...Baby One More Time [Enhanced]

Some great songs on the album and it’s a nice first attempt from Britney!! A great album to add to your collections!

Her debut album, hot of the heels of the enormous success of Baby One More Time, is, if nothing else, a mixed bag. Spears chooses not to constantly reuse the Baby One More Time blueprint as with her second album - rather, she uses this style once more with (You Drive Me) Crazy, and then uses a variety of different musical types.

Sometimes, the sleepy ballad of Summer '99, is pleasantly catchy, and avoids the twisted wretchedness of Jessica Simpson-style ballads. The other single released, Born to Make You Happy (which is slightly longer on the album than on the single) is a rich, melodious sounding song which conveys a great deal of emotion, despite the throwaway lyrics.

Spears switches to Hanson-style guitars with the seventh track, and this graces the album with a light feeling, and the Pokemon song Soda Pop is an amusing, light rap.

The quality of the album deteriorates somewhat towards the end, as Britney resorts to slow moving songs that are neither ballad nor upbeat, and a cover of Sonny and Cher's 'The Beat Goes On.' Nonetheless, she does manage to keep them sounding spirited, and resists the temptation to moan and groan miserably, instead bringing in new singer Don Philip to supplement her own husky, yet sweet voice.

Overall, this album conveys innocence - Britney sounds younger and less experienced here than she does now, and while this isn't detrimental on the songs, it is worth listening to for a comparison, to today's mega-sexy Britney in red catsuits and sporting hair extensions.

It's nothing if not enjoyable and catchy, and in the world of pop, depth doesn't really matter - the fact that some of these songs have it is a bonus. Anyone who likes Britney Spears will relish the pure, American feel to this album. It may not be the most mature sounding music ever, but it's fun, and it's catchy, and it's popular. In this case, that's more than enough.

1. Baby One More Time - Superb. Even though it was played all the time on radio, this is still a great song. 10/10

2. You Drive Me Crazy - I prefer this version to the single remix. It's fresh and funky, and it even has electric guitars in it! 10/10

3. Sometimes - Quite pleasant, but ultimately rather boring. Nice chorus. 8/10

4. Soda Pop - One of the worst songs on the album. I couldn't fathom the lyrics and the melody is quite annoying, but it's amusing to listen to now and again. 6/10

5. Born To Make You Happy - Probably the best song on the album. A gorgeous melody, and a great chorus. Britney's vocals are a bit shaky in parts though. 10/10

6. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart - The name of the song pretty much sets you up for what the song is like. A (very) slow ballad telling the tale of an evil male who broke the heart of poor Britney. It's quite pretty though (even if it's very long) and it's one of the better songs. This might have been intended to be a single, as the lyrics are printed on the sleeve. 8/10

7. I Will Be There - A brilliant song. It sounds a bit like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, although more uptempo and perky. It also sounds quite similar to a song Celine Dion recorded (I forget what it's called). It's uptempo guitar pop with a monstrously catchy chorus. I think it should've been a single. 10/10

8. I Will Still Love You - The best ballad on the album, this is more uptempo than songs like #5 or #11. Britney's voice is really pretty on this song. The chorus is really catchy too. This is a duet with some guy called Don Phillip. He sounds more feminine than Britney, but he'll probably gain massive success after performing on this track. 10/10

9. Deep In My Heart - A nice, dancey pop song. Very uptempo and catchy. It was written by the same people who wrote "Sometimes", but it's a lot better. It's got a cool chorus and some nice effects in the background. I think this is a bonus track. 9/10

10. Thinking About You - I hate this song. It's the worst song on the album. It's awful, it's just really bad. The melody doesn't stay in your head for more than a minute and there's some weird vocoder effects. Surely there were better songs available than this! 4/10

11. Email My Heart - Despite a nauseating title, this is actually a pretty good song. It's a slow ballad with some really bad lyrics (like, "it's been hours seems like days/since you went away/and all I do is check the screen/to see if you're okay") but it's really nice. 9/10

12. The Beat Goes On - I prefer this version to the original version. It's got a nice beat and Britney's voice is on good form for it. Very funky and cool, although the same melody with a different singer released this as a single before. Still very good though. 9/10

All in all, this is a great pop album with some of the best pop tunes in a long time. There's also a multimedia section with the Baby One More Time video, which is very good quality, and some interview clips and some pictures, which are very interesting, the latter in particular. I would recommend anyone get this album, and I'm sure they wouldn't regret it.