Untitled

B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 is the second remix album by Britney Spears, released on October 7, 2011 by RCA Records. On September 9, 2011, Spears announced the release by posting the cover art and track listing on her Tumblr. The album includes remixes of various tracks from each of her albums Blackout (2007), Circus (2008) and Femme Fatale (2011), as well as a remix of "3". The remixes were done by DJs such as Kaskade, Tiësto and Benny Benassi. The music was influenced by various genres of pop music, such as dance-pop and pop rock.

Critics gave mixed reviews to the album. Some reviewers considered B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 more creative when compared to studio albums Blackout and Circus, despite noting most of the songs lost its "magic" in a remixed form. B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 charted in countries such as Canada, France, United Kingdom and the United States, where it peaked at number four on the Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums.

Background

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In November 2005, Spears released her first remix album, B in the Mix: The Remixes. During the next six years, she released three studio albums: Blackout (2007), Circus (2008) and Femme Fatale (2011).[1] Online store Fragantica.com reported that Spears' new fragrance Cosmic Radiance could "be expected with launch of new remix album" by Spears in August 2011.[2] On September 2, 2011, Sony Japan posted the cover art of a remix album by Spears titled B in the Mix, The Remixes 2, along with the announcement that it would feature unreleased tracks. The cover art for the album features Spears smirking with hair in her face behind a butterfly, while wearing a silk outfit. Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush said that although the cover resembled that of B in the Mix: The Remixes, it is a "a somewhat unflattering shot of the normally gorgeous star."[3] On September 9, 2011, Spears posted the official cover and track listing for B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 on her Tumblr. The track listing included remixes of three tracks from each of her last three studio albums, as well as a remix of "3" from The Singles Collection (2009).[1] However, the Varsity Team Remix of "Criminal" was removed from most editions before the album's release and the Radio Mix was included in its place.[4][5]

Recording and composition

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Reception

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Critical response

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [6]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic commented that a "clutch of DJs and remixers, primarily European, have been hired and they’ve run wild, taking the original versions as merely suggestions, something that's entirely appropriate in this case."[6] He also noted that "the variations are quite far removed from the original -- U-Tern's spangly disco spin on 'If U Seek Amy' is a decided improvement -- and while nothing can save a lousy song (see 'Criminal'), this collection has as much imagination and energy as either Circus or Femme Fatale. "[6] Entertainment Wise writer Shaun Kitchener gave the remix album a mixed review, saying that, with most of the remixes, "a great deal of the magic is lost" when compared to original productions, citing "Till The World Ends" and "If U Seek Amy" as the most notable examples.[7] Jocelyn Vena of MTV said that, after being "chopped, screwed and broken down, the songs reach[ed] new extremes" in the remix album.[8]

Commercial performance

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On the week of October 19, 2011, B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 debuted at number forty-six on the Billboard 200, with sales of 9,000 copies,[9] while reaching number four on the Dance/Electronic Albums component chart.[10] In Canada, the remix album debuted at number fifty-three,[11] and peaked inside the top-thirty in Italy.[12] In the United Kingdom, it reached number nine on the Dance Albums Chart,[13] and one hundred seventy-one on the main chart.[13] The highest position for B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 was at number two in South Korea's Gaon Chart.[14]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Criminal" (Radio Mix)Shellback, Max Martin, Tiffany AmberMax Martin, Shellback3:45
2."Gimme More" (Kaskade Club Mix)Nathaniel Hills, James Washington, Keri Hilson, Marcella AraicaDanja, Kaskade^6:08
3."Piece of Me" (Tiësto Club Mix)Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Klas ÅhlundBloodshy & Avant, Tiësto^7:53
4."Radar" (Tonal Club Mix)Karlsson, Winnberg, Åhlund, Henrik Jonback, Balewa Muhammad, Candice Nelson, Ezekiel Lewis, Patrick SmithBloodshy & Avant, The Clutch*, Alexander Lasarenko^, Matt Pendergast^4:55
5."Womanizer" (Benny Benassi Extended)Nikesha Briscoe, Rafael AkinyemiK. Briscoe/The Outsyders, Benny Benassi^6:17
6."Circus" (Linus Loves Remix)Lukasz Gottwald, Claude Kelly, Benjamin LevinDr. Luke, Benny Blanco, John Clark^, Linus Loves^4:39
7."If U Seek Amy" (U-Tern Remix)Martin, Shellback, Savan Kotecha, Alexander KronlundMax Martin, U-Tern^6:10
8."3" (Manhattan Clique Club Remix)Martin, Shellback, AmberMax Martin, Shellback, Philip Larsen^, Chris Smith^5:42
9."Till the World Ends" (Alex Suarez Club Remix)Martin, Gottwald, Kronlund, Kesha SebertDr. Luke, Max Martin, Billboard, Alex Suarez^5:18
10."I Wanna Go" (Gareth Emery Remix)Shellback, Martin, KotechaMax Martin, Shellback, Gareth Emery^5:26
Total length:56:11
Japanese edition[15]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Gimme More" (Kaskade Club Mix)Hills, Hilson, Araica, Washington6:08
2."Piece of Me" (Tiësto Club Mix)Winnberg, Åhlund, Karlsson7:53
3."Radar" (Tonal Club Mix)Winnberg, Åhlund, Karlsson, Jonback, Lewis, Smith, Nelson, Muhammad4:55
4."Womanizer" (Benny Benassi Extended)Briscoe, Akinyemi6:17
5."Circus" (Linus Loves Remix)Gottwald, Kelly, Levin4:39
6."If U Seek Amy" (U-Tern Remix)Martin, Shellback, Kotecha, Kronlund6:10
7."3" (Manhattan Clique Club Remix)Martin, Shellback, Amber5:42
8."Till the World Ends" (Alex Suarez Club Remix)Martin, Gottwald, Kronlund, Sebert5:18
9."I Wanna Go" (Gareth Emery Remix)Shellback, Martin, Kotecha5:26
10."Criminal" (Varsity Team Remix)Shellback, Martin, Amber4:25
11."Break the Ice" (Tonal Remix)Hills, Hilson, Araica, Washington4:52
12."Hold It Against Me" (Funk Generation Club Remix)Martin, Gottwald, Mathieu Jomphe, Bonnie McKee6:48
13."My Prerogative" (X-Press 2 Radio Edit)Bobby Brown, Gene Griffin, Edward Teddy Riley4:17
14."Criminal" (Tom Piper & Riddler Remix Radio Edit)Shellback, Martin, Amber3:38
Total length:76:04

(*) denotes co-producer
(^) denotes remix and additional producer

Personnel

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Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[16]

Charts

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Charts (2011) Peak
position
Belgian Walloon Albums Chart[17] 69
Canadian Albums Chart[11] 53
Czech Republic Albums Chart[18] 47
French Albums Chart[19] 57
French Compilations Chart[20] 15
Italian Albums Chart[12] 29
Spanish Albums Chart[21] 39
South Korean Albums Chart (International)[14] 2
UK Dance Albums Chart[22] 9
US Billboard 200[9] 46
US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums[10] 4

Release history

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Country Date Label
Austria[23] October 7, 2011 RCA Records
Worldwide[4][1] October 11, 2011
Australia[5] October 14, 2011
Brazil[24] October 19, 2011 Sony Music
Japan[15] November 30, 2011 RCA Records

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bain, Becky (September 9, 2011). "Britney Spears Reveals 'B In The Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2′ Track Listing". Idolator. Buzz Media. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  2. ^ "Cosmic Radiance Britney Spears perfume - a new fragrance for women 2011". Fragantica. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Sciarretto, Amy (September 2, 2011). "Britney Spears 'B in the Mix: The Remixes 2' Cover Hits the Web". PopCrush.com. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "B In the Mix - The Remixes, Vol. 2by Britney Spears". ITunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "B In The Mix: The Remixes 2 - Spears, Britney". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (October 7, 2011). "B in the Mix: The Remixes, Vol. 2 - Britney Spears". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  7. ^ Kitchener, Shaun (October 18, 2011). "Britney Spears - B in the Mix: The Remixes, Vol. 2". Entertainment Wise. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  8. ^ Vena, Jocelyn (October 11, 2011). "Britney Spears Remix Album 'Shines New Light' On EDM". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  9. ^ a b Kaufman, Gil (October 19, 2011). "Evanescence Comeback LP Hits #1 On Billboard". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Dance/Electronic Albums - Week of October 29, 2011". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Top 100 Albums in Canada". Jam!. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  12. ^ a b "Classifica settimanale dal 10/10/2011 al 16/10/2011". Federation of the Italian Music Industry. fimi.it. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  13. ^ a b "UK Chart History - Searchable Database". The Official Charts Company. Zobbel. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  14. ^ a b "South Korean International Albums Chart" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  15. ^ a b "B In The Mix The Remixes Vol. 2 (Remixed Collection) [CD] - Britney Spears". HMV. Lawson. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  16. ^ B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2 liner notes. RCA Records (2011)
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Britney Spears – Criminal" (in French). Ultratop 50. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  18. ^ ds. "Čns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
  19. ^ "Britney Spears - B in the Mix, The Remixes Vol 2" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. October 10, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  20. ^ "French Compilations Chart" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. October 10, 2011. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  21. ^ "Spanish Albums Chart" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  22. ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/dance-albums-chart/
  23. ^ "Britney Spears - B In The Mix, The Remixes Vol 2". Sony Music. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  24. ^ "B in the Mix, The Remixes, Vol.2" (in Portuguese). Livraria Cultura. Retrieved October 7, 2011.