Singles Collection [Single Disc]

Personnel: Britney Spears (vocals, background vocals); Jim Beanz (vocals, background vocals); Lukasz Gottwald (guitar, keyboards, drums, programming); Esbjörn Öhrwall, Johan Carlberg, Henrik Jonback (guitar); Benny Blanco (keyboards, drums, programming); Max Martin , Rami (keyboards, programming, background vocals); Kristian Lundin (keyboards, programming); Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Marcella Araica (programming); Candice Nelson, Claude Kelly, Nana Hedin, Myah Marie, Jeanette Stenhammar, Courtney Copeland, Johanna Stenhammar, Chatrin Nyström, Penelope Magnet, Emma Roads, Emma Holmgren, Andreas Carlson, Therese Ancker, Charlotte Björkman, Jeanette Söderholm, Robin Carlsson , Keri Hilson, Cathy Dennis (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Niklas Flyckt; Marcella Araica; Mark "Spike" Stent; Max Martin ; Sean McGhee; Serban Ghenea; Rami.
Audio Remasterer: Tom Coyne.
Audio Remixer: The Neptunes.
Recording information: Battery Studios, New York, NY; Bloodshy & Avant Studios, Stockholm, Sweden; Cheiron Studios, Stockholm, Sweden; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA; Legacy Studios, New York, NY; Maratone Studios, Stockholm, Sweden; Master Sound Studios, Virginia Beach, VA; Olympic Studios, London, England; Right Track Studios, New York, NY; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; Sunset Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Triangle Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA.
Editors: Ron Taylor ; Sean McGhee.
Arrangers: Christopher "Tricky" Stewart; Steve Lunt; Penelope Magnet; Britney Spears.
Like 2004's Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, 2009's The Singles runs 17 tracks but the selected songs result in a very different listening experience. To begin with, the five years separating the two compilations were tumultuous ones for Britney Spears, but they resulted in a clutch of hits that kept her on the charts despite all the drama, hits that firmly entrenched Britney as a dance club diva. This stretch of six singles -- "Gimme More," "Piece of Me," "Womanizer," "Circus," "If You Seek Amy," "Radar" -- along with the excellent new Max Martin-written and produced single "3" (much better than any of the three new cuts on My Prerogative), help push The Singles away from teen pop and toward pure dance-pop bliss, a shift in tone underscored by the virtual absence of ballads (the only one included is "Everytime," which in this context plays a bit as a chill-out number). In some regards, giving her early sticky bubblegum and fluffy ballads a bit of a short shrift does downplay Britney's era of dominance, but it does result in a stronger overall listen, since there are no slow patches here, just a parade of relentless hooks and rhythms that wound up defining the sound of a decade. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine