One of Britney Spears' favorite albums also comes with one of her biggest regrets. In her new memoir, The Woman Inside Me , the singer reveals that she thinks the music video for "Gimme More," the lead single from her 2007 album Blackout , is the worst video she's ever made, saying It's "so tacky."
Spears said recording "Blackout" was a creative escape as she was being hounded by paparazzi and struggling in her marriage to Kevin Federline, which affected the way she approached things like music videos .
She decided to produce it herself rather than go through the process with her label.
"This album is a rallying cry," she wrote. "I stopped doing business like I used to. I started making videos on my own on the streets. I would go to bars with friends who would just bring their cameras, and that's how we shot Gimme More."
"Gimme More" is so cheesy
Fans may remember that in the "Gimme More" video, Spears took over a bar, danced on a pole, wore a platinum blonde wig and drank with friends. But 15 years later, she's not happy with how the video turned out.
"To be clear, I'm not saying I'm proud of this," she clarified. "'Gimme More' is by far the worst video I've ever shot in my life. I didn't like it at all - it was so tacky. It looked like we only spent $3,000 on it."
Still, the "Gimme More" video reaped some rewards. That didn't stop the song from becoming an instant hit, reaching the top three on the Billboard Hot 100, and Spears said it opened up new creative outlets in the industry.
"As bad as it is, it works," she admits. "The more I started doing things on my own, the more interesting people started noticing me and wanting to work with me. I ended up randomly finding really good people just through word of mouth."
Spears loves "Baby One More Time"
One music video that Spears doesn't regret is her first music video for "...Baby One More Time" in 1999, revealing that she came up with the concept herself. In the book, she recalls how her record label approached her with the idea of playing a "futuristic astronaut."
"The models I saw made me look like a Power Ranger," she wrote. "That image didn't resonate with me, and I had a feeling my audience wouldn't identify with it either. I told the label executives that I thought people would want to see me and my friends sitting around in school bored inside, and then the bell rings, and boom—we start dancing.”
Many of Spears' other suggestions were incorporated, including having "cute boys," wearing the iconic schoolgirl uniform, and having her family friend Felicia as a teacher. “Making the video was the most fun part of making the first album,” she said.
"Gimme More" at the VMAs
While Spears lamented the music video, it was her infamous "Gimme More" performance at the 2007 VMAs that more people criticized. She also talks about the moment in her book, detailing all the issues that arose before the show and her reaction to the backlash she received.
"I was doing my best and yes, it was far from my best at other times," she wrote.
"I'm not going to defend that performance or say it was good, but I will say that as performers we all have bad nights. They don't usually have such extreme consequences."
