours ago, Isla said:

Hmm who wrote/produce the Carishma song? That’s how we’d know if it was possibly for Britney.

Oh girl, that's the extent to my deep dive lol

[Alex Murr]

5 hours ago, descg said:

I made a mistake, I wanted to say after.

It seems that Do Somethin' was recorded for In the Zone along with Chaotic, I just begun and taken off

11 hours ago, Alex Murr said:

Hunte called many of the songs that came out of these sessions "empowering." In regards to "Do Somethin'," Hunte recalled Spears thinking, "'I don't have to be unclothed to say what I'm thinking, I can just say it with these words. Leave me alone. I just want to do me.' I think what she meant by that is, I can just say what I feel. I don't have to be anything extra."

On "Take Off," Spears sang about tolerance, love, and peace. Bell called it her version of Michael Jackson's "Black or White." "It was about being tolerant about gay people. It was gay people, discrimination, basically loving yourself and being connected," Bell said. "I think it was ahead of Lady Gaga. I think people would have looked at her and thought she had something to say. It was ahead of its time. She talked about war and how war is wrong." In 2013, Bell tweeted some lyrics from the song: "They say get ready for the revolution / I think we oughta find some sorta solution."

The Secret History Of Britney Spears' Lost Album

WWW.BUZZFEED.COM

---

<b>Ten years ago, Britney Spears said she was working on an album called <i>Original Doll</i>, but her label...

 

[descg]

15 hours ago, Isla said:

Interestingly I found a thread on an old Popjustice forum from September 2003 which shared a 13-track tracklisting for the album

Can you put the link?

[descg]

"Track Listing:
1. Me Against The Music - featuring Madonna
2. Breathe On Me
3. Showdown
4. (I Got That) Boom Boom - featuring Ying Yang Twins
5. Early Mornin’

6. Toxic
7. Outrageous
8. Touch Of My Hand
9. The Hook Up
10. Shadow
11. Brave New Girl
12. Everytime


Likely UK bonus tracks will be Chaotic, The Answer and the MATM Remix."

From a thread user says this on Oct 18, 2003: Britney In the Zone Tracklisting. | Popjustice (proboards.com)

Different order on Breath On Me and Boom Boom and no remix.

Edited March 16 by descg

[Isla]

8 hours ago, descg said:

"Track Listing:
1. Me Against The Music - featuring Madonna
2. Breathe On Me
3. Showdown
4. (I Got That) Boom Boom - featuring Ying Yang Twins
5. Early Mornin’

6. Toxic
7. Outrageous
8. Touch Of My Hand
9. The Hook Up
10. Shadow
11. Brave New Girl
12. Everytime


Likely UK bonus tracks will be Chaotic, The Answer and the MATM Remix."

From a thread user says this on Oct 18, 2003: Britney Spears | The Popjustice Forum

Different order on Breath On Me and Boom Boom and no remix.

It's this one: https://popjustice2.proboards.com/thread/204/britneys-album-tracklist?