88. Scary (2011)

(Spears, Smith, Livingston)

Album: Femme Fatale (Deluxe/International Editions)

While Spears has written songs for each of her albums, for the first time since the …Baby One More Time era, there were no Britney-penned songs on the standard edition of Femme Fatale, and one had to resort to bonus tracks and B-sides to find her songwriting at work. And upon hearing “Scary,” it’s a bit remarkable that this up-tempo electro-dance track was relegated to the Japanese bonus edition. The zippy chorus and fuzzy synths seem perfectly at home with the other Femme Fatale tracks. Perhaps they felt it leaned a bit too novelty, (but that didn’t stop “Disturbia” or “Thriller,”), or perhaps the horror references were a bit too reminiscent of “Bad Romance?” From my standpoint, it feels like a missed opportunity.