A worthwhile purchase for Spears diehards and club junkies

Just in time to complement Madonna's disco album comes B In The Mix: The Remixes. While Britney gets to grips with motherhood, a bunch of producers and DJs have got to grips with some of her biggest tracks and reworked them for the dancefloor. Since the release of Spears' last album, 2003's In The Zone, this collection marks the second "Greatest Hits/Best Of" permutation the artist has dropped. But then that's par for the Spears' course. She's cranked out an album just about every year since her 1999 debut. When you're taking a hiatus to be a mom there's no better way to stay in the ears of the masses than with a collection of remixes of your most recognizable hits. Thankfully many of these reconstructions are previously unreleased, making this a worthwhile purchase for Spears diehards and club junkies. The release is being handled with more of an "underground" approach. The pop princess isn't on the cover and instead, there's a butterfly. Britney may be out of the studio for now, but B In The Mix: The Remixes will ensure the public doesn’t forget about her anytime soon.

Hits are given new life from some of the industry's top DJs

B In The Mix: The Remixes features just one new song, And Then We Kiss – the track for the TV campaign that supports Britney's new Elizabeth Arden fragrance, Fantasy – beefed up by Junkie XL. It brings a simpatico blend of symphonic strings and dance-rock guitars. Hopefully the new track, And Then We Kiss, foreshadows what Britney has planned for the future. Ten of her hits are given new life from some of the industry's top DJs. Both brand new mixes and 'classic' interpretations are here, including an even more upbeat and catchy Toxic, a Justice mix of Me Against The Music (featuring Madonna), a thumping mix of the super sexy I'm A Slave 4 U and, of course, the massive Baby One More Time, remodeled for 2005 by Davidson Ospina. Jacques Lu Cont further cements the Madonna/Britney connection (Lu Cont is all over Madonna's new disc) with his serpentine remix of Breathe On Me (although this reworking brings Britney closer in sound and style to Kylie Minogue than Madonna). Just about every original track is bettered here. Notable omissions are her singles Oops! I Did it Again, Sometimes, From the Bottom of My Broken Heart and Stronger, but some of the tracks are quite long, so there's a reasonable amount of music involved.

B In The Mix: The Remixes keeps Britney in the spotlight

Of all the people in this world, who would have guessed Britney Spears – who's appeared in headlines way too many times over the past year – would choose to keep an album release quiet? Now, everyone is usually very well aware of anything and everything Britney has on store shelves – music releases, films and fragrances – but that is definitely not the case this time. Rumor has it Jive Records skipped promotion on purpose, hoping instead for fans to spread the news by word of mouth. But, maybe Jive skipped heavy promotion because the artist wasn't there to promote. In any case, B In The Mix: The Remixes keeps Britney in the spotlight while she's off playing mom – and it's actually a good record to boot. This disc is a sultry club romp that will keep Britney's fans satisfied until her new disc, tentatively titled The Original Doll, supposedly gets released in 2006. If you had the choice to purchase only one Britney Spears' album, then this would be the one to spend your money on. Sure, it's still check-your-mind-at-the-door-pop, but now it bumps and grinds, living up to all the sexual tension that Spears' has been dishing out to the masses for the past few years.

05.12.2005