YouTube
And so we leap forward the small matter of sixteen years to Christmas 1999, and Now That's What I Call Music! 44, which is not only the biggest seller of the series, but the biggest-selling Various Artists album ever in the UK (apart from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and a couple of cast recordings). Of course this leaves me curious to try and investigate what this has that the others don't.
'...Baby One More Time' [contrary to popular belief, "Hit me" is not actually part of the song title] helpfully supplies part of the answer. Not so much in its own phenomenal popularity (after all, people could and did buy this track in other places) but the fact that it was originally released in February; there had been two volumes already that year so its appearance here gives Now! 44 the appearance of a review of the year. Putting it right at the start of the album also enables me to pad out this post with all the scene-setting, as it's one of those records that's so well-known it's difficult to come up with a fresh perspective on it.
It has of course dated a bit, now that it's ten years old - the piano solo section towards the end is especially of its time - but it doesn't yet sound completely hideous. To make an obvious comparison, it's aged better than 'Genie In A Bottle'. The pounding piano remains the single most impressive element, which is presumably why it's brought forward to the very start of the song, and the slap-bass is unusually tolerable too. Listening to a streamed version on headphones, though, the production sounds almost too high-resolution, as if (in the best pop tradition) it wasn't really meant to be heard that clearly.
The lyrics are a different story, and not just because of that awkward "blinded/planned it" rhyme. There's an uncomfortable air of desperation on the part of our protagonist here: of course she's not literally asking anyone to hit her, but the effect is curiously uncomfortable even though it's all pretty much standard pop lyrics. Perhaps this is a result of Spears' clipped vocal performance. As with the music, it's not really intended to be taken this seriously, but it has the unfortunate effect of encouraging awful "serious" covers by the likes of Travis.
Also appearing on: Now 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 57, 58, 68, 69, 70, 72
Available on: Baby One More Time
I'm looking forward to this, 1999 was the year I first got into music (as a slightly precocious 10 year old) so this album has absolutely huge memories for me. Baby One More Time in particular takes me back to primary school instantly, perhaps because it was played again and again on every radio and music channel going throughout that year.
ReplyDeleteFunny how dated a lot of these songs sound now as it wasn't long ago that this was the absolute cutting edge of pop at the time!
I suppose part of the reason why they've dated is because they were cutting-edge or at least in fashion at the time. The risk you run with following trends is sounding old-hat for a few years after they go out of fashion.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, always good to know somebody's interested. Especially when I'm not enjoying the songs.