128. I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll (2001)

(Hooker, Merrill)

Album: I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll – Single / Britney

Early Spears covers were something of a mixed bag. Her version of the Arrows’ (made more famous by Joan Jett) “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” was a slower, slinkier, popified version of the classic track. Her throaty vocals are a good fit for the content – her ad-libs toward the end are especially welcome – but it’s the busy, scratchy production that prevents this song from meeting its full potential. Britney could always do rock well (see “Lonely” and look up Circus-era live performances of “You Oughta Know” for reference), but Rodney Jerkins’ production goes a bit too far in his effort to make the song pop-ready so it can sit alongside “Anticipating” and “Cinderella.” It still has a requisite thumping beat, but the slower tempo never allows for the kind of release that this song calls for at the chorus. Spears’s live performances serve the song much better, especially during the Dream Within a Dream tour where the guitars are more prominent and the pace is heightened. Nonetheless, she looks stunning and fierce in the music video, perhaps attempting to infuse the video with the rocker’s swagger that the album cut lacks.