Glory (Britney Spears album)

Glory is the ninth studio album by American singer Britney Spears, released on August 26, 2016, by RCA Records. Preferring the more integral position she developed in the production of her eighth studio album Britney Jean (2013), Spears began planning her follow-up project in 2014, during which year she renewed her recording contract with RCA Records. Lacking a deadline for completion, Spears continued work into 2015 and 2016, which she felt provided her with the opportunity to create one of her favorite records in her catalog.

Glory received generally positive reviews from music critics, who described Spears's vocal delivery as her best since her fourth studio album In the Zone (2003). "Make Me..." was serviced as the lead single from the record on July 15, 2016, and has peaked at number 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Glory was further promoted with the promotional singles "Private Show", "Clumsy", and "Do You Wanna Come Over?" in the weeks preceding its launch.^[1]

In August 2014, Spears confirmed she had renewed her contract with RCA, and that she was writing and recording new music. In an interview with Billboard in March 2015, Spears said that she was working on a new album "slowly but surely." In July 2015, Spears was pictured working with writers Chantal Kreviazuk and Simon Wilcox alongside producer Ian Kirkpatrick; in that same month, DJ Mustard announced that he was working on the album. In March 2016, Spears said that she was "being more hands-on" with the album and that it is "the best thing I've done in a long time," though she noted that she did not know when the album would be finished and that she was "not rushing anything [...] so that my fans will truly appreciate it."^[2] On August 3, 2016, Spears unveiled the name and cover of her new record, confirmed the release date, and announced that her new song "Private Show" would be instantly available for download to those who pre-ordered her album on Apple Music.

On Most Requested Live with Romeo, Spears' revealed that it was her son who chose the name of the album.^[3]

Since the beginning of the albums recording process, Spears insisted that she wanted to do something different with the project and take a "left turn." During a Tumblr Q&A with fans in July 2016, when asked about the style of the album Spears responded with "I’ll just say this... We really explored some new things." ^[4][5] On August 5, she revealed in a phoned-in radio interview on the segment On Air with Ryan Seacrest that the album "took a lot of time, but I think we brought it to a level where I was really, really happy with what I had; it's cool, it's really different [...] there are like two or three songs that go in the direction of more urban that I've wanted to do for a long time now, and I just haven't really done that."^[6]

On July 15, 2016, Spears released the first single off the album, "Make Me...", on the iTunes Store. It is a "slinky" mid-tempo R&B song and features the vocal collaboration of American rapper G-Eazy.^[4]

"Private Show" was released as the first promotional single along with the pre-order on August 4, 2016. The song shares the title of her latest fragrance. The song was written by Britney Spears, Carla Williams, Tramaine Winfrey and Simon Smith.^[4][7] "Clumsy" was released as the second promotional single on August 11, 2016.^[8] The third promotional single "Do You Wanna Come Over?" was released on August 18, 2016.^[9]

In July 2016, Spears announced that she would be performing at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival, to be held on September 23rd and 24th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.^[10] On July 26, Spears participated in a Q&A session on her Tumblr page.^[11] On August, Spears appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, pranking Jimmy Kimmel with an impromptu bedside performance of "Make Me..." alongside male dancers.^[12] On August 5, Spears was interviewed for the radio program On Air With Ryan Seacrest, where she discussed the development of the album.^[13] On August 16, Spears announced that she would be performing "Make Me..." at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.^[14] The performance was announced following the cancellation of two Britney: Piece of Me show dates that were initially scheduled two days prior to the awards.^[15] The performance was her first at the VMAs in nearly ten years, following her controversial 2007 performance of "Gimme More". On August 24, Spears was interviewed on BBC's Scott Mills.^[16] On August 25, Spears appeared on the "Carpool Karaoke" segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden where she sang along to "Make Me..", "Oops!... I Did It Again", "Womanizer", "Toxic" and "...Baby One More Time".^[17] On August 27, Spears appeared for a live Q&A session on Most Requested Live where she answered questions sent by her fans. On September 1, Spears appeared for the first time in fifteen years on Today Show for an interview and to perform "Make Me..." and "Do You Wanna Come Over?".^[18][19] On September 27, Spears will perform at the Apple Music Festival.^[20]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100[21]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[22]
Boston Globe	(positive)[23]
The Daily Telegraph	[24]
Entertainment Weekly	B[25]
Los Angeles Times	(positive)[26]
NME	3/5[27]
New York Times	(mixed)[28]
Rolling Stone	[29]
Slant Magazine	[30]

Glory received generally positive reviews from music critics. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling the album's sound as "daring and mature", but criticized "Private Show", calling it "the album's only bona-fide misfire."^[30] In a positive review, Maura Johnston from The Boston Globe described the album as one with "an unbridled energy" that "operates on its own terms."^[23] Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph praised the production on the album, and noted that "every track sounds like a single".^[24] In a mixed review of the album, Jon Parales from The New York Times claimed that the album was "one-dimensional", but noted her as sounding like she "has emphatically returned to the foreground."^[28] Mesfin Fekadu from Associated Press noted Spears "has taken note and jumped on the bandwagon [of R&B]" but claimed that the songs were not "authentically Britney."^[31] In contrast, Nolan Feeney from Entertainment Weekly characterized the songs on the album as sounding "like glimpses of the real Britney—her musical tastes, her voice—imperfections and all.^[25]

In particular, Spears's vocals were generally praised. The Los Angeles Times described the vocals as a "vast improvement" over those on Britney Jean, remarking that "the very performed nature of the singing [...] makes Glory such a good time."^[26] The Boston Globe remarked that Spears was "throwing herself fully into her vocal performance" on the album and The New York Times described Spears as sounding "more involved, more present, than she has in a decade."^[23][28] Rolling Stone positively compared Spears's vocals to those on In the Zone, noting "she hasn't played around with her vocals so cleverly since the "Toxic" days."^[29] Entertainment Weekly described the album as "her most engaging vocally" in a decade and noted Spears as sounding "more present and enthusiastic than she has in years."^[25] In a similar sentiment, Idolator described Spears as sounding "more lucid, engaged and front-and-center than she’s been in years."^[32] Slant Magazine credited Spears with a "willingness to stretch vocally and explore new sonic terrain", but also remarked that at times, this "highlight[s] her shortcomings".^[30]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a vocal producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies a co-producer