In the Zone

In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 15, 2003, by Jive Records. Spears began writing songs during her Dream Within a Dream Tour, not knowing the direction of the record. She stated she was an autobiographical songwriter, although not to the point where she felt self-exploited. During the process, she ended her highly-publicized relationship with singer Justin Timberlake. With the tour's conclusion in July 2002, Spears planned to take a six-month break from her career; however, recording for the album commenced in November.

For In the Zone, Spears experimented with different producers, trying to find those with whom she had chemistry. She collaborated with artists such as Madonna and the Ying Yang Twins, while contributions came from a wide range of producers, including Bloodshy & Avant, R. Kelly, Trixster, Moby, Guy Sigsworth and the Matrix. Their final result was an eclectic record incorporating pop and urban music styles with instrumentation from techno and Middle Eastern genres. Its lyrical themes range from romance and partying to more explicit ones such as sex and masturbation. Spears explained that the album's sexual nature was subconscious and emerged while she was in the process of developing the album.

In the Zone received positive reviews upon its release, with music critics widely praising its innovative production, aesthetics, lyricism and blend of eclectic genres, though some criticized Spears' vocals on certain tracks for being distant and processed. A global commercial success, it debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 609,000 copies, making Spears the first female artist to have her first four albums reach number one. Retrospectively, the album is widely considered a major turning point in Spears' artistic journey and a culmination in her transition from a teen pop star to a more adult artist. Various critics have considered it the album that pushed Spears past her contemporaries, establishing her as a definitive female artist of the 2000s.

In the Zone was promoted with four singles. "Me Against the Music", featuring Madonna, reached the top ten in nearly every country except the United States, where it only peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Toxic" peaked atop the charts in eight countries and at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Spears' first US top-ten hit since "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000), and won Spears her only Grammy Award. "Everytime" peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and within the top ten nearly everywhere else. "Outrageous" was plagued by a lack of promotion due to Spears injuring her knee while filming its accompanying music video, and only peaked at number 79 on the US Billboard Hot 100. To further promote the album, Spears embarked on the Onyx Hotel Tour (2004).

Background and development

In October 2001, Spears released her third studio album Britney, which portrayed more mature themes. Despite selling over four million copies in the United States, it was viewed as "poor-selling" in comparison to her previous efforts. The following year, her three-year relationship with pop singer Justin Timberlake ended after months of speculation. After the Dream Within a Dream Tour in support of Britney ended in July 2002, Spears announced a six-month break. In November, she revealed that she had started working on her next studio album. She explained: "Well, actually, I just said that I wanted two or three weeks off. [....] And the whole world was like, 'Ohmigod, [sic] she's gone..."

While in Europe, Spears met with William Orbit and Daft Punk about possible collaborations, and originally confirmed previous collaborators Darkchild and the Neptunes as producers. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter about the direction of the record, Spears responded it was an organic evolution, adding: "It should just happen naturally from the way you feel. [...] Whatever happens, happens". Additionally, Spears scheduled meet-and-greets with Timbaland and Missy Elliott in an effort to help evolve her sound. Elliott was enlisted in further production work with Nisan Stewart for Spears' project; however, none of the initial material was released. Spears also worked with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, but their work was unproductive; Murphy said: "We were both lying on the floor, head-to head, working on lyrics in a notepad. She seemed eager to please, but it went nowhere. She went to dinner and just never came back." Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst wrote and produced three trip hop tracks recorded by Spears in January 2003. However, after news of an affair between them broke, Durst told Jive Records he would not let them use the songs. In March 2003, Lauren Christy from the Matrix spoke about the development of the album with MTV News, and likened their work with Spears to Madonna's album Ray of Light (1998). Scott Spock, also from the Matrix, continued comparing her to Madonna by saying:

She's taking it to the next level in her career. Madonna constantly takes what's in the club and puts what she does on top of it and makes it mainstream. I think Britney is starting to embrace that concept where she's looking to work on different stuff, instead of using the same familiar, and applying it to her. [...] I don't think [her fans] will be freaked out or upset. I think they'll be really into what's going to happen.

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Spears previewed several songs to Quddus Philippe of MTV in May 2003, including "Touch of My Hand", "Brave New Girl" and "Everytime". Spears commented: "I've really been able to take my time and have creative control and make [the new album] special, special, special." On August 27, Spears opened the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards by performing a medley of "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" with Madonna, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott. The performance started with Spears appearing on stage on top of a giant wedding cake while wearing a wedding gown and veil; she sang the first few lines of "Like a Virgin" before Aguilera appeared from behind the cake and joined her. Madonna then emerged from the cake wearing a black coat and a hat and started singing "Hollywood" before proceeding to kiss Spears and Aguilera on the lips. The kiss generated strong reaction from the media. The performance was listed by Blender magazine as one of the 25 sexiest music moments in television history. In 2008, MTV listed the performance as the number-one opening moment in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards.

Recording and production

thumb|left|[[Westlake Recording Studios, one of the locations where In the Zone was recorded]]

For In the Zone, Spears worked with hit producers such as Bloodshy & Avant, R. Kelly, Diddy, Christopher Stewart, Moby, Guy Sigsworth and the Matrix. Earnest recording of the album began in November 2002. During the recording sessions, Stewart recalls that the studio's air-conditioning died for three days, but Spears "didn't complain or anything, and for me that shows she's where she is for a reason." While rehearsing for their performance at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, Spears played a finished version of "Me Against the Music" to Madonna. After Madonna commented that she liked the track, Spears asked her to do the song with her. RedZone then handed "Me Against the Music" to Madonna, who arranged and recorded her vocal additions on her own, therefore making the song a duet. Other recording locations for the album included the Battery Studios, Daddy's House Recordings and The Dojo in New York City; 3:20 Studios, Decoy Studios, Pacifique Recording Studios, Record Plant and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles; The Chocolate Factory, in Chicago, Triangle Sound Studios in Atlanta, Olympic Studios in London, and Murlyn Studios in Stockholm. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the record's sound as "bold mix of hip-hop and dance music", Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian deemed In the Zone "a happy collision of house, dreamy electro-pop and Britney’s lyrical preoccupations [...] which have her perched on the cusp between teen poppet and sexually confident woman." According to William Shaw of Blender, the main theme of In the Zone is "Spears’s awakening to her sexuality as a single woman." "Showdown" has "bubbly" beats and its lyrics, about "fighting and making up with carnal relations", include the lines "I don't really want to be a tease / But would you undo my zipper, please?" Rolling Stone classified the song pop-dancehall. "Breathe on Me" was described as the most sensual song of the record and compared to Madonna's 1992 studio album Erotica. "Early Mornin'" depicts Spears looking for men at a club in New York City. The song has a percolating beat and featured subdued vocals from Spears, who purrs and yawns through the track. It contains elements of hip hop, electropop, and bhangra music, and features varied instrumentation, such as drums, synthesizers, high-pitched strings and surf guitars. Lyrically, "Toxic" talks about being addicted to a lover. When asked if "Everytime" was about Justin Timberlake, she responded: "I'll let the song speak for itself." The Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix of "Me Against the Music" removes the original melody of the song and adds a clattering backbeat and Punjabi shouts.

Release and promotion

thumb|left|Spears performing "[[Everytime" during her Las Vegas concert residency Britney: Piece of Me in 2014]]

To promote In the Zone, Spears first performed the lead single "Me Against the Music" at the 2003 NFL Kickoff Live on September 4, 2003. The performance segued into a medley of "...Baby One More Time" and "I'm a Slave 4 U", which included pyrotechnics. On September 14, Spears played a surprise concert at Rain Nightclub in the Palms Casino Resort, and performed "Me Against the Music", "Breathe on Me" and a medley of "...Baby One More Time" and "I'm a Slave 4 U". On October 18, she performed "Me Against the Music" and "Everytime" on Saturday Night Live. The following day, a concert special titled Britney Spears: In the Zone aired on American Broadcasting Company (ABC). On November 18–the day In the Zone was released in the United States–she performed "Me Against the Music" and "(I Got That) Boom Boom" on Total Request Live at Times Square. The ABC special and Total Request Live performances would later be included on video album Britney Spears: In the Zone, released on April 6, 2004. The video debuted atop the US Music Video Sales and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Me Against the Music" was also performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on November 17, 2003, and on Live with Regis and Kelly on November 24.

In November 2003, Zomba Label Group president Barry Weiss had spoken to Billboard and said that In the Zone was being promoted on a global level, exhausting areas such as print and electronic media, television, radio and video to raise awareness of its release. In addition, Jive worked with lifestyle marketer the Karpel Group to market the album to the gay community. Other broader-based marketing efforts included a tie-in with marketing company LidRock, where after ordering a soda at Sbarro, customers received a cup featuring the artwork and a three-inch disc in the lid featuring "Brave New Girl" and songs by two other artists; in December, an updated LidRock disc was made available, including a remix of "Me Against the Music" without Madonna, as well as songs by fellow Jive acts Nick Cannon and Bowling for Soup. Regal Theaters also showed a short film that included footage of the making of Spears's music videos. Two national television advertising campaigns had begun on November 1–one with a teaser ad on Saturday Night Live and another exclusively on MTV. No sponsored cross-marketing campaigns were planned, as Larry Rudolph explained: "[This time] it's going to be more about the music than about corporate tie-ins." In terms of international exposure, during a four-month period Spears was featured in seven mini TV-specials and over 150 interviews outside the US. Among the international performances were Spears opening the NRJ Music Awards in France with "Toxic" on January 24, 2004, and a performance of "Everytime" on the June 25 episode of Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, which became the final televised performance in support of the album.

thumb|Spears closing a show of [[the Onyx Hotel Tour by performing "Me Against the Music" in 2004]]

A tour to further promote In the Zone was announced in December 2003, originally titled In the Zone Tour. However, Spears was sued for trademark infringement by the San Diego company Lite Breeze, Inc. and was banned from using the phrase "in the zone", hence the tour's title was changed to The Onyx Hotel Tour. It commenced on March 2, 2004 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Spears felt inspired to create a show with a hotel theme which she later mixed with the concept of an onyx stone. The stage, inspired by Broadway musicals, was less elaborate than her previous tours. The tour was divided into seven segments: Check-In, Mystic Lounge, Mystic Garden, The Onyx Zone, Security Cameras, Club and the encore. Check-In displayed performances with dance and advanced in the hotel theme. Mystic Lounge featured an homage to Cabaret and other musicals, while remixing some of Spears's early hits. Mystic Garden displayed a jungle-inspired stage. The Onyx Zone displayed a ballad performance with acrobats. Security Cameras was the raciest part of the show, with Spears and her dancers emulating different sexual practices. Club displayed a performance with urban influences. The encore consisted of a system malfunction interlude and Spears performed wearing a red ensemble. The tour received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, who praised it for being an entertaining show while criticizing it for looking "more [like] a spectacle than an actual concert". The Onyx Hotel Tour was commercially successful, grossing $34 million. In March, Spears suffered a knee injury onstage which forced her to reschedule two shows. On June 8, Spears fell and hurt her knee again while filming the accompanying music video for "Outrageous". She underwent surgery and the remainder of the tour was cancelled. The song received mixed reviews from music critics; some felt it was a strong dance track, while others referred to it as lackluster and disappointing. The song won the Hot Dance Single of the Year award at the 2004 Billboard Music Awards. In the song's accompanying music video, directed by Paul Hunter, Spears chases Madonna inside a nightclub. It attained worldwide commercial success, reaching the top five in 15 countries, while topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Norway and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first single to peak inside the top ten since "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000). Directed by Joseph Kahn, the accompanying music video for the song portrays Spears as a secret agent in the search of a vial of green liquid. After she steals it, she enters an apartment and poisons her unfaithful boyfriend. The video also includes interspersed scenes of Spears naked with diamonds over her body. "Toxic" won Spears her only Grammy Award, for Best Dance Recording (2005), and is often referred to as one of her signature songs.

"Everytime" was released as the third single from In the Zone on May 10, 2004, to critical acclaim. A commercial success, it peaked within the top five in most countries, while reaching the top of the charts in Australia, Hungary, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Its accompanying music video, directed by David LaChapelle, portrays Spears as a star hounded by paparazzi, who drowns in her bathtub when she starts bleeding from a wound in her head. In the hospital, doctors fail to resuscitate her while a child is born in the next room, implying she reincarnated. The original treatment would have had Spears killing herself from a drug overdose, but the plot was removed after it received criticism by several organizations, who perceived it as a glamorization of suicide.

"Outrageous" was released as the fourth and final single from In the Zone on July 13, 2004. The song was finally chosen as a single after it was selected as the theme song for the film Catwoman (2004). It received mixed reviews from critics, as some praised its funky sound, noting its influence from Michael and Janet Jackson, while others deemed it "forgettable".

Critical reception

In the Zone has been declared a metamorphosis for Spears by numerous critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented: "If 2001's Britney was a transitional album, capturing Spears at the point when she wasn't a girl and not yet a woman, its 2003 follow-up, In the Zone, is where she has finally completed that journey and turned into Britney, the Adult Woman." Erlewine compared Spears to her peer Christina Aguilera, explaining that both equated maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs, but while Aguilera "comes across like a natural-born skank, Britney is the girl next door cutting loose at college, drinking and smoking and dancing and sexing just a little too recklessly, since this is the first time she can indulge herself." and would not release another studio album until Blackout in October 2007. She began a relationship with Kevin Federline, whom she met while on tour in April 2004 and married on September 18. Her first greatest hits album Greatest Hits: My Prerogative was released in November, debuting at number four on the US Billboard 200. Spears was unable to promote it, though the album produced two international hit singles–"My Prerogative" and "Do Somethin'". In September 2005, Spears gave birth to her first son Sean Preston, giving birth to her second son Jayden James a year later. In November 2006, filed for divorce from Federline, Within that period, Spears was involved in a series of media scandals and suffered from a mental breakdown, most notably shaving her head in February 2007.

Several critics have credited In the Zone for influencing pop music of the 2000s. In 2009, Amy Schriefer of NPR listed the album among the "50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade". Calling it "a primer on the sound of pop in the '00s", she deemed Spears as the ideal vehicle for a futuristic sound, since she was still trying to break away from her teen pop past. Schriefer praised "Toxic" and "Everytime", and added: "While the decade's history of celebrity obsession, paparazzi voyeurism and conflicted constructions of female sexuality and motherhood are written on Spears' body, the decade's history of impeccably crafted pop is written on her body of work." Celebrating the album's 15th anniversary in 2018, Jason Lipshutz of Billboard claimed it "signaled a more mature direction for Spears as she explored electronic music and hip-hop like never before. And the record's lyrics — which referenced her breakup with Justin Timberlake and pushed back at her critics in the media — celebrated new levels of independence and candor for the singer."

Los Angeles pop-up museum The Zone, celebrating Spears' "iconic songs, videos, and outfits through Instagram-worthy photo ops, interactive displays and personalized content activated by special RFID wristbands", was titled after the album and opened in January 2020.

Track listing

;Notes

signifies a co-producer
signifies a vocal producer
signifies an additional producer
Walmart-exclusive limited edition includes bonus downloads for "(I've Just Begun) Having My Fun" and Bloodshy & Avant's Chix Mix of "Me Against the Music". The tracks were subsequently included on international edition bonus CD for the DVD In the Zone (2004).

;Sample credits

"Toxic" contains a sample of "Tere Mere Beech Mein" by Lata Mangeshkar and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam from the film Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981).

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of In the Zone.

| 1

! scope="row"

! scope="row"| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)

| 32

! scope="row"

! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)

| 3

! scope="row"

! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)

| 1

! scope="row"| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)

| 7

! scope="row"| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)

| 8

! scope="row"

! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 3

!scope="row"|Malaysian International Albums (RIM)

| 4

! scope="row"| Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)

| 23

! scope="row"

! scope="row"| Singaporean Albums (RIAS)

| 2

!scope="row"|South African Albums (RISA)

| 14

! scope="row"| South Korean International Albums (RIAK)

| 1

! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)

| 14

! scope="row"

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (2003)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)

| 75

! scope="row"| South Korean International Albums (MIAK)

| 84

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 145

! scope="row"| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)

| 8

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (2004)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 49

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 36

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)

| 86

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)

| 93

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 84

! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)

| 23

! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)

| 68

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 35

! scope="row"| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)

| 17

! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 40

! scope="row"| South Korean International Albums (MIAK)

| 49

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 51

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 8

Decade-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (2000–2009)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 143

Certifications and sales

Release history

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col"| Region

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Format(s)

! scope="col"| Label(s)

! scope="col"|

! scope="row"| Japan

| November 15, 2003

| rowspan="6"| CD

| rowspan="4"| BMG

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| Germany

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

| Jive

! scope="row"| Canada

| rowspan="2"| November 18, 2003

| BMG

| align="center"|

! scope="row" rowspan="2"| United States

| rowspan="2"| Jive

| align="center"|

| April 20, 2004

| DVD-Audio

! scope="row"| Canada

| rowspan="2"| April 26, 2005

| rowspan="5"| DualDisc

| Sony BMG

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| United States

| Jive

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| Germany

| August 29, 2005

| Sony BMG

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

| September 26, 2005

| Jive

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| Italy

| October 14, 2005

| Sony BMG

| align="center"|

! rowspan="2" scope="row"| United States

| August 9, 2019

| Vinyl

| rowspan="2"| Legacy

| align="center"|

| March 31, 2023

| rowspan="3"| Vinyl

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| Australia

| rowspan="2"| April 28, 2023

| rowspan="2"| Sony Music

| align="center"|

! scope="row"| Europe

| align="center"|

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Official website
In the Zone at Metacritic

Background and development

Recording and production

Release and promotion

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

External links