Maps of Music

Glory (2016)

Where the lyrics of Glory take you, and where it was really made.

Spears's son chose the album's title, she revealed on Most Requested Live with Romeo.

Key places

Recording site linked to Glory (2016)

Recording site House of Blues Studios — MusicBrainz lists this studio as a recording location for Glory. The album's recording took two and a half years, but the source gives no session dates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording site linked to Glory (2016)

Recording site Studio at the Palms — MusicBrainz lists this studio as a recording location for Glory. The album's recording took two and a half years, but the source gives no session dates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording site linked to Glory (2016)

Recording site Sing Sing Recording Studios — MusicBrainz lists this studio as a recording location for Glory. The album's recording took two and a half years, but the source gives no session dates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Glory: ninth studio album by Britney Spears
• Released August 26, 2016 through RCA Records
• Mainly dance-pop with prominent R&B and hip hop influences
• Moves away from the overt EDM approach of her previous album, Britney Jean (2013)
• Production uses lighter, nocturnal textures and gives more focus to Spears's vocals
• Lyrics heavily centered on sexuality, often addressing the listener directly
• Songs range across electro-pop, disco, soul, reggae-inspired rhythms, and Latin and Southern influences
• Reissued in 2020 in standard and deluxe forms

Background

• Contract with RCA Records renewed in August 2014
• Recording process took two and a half years after Britney Jean
• Six months into recording, Spears was dissatisfied with the results
• Executive producer Karen Kwak was brought in to help find writers
• Spears took a more active role in selecting material, shaping concepts, and contributing melodies
• Kwak wanted to recall the sounds of Blackout (2007) and In the Zone (2003), so producers were chosen on that basis
• In 2022, Spears said recording Glory helped her get a spark back amid her conservatorship

Recording

• Matthew Koma confirmed he had worked on material for the album
• Spears was photographed working with writers Chantal Kreviazuk and Simon Wilcox alongside producer Ian Kirkpatrick
• Producer Alex da Kid was photographed in sessions, but his contributions did not make the album
• Spears was pictured working in the studio with Burns and Mischke Butler

Cover

• On August 3, 2016, Spears unveiled the release date, title, and cover art
• Spears said her son chose the album title

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi; American singer known as the "Princess of Pop".
• Began in the early 1990s in the musical Ruthless! and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.
• Signed with Jive Records in 1997; debut single "...Baby One More Time" topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
• Debut album ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) are among the world's best-selling albums.
• Credited with driving the late-1990s revival of teen pop.
• Sold an estimated 150 million+ records; one Grammy, six MTV VMAs, seven Billboard Music Awards.
• Placed under a conservatorship; it was terminated in 2021 after her testimony.
• Announced leaving the music industry in 2024; catalogue reportedly sold for about $200 million in 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave Glory generally positive reviews, often praising its production
• Critics frequently said it was her best studio effort in years
• Metacritic average of 71 out of 100, based on fourteen reviews
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani rated it 3.5 out of 5 stars and called the sound daring and mature
• Slant criticized Private Show as the album's only bona-fide misfire
• The Boston Globe's Maura Johnston described it as having an unbridled energy
• The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick said it just might be Britney's masterpiece
• The New York Times' Jon Pareles called it one-dimensional but said Spears had emphatically returned to the foreground
• Associated Press's Mesfin Fekadu said the songs were not authentically Britney
• Entertainment Weekly's Nolan Feeney heard glimpses of the real Britney
• The Los Angeles Times called her vocals a vast improvement over Britney Jean
• Rolling Stone compared her vocals positively to those on In the Zone

Reappraisal

• In May 2020, a fan-led social media campaign drove a resurgence in popularity for the original version
• The original version charted at number one on the US iTunes album chart

Records

• Debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 111,000 album-equivalent units, including 88,000 pure copies
• Her ninth top five album in the United States; 157,000 copies sold in the US as of May 2020
• Debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, her highest-charting album there since Blackout (2007)
• Debuted at number three in Germany, her highest-charting album there in 13 years
• Debuted at number one in Italy, her first album to top the Italian chart
• Number one in Ireland and the Czech Republic
• Number four on the Canadian Albums Chart with 9,000 consumption units
• Number 19 on the Japanese Oricon chart, selling 2,725 copies
• More than 20,000 copies sold in Brazil on its first day of release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Spears said her son chose the album title on Most Requested Live with Romeo.
• Digital editions misplaced Do You Wanna Come Over? as track 7 instead of track 2, and all copies carry a white sticker pointing out the error.
• In 2020, the album was reissued twice, with the standard edition coming first as a surprise release on streaming services.
• The 2020 standard edition added Mood Ring (By Demand), which had previously been Japan-exclusive.
• The Slumber Party remix featuring Tinashe was released on November 17, 2016 as a single, and its music video was directed by Colin Tilley.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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