Originally written May 23, 2005.

ITZ was the album that turned me on to Britney Spears. Before ITZ, my No.1 listening heap consisted of Mary J. Blige, Ashanti, Mariah, Beverley Knight, Toni Braxton, K.D. Lang and some weird old birds like Laura Nyro and Dory Previn.

My little sister was (and is) a huge Britney fan and pushed “Britney” at me, but at that stage I found it clunky, mixed-up and naive. ITZ was different. Fresh, new, cool urban sounds on the the off-beat, top productions full of thudding impact but sung with a knowing, subtle, sexy purr. I had never heard anything quite like it - and I still haven’t. Now it sits on top of my heap of most-played albums and I think it’s one of the best.

Most vocalists are like actors who chew up the scenery, over-dramatising every little word and gesture. Britney is all understatement, the art that conceals art. No yelling, no 20-second notes, no climaxes, no grand finales. Instead, ITZ is a feast of quiet little pleasures, moments that pass you by if you’re not listening closely. I’m not going to tell you what they are unless you ask. But really, if you don’t get them you don’t deserve to.

When ITZ came out, it didn’t get a great reception from the critics. But that wasn’t because it was bad - it was because the critics were still obsessed with the idea of Britney the teeny pop girl trying to grow up - and, of course, bound to fail. Most of the reviews scarcely touched on the music - they were snide little essaysbased on the assumption that she was past her sell-by date and it would be terminally uncool to say anything good about her.

Things have changed. The critics still fulminate over the moral shortcomings and intellectual failings of Britney the woman, but a grudging respect has grown for her music. If ITZ was released now, nobody would be laughing.

Here was an album that could have spawned at least 5 great singles - each a World No.1. Yes, it also contained a few tracks that don’t please everybody - Brave New Girl,The Hook Up and Outrageous don’t do it for me. But it made up for that with great bonus tracks. In the UK we had the sublime Don’t Hang Up, one of the sexiest tracks ever committed to CD.

And things just get better when you play ITZ on good headphones. My boyfriend told me to try it, keep an open mind and tell me what I heard. After a while I got it - on headphones the sounds seem to come from all around your head and you can place Britney’s lead vocal, her own backing vocals and the backing singers quite distinctly on a three-dimensional inner soundstage.

The dynamic polyrhythms of Me Against The Music, the oriental sounds of the wonderful Toxic, the missed opportunities of Breathe on Me and Boom Boom, the strangeness and charm of Touch of My Hand, the pain of Everytime and the ineffable beauty of Shadow....where would we be without them?

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