christina's Genie in a Bottle vs. britney Baby One More Time

Genie

likely story, you

Genie feels slightly slightly more timeless, not quite as dated, as One More Time

One More Time seemed oddly dated to me when it came out. Maybe a better word is "retro." Some of the early N*Sync stuff sounded like that to me too, at the time.

Baby's got a better hook, but Genie, easy. Crazy (lol, hindsight) would be a fairer fight.

Proposal for a related poll:

Skyband (Steve Kipner's old glammy band) vs. It's Alive (Max Martin's old glammy band)

Which non-US-born songwriter for US teenyboppers rocked the hardest or popped the poppiest before deciding to make some real money?

Genie In A Bottle x10000000000

Genie feels just as much "of its time" as Baby One More Time (esp the bridge) but it sounds less "dated," if that makes sense?

both are classics but i think im voting

Baby One More Time is just so big and dramatic, what with that huge piano chord and all. I always thought the Genie bit was a tame copycat. Better singing I suppose but nowhere near as dangerous or sexy.

WWGHD: What Would Geir Hongro Do?

Voted "Genie," by the way.

Genie.

I was an Xtina fan, didn't start liking Britney until the Britney album. "Baby One More Time" is really overrated for me, but I wasn't too big on that whole Max Martin boyband pop sound.

preferred 'genie' then, holds true now.

Genie bit was...nowhere near as dangerous or sexy.

― Adam Bruneau, Sunday, September 28, 2008 5:40 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark

Dunno "you gotta rub me the right way" was always way more risque to my ears than anything in "One More Time"

Better singing I suppose

you suppose?

you suppose?

― gabbneb, Sunday, September 28, 2008 2:27 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest

Well that was all I heard at the time, that was how everyone defended Xtina, which is what I meant by the 'suppose' line. At the time I had lived through a decade of Mariah and Houston melisma-laden stuff and it didn't really matter to me anyways.

Also the piano hook in "Baby" reminds me on some subconscious level of the hook in Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand".

genie it sounds like idm 8-)

Um, the correct answer is "Baby One More Time" so I am confused as to why everyone is saying "Genie In A Bottle"?

Because "Genie" is better.

That is incorrect

Sometimes the truth hurts.

"Genie In A Bottle" is totally dated - I mean if nothing else, the telephone-filter "my heart is sayin' let's go" pre-chorus part just screams 1999. It's more consistently listenable, but I think the highs on "Baby" are higher. Not either one's best effort by any means though! Both feel very much like "Borderline" from this distance - charming, plausible first effort, not quite the definitive version of the product though.

I will admit that Christina is way more essential to "Genie's" success than Britney is to "Baby"'s, but that's not exactly an original observation.

If you take the videos into account, and you should, it's not even a contest.

"Genie" - better song, performance.

haha the telephone-filter thing is exactly what I was thinking about when I said the bridge sounds "of its time." "Genie" is still a way better song on every level tho -- it's one of the few pop songs from that era I can get behind. "Baby One More Time" is really kinda boring and static IMO.

Ramzi, your motives are transparent to me. Still, I hate Genie In a Bottle intensely. I remember hearing it on the radio and thinking it sounded so amateurish I thought it must be some local girl who won some competition. I was pretty amazed when it was this global hit. And still am. I can't think of any single Aguilera song I can stomach.

I think the test is that you can't dance to "Baby One More Time" without feeling silly or ironic I was still in school back then way, whereas you can pretty much grind to "Genie" naturally. But then again, I've also been partial to Xtina in the TS: Xtina vs Britney contest.

I remember hearing it on the radio and thinking it sounded so amateurish I thought it must be some local girl who won some competition.

this is how everything sounded in the late '90s! remember Vitamin C?

The chorus of "Genie..." is sublime.

Both feel very much like "Borderline" from this distance - charming, plausible first effort, not quite the definitive version of the product though.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, September 28, 2008 9:00 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i just made the decision that Borderline is my favorite madonna single.

I was an Xtina fan, didn't start liking Britney until the Britney album.

same here. Except for "Crazy" which is simply massive, I rate most of christina's earlier singles - "Come on Over", "What a Girl Wants" - over Brit's.

so yes, Genie it is.

i suppose Genie is subtler but it doesn't come close to packing the emotional wallop of Baby. i prefer Britney's vocals too - of course she's not as good a singer as Christina but since when did that matter? Baby is just bigger in every way - as a tune, a performance, a pop-cult event, the works!

"Borderline" is fantastic too!

ok I totally do not get an "emotional wallop" from either of these songs

btw "Baby One More Time" was the first song I heard when I started listening to top 40 radio

genie

genie!

wiki reveals the dude who wrote genie also wrote n. bedingfield's "these words" (A+) and... "let's get physical"

"Give It To You"

wow dude was in steve & the board, now that's groovy

OK, I am new to "Genie in a Bottle," & just watched the video, for the 1st time, on u2be. I was way too indie in college to have ever let such a thing into my tightly-guarded cultural mindset. Anywayz, that is some wafer-thin "wholesome teenage" innuendo, no? If BOMT is Lolita-lite, this shit is the genuine article. For the record, XXXtina's single is way sexier, but Britney's is 100% pop-tastic perfection. Hit Me Baby all the way!

also just want to point out that x.aguilera's name is slang for at least two class a drugs that i am aware of. match that, brit!

i'm listening to 'genie' for the first time in ages and omg those drum fills!!

both britney and christina never looked hotter than they do in these vids imo

srsly genie in a bottle sounds like junior boys or some shit. so good

Writer(s) David Frank, Steve Kipner, Pamela Sheyne
Producer David Frank, Steve Kipner

^^who are these dudes

i'm listening to 'genie' for the first time in ages and omg those drum fills!!

― lex pretend, Monday, 29 September 2008 08:03 (26 minutes ago) Permalink

Baby! Better beat, better vocal, better video; WAY more interesting persona, production, etc.--I’ll leave the 'song' dissection to Geir and his 'disciples'.

(Although, tbh, Genie seemed kinda boring the last time I heard it; strange, as I vastly preferred it to Baby at the time of its release.)

Does Geir have disciples?

Yeah, Little Geir and his Disciples of Not Soul...

lolololol

maybe not, but he should. ;)

xxp

If Geir did have disciples, and his musical outlook was one which others subscribed to, what would it be called? (fill in the blank): ____ism / ____ology

Both feel very much like "Borderline" from this distance - charming, plausible first effort, not quite the definitive version of the product though.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, September 28, 2008 9:00 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i just made the decision that Borderline is my favorite madonna single.

― Surmounter, Monday, September 29, 2008 3:38 AM (5 hours ago)

Borderline is amazing, also like her third single. I think Burning Up is the first.

Genie in a Bottle sounds like a missing track from Supernatural. With Baby One More Time it was amazing how it moved so quickly from pop song to Warhol readymade.

new thread?!?!?!

xp

OK. Go for it!

both britney and christina never looked hotter than they do in these vids imo

I'll give you Christina b/c I never thought she looked hot in anything, but you are CRA-ZYY re: Britney - she looks AWFUL in "Baby!" No clearer indication to me of how much time has passed, really - the hot pink thing she's wearing in the outdoor dance scenes is tacky to the max, and she looks just...awkward in the schoolgirl segments.

You get a free pass if you just have a schoolgirl-outfit thing, though; that can't be helped.

I have a bit of a schoolgirl outfit thing, but I don't think Britney pulls it off particularly well. Actually I've never found her as extraordinarily attractive as most blokes seem to, maybe there's something wrong with me. Her face is a bit funny.

I agree, she is gross - "Toxic" is okay though. Wouldn't really go for it IRL.

i was playing at a wedding this weekend and they played baby one more time while we were on a break. i was kinda amazed how epic it sounded, there's a lot of stuff in that tune.

I voted Baby..., Genie in a Bottle is a sexy little pop song, but, as Jordan says, Baby.. . is a megaepic anthem which demands your complete submission.

"Genie" came on shuffle the other day and I was like wtf is wrong with this song, is it some kind of remix? Then I realized that it was the original version I was hearing, not the Strokes mash-up that I usually play.

I voted "Genie".

Christina's "Mash-up" tracks are in general way more successful than Britney's.

I think it's in the quality of the vocal.

I was a teenage boy when both of these hit and I totally thought Britney was hotter. Probably the eyes.

there's a lot of stuff in that tune

you have to cover up the vocal somehow

Since we're all horndog4u up in this let me say that I thought Britney was hotter when I was 13 but re-watching the videos Britney looks like a Mouseketeer in stage makeup and Christina looks like a really cute girl.

britney had really bad hair then

To be fair, when these came out my principal celebrity crushes were Winona Ryder and Left-Eye, so I'm not sure Britney or Christina could have done much to draw my attention.

Genie's beat is addictive. crisp and clean, with a subtle sheen on it. and the production on the synth line and vocals is just as tidy.

true, but i don't think tidiness is a virtue i prize in teenpop as much as melodrama. obv Genie is pretty melodramatic itself but Baby's life-or-death intensity has the edge for me.

The end of Baby One More Time, when the chorus and the breakdown overlap, is one of the best moments in pop ever.

I've said variations on this theme many times on this thread but I'll just say it again: "Baby One More Time" is a completely limp-noodle track. I hear no "life-or-death intensity." Nice melody (& I like the "I still believe!" backup vocals), but the production is absolutely retarded and sucks all the life out of it. It's boring and non-epic as fuck.

lethargic

i must confess

that my loneliness

is killin me noooow

don't you know

still believe??

really the synths and piano in the Genie chorus are something else. i want so much to still believe that Baby One More Time is the answer but my heart is sayin no.

oy i voted. it felt like giving up a part of me.

The only Christina Aguilera song I really like whereas Britney Spears' Max Martin era work was mainly among her best (even though Max Martin must take the honour for it).

In this case I would say "Genie In a Bottle" has it, but I'd have picked "Crazy", "Born To Be Unhappy", "Oops I Did It Again" or "Lucky" ahead of it.

"Born To Be Unhappy"

lol wut

haha wow

"Born To Be Unhappy" would easily be the best Britney single ever.

The transition from the bridge back to the chorus in "Baby One More Time" is the second-best thing Britney has ever done (the best being the entirety of "Slave 4 U") but "Genie In A Bottle" is an all-around superior effort, both in sophistication of musical structure and performance.

The number of awful "Slave/Dirrty" mashups on YouTube is stunning.

oh man, "Dirrty" is some next-level shit, I love that song so much

Born To Be Unhappy not as good as I'm Not A Girl Not Yet A Real Ladyboy

but can't hold a candle to "Luckless"

It's all way better than "Non-Toxic", that's for sure.

listening to 'dirrty' with the bass up still blows my mind

Stripped is an amazing album, I was always surprised it got such shit from everyone.

And the number of Dirrty mashups in general is oddly high, I'm not sure what it is that lends the song to mashups. The version I have mashed up with Diana Ross "Upside Down" is pretty amazing though.

hated 'genie' at the time, so it's 'baby' fo def.

that said, i think 'a stroke of genius' might beat 'em both!

I'm not sure what it is that lends the song to mashups. The version I have mashed up with Diana Ross "Upside Down" is pretty amazing though.

i think it's just that the acapella was pretty widely available as with numerous destiny's child songs. i liked that 'upside down' one too altho quality of the mp3 i had was pretty bad.

oh man, "Dirrty" is some next-level shit, I love that song so much

― i am the small cat (HI DERE), Thursday, 2 October 2008 14:24 (41 minutes ago) Permalink

Stripped really is an awesome suite of noisy pop. FIGHTER was an integral part of my college experience.

STRIPPED - The Poll

that said, i think 'a stroke of genius' might beat 'em both!

omg are you actually insane? i don't hate it or anything but how xtina tarnished by the strokes is better than just xtina i can't comprehend

"I must confess, I still believe" -- Britney as Christian/Catholic school-girl

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Wouldn't really go for it IRL.

― Doctor Casino

knees too sharp?

This thread has inspired me to listen to Genie - I was one of those indie fucks who managed to avoid it entirely the first time 'round.

knees too sharp?

New from the Shins!

The transition from the bridge back to the chorus in "Baby One More Time" is the second-best thing Britney has ever done

OTM, very much like Rihanna's transition from bridge back to chorus in "Umbrella" (idk about 'second-best thing she's ever done,' but it's really incredible).

I love both these songs, but I'm voting "Baby..." First, for sentimental reasons--it inspired "me" to purchase my first pop album. Second, because it's the bolder, more dramatic track (generally, i prefer mega to subtle when we're talking about great sex songs). Third, that piano. Fourth, the video (not that xtina's isn't great, but i'll always remember watching britney's). Fifth, whereas "Genie" reveals all of its magic within the first minute and thirty seconds, "Baby..." waits and builds until that aforementioned bridge-chorus; I always leave with chills.

the importance of BOTM's video in pop culture history cannot be overstated.

the video for Genie is hotter, but the song sucks.. so voted for One More Time.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

madness

ah ha

Shit, I may not have voted! But this is lunacy!

Shoulda been like 68-3 to Britney, obv.

http://www.dealbreaker.com/images/entries/McDonalds%20I%27m%20lovin%20it%20logo.jpg

I won!

The universe is frowning on ILM.

Ugh @ the poll results

The key changes & chord progressions in "Baby One More Time" are so fucking undeniable.

DENIED

lolol

WIN

http://www.quizilla.com/user_images/K/Koshari/1072669715_TheJustice.jpg

As of yesterday, "Baby One More Time" is 10 years old. dang.

I remember being in 6th grade when a kid unwrapped a scrunched People magazine page featuring Britney out of his jean pocket in class. I didn't watch MTV, really, and so I had no idea who the girl was. When I asked him he said "Duuude, you don't know who Britney Spears is? Man, she's so freakin' hot." "Why do you have her picture with you in your pocket?", I asked. "You have no idea how hard it is to find a picture of her on the internet."

The funny concept of not being able to find a Britney pic anywhere and resorting to ripping out a page from your mom's People mag still sticks with me ten years later. Now that I think about it, I also remembering first associating her last name, Spears, with the finishing move of then undefeated WCW champion Goldberg, who was known to "spear" opponents.

It was released 10 years ago but it was in early 1999 that it became a hit.

One of my first Britney Memories was that my friend Chester said "I saw the cover of her album, she's fat". Also she wasn't fat and didn't look fat but those are just 7th grade boys being assholes for you.

And when I was in 8th grade her second album was released on or close to my birthday, so my mom took me to Circuit City to buy it during lunch, and when I came back to class I showed everyone I had the album and I was very cool for a day or so.

I must have heard it first in late '98 because by January 1999, I had gone abroad for school and I remember pretty vividly hearing it for the first time on the radio in my own room at home. It was "Song of the Week".

Seems weird to think it now but I had no idea she was only a few years older than me until I saw the video. I remember thinking she sounded so much older - kind of like Wild Orchid (Fergie's girl group before she became a pea) who had a hit around that time.

jesus christ you ppl are young

lol ornery old man

Writer(s) David Frank, Steve Kipner, Pamela Sheyne
Producer David Frank, Steve Kipner

^^who are these dudes

― you have been yellow carded by an actual referee (J0rdan S.), Monday, September 29, 2008 3:07 AM (5 months ago) Bookmark

Kipner had a hit song in the 1970s as part of a soft rock band. He also wrote another one of the better songs from the boy band era - 90 Degrees' "The Hardest Thing."

I remember me and my sister were playing Spyro and she kept singing this and saying it was by this singer called Brittany Spears and when we turned the playstation off they were interviewing her on television. Also, I remember us looking her up on the internet as one of the first searches we ever did on this laptop my dad briefly had from work and looking at geocities pages about her.

brilliant poll -- i was reconsidering after catching "baby one more time" on the radio yesterday but nothing is topping the "genie in a bottle" production

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGkli2oCS3A

christina looks like snooki in the "dirrty" video

that drum pattern in "genie" (which steve kipner and david frank cleverly reused for dream's first two singles) is so amazing

always disappointed when i hear genie in a bottle and it isn't that glitchy planet mu (kid 606?) thing, the break in that makes me super happy

also this:

srsly genie in a bottle sounds like junior boys or some shit. so good

― you have been yellow carded by an actual referee (J0rdan S.), Monday, 29 September 2008 Bookmark

is very i "lol" m 2008

the drum fills that come in towards the end of "genie in a bottle" >>>>>>>>>>

yeah that was kind of a moment where offbrand Timbaland kind of stumbled into something new unto itself.