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"Break the Ice" is an [[uptempo]]-oriented [[electro music|electro]] track<ref name="Erlewine">{{Cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |title=Album review: Blackout |url=http://wc06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfrxzlhldse~T1 |work=All Music Guide |publisher=Macrovision Corporation |date= |accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref><ref name="Vineyard"/> that runs for three minutes and eight seconds. It is constructed in the common [[verse-chorus form]]. The spoken intro contains a dual meaning. She whispers "It's been a while. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting. But I'm here now," which serves as an apology for being gone so long in the music industry, as well as away from her love interest in the song.<ref name="Vineyard"/> (NOTE: The reference quoted ONLY lists ONE meaning, not TWO "apologizes for being gone for so long", there is NO proof that the article explains the meaning correctly). The song speaks about a girl and a boy, with the former saying: "You're a little cold. Let me warm things up and break the ice."<ref name="Vineyard"/> Spears' breathy vocals are layered when she sings "Hot Hot Hot - ahh" in the choruses and sound similar to that of her 2001 single "[[I'm a Slave 4 U]]." She sings of the intensity of "breaking the ice", lyrically stating "You've got my heart beating like an [[Roland 808|808]]". Midway through the song, she halts, "I like this part...", mimicking [[Janet Jackson]]'s style in "[[Nasty (song)|Nasty]]".<ref name="Vineyard"/> The heavy drum line drops and the song finalizes in a repeated chorus, with ad-libs included by Spears.
"Break the Ice" is an [[uptempo]]-oriented [[electro music|electro]] track<ref name="Erlewine">{{Cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |title=Album review: Blackout |url=http://wc06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfrxzlhldse~T1 |work=All Music Guide |publisher=Macrovision Corporation |date= |accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref><ref name="Vineyard"/> that runs for three minutes and eight seconds. It is constructed in the common [[verse-chorus form]]. The spoken intro contains a dual meaning. She whispers "It's been a while. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting. But I'm here now," which serves as an apology for being gone so long in the music industry, as well as away from her love interest in the song.<ref name="Vineyard"/> (NOTE: The reference quoted ONLY lists ONE meaning, not TWO "apologizes for being gone for so long", there is NO proof that the article explains the meaning correctly). The song speaks about a girl and a boy, with the former saying: "You're a little cold. Let me warm things up and break the ice."<ref name="Vineyard"/> Spears' breathy vocals are layered when she sings "Hot Hot Hot Hot"<ref name="http://britney.com"/> in the choruses and sound similar to that of her 2001 single "[[I'm a Slave 4 U]]." She sings of the intensity of "breaking the ice", lyrically stating "You've got my heart beating like an [[Roland 808|808]]". Midway through the song, she halts, "I like this part...", mimicking [[Janet Jackson]]'s style in "[[Nasty (song)|Nasty]]".<ref name="Vineyard"/> The heavy drum line drops and the song finalizes in a repeated chorus, with ad-libs included by Spears.


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 17:17, 6 April 2008

"Break the Ice"
Song
B-side"Everybody"

"Break the Ice" is a song written by Nate "Danja" Hills, Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica, Keri Hilson and James Washington, and recorded by American singer Britney Spears. It was produced by Danja for Spears' fifth studio album Blackout (2007).

The track was released as the third single from the album in the first quarter of 2008. Its accompanying music video features an animated Spears.

Background

Spears collaborated with Hills, Araica, Hilson and Washington for "Break the Ice", who were behind her comeback single "Gimme More" (2007). The production team worked on the track when Spears was pregnant with her second child.[1] They arranged the vocals in Spears' house at Beverly Hills, California, three weeks before she gave birth,[1] and was recorded at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was mixed by Araica in Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles. A demo of the song leaked as "Been a While" onto the internet, but it later appeared as "Break the Ice" on Blackout's final tracklisting.[2]

Composition

Template:Sound sample box align left Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end

"Break the Ice" is an uptempo-oriented electro track[3][1] that runs for three minutes and eight seconds. It is constructed in the common verse-chorus form. The spoken intro contains a dual meaning. She whispers "It's been a while. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting. But I'm here now," which serves as an apology for being gone so long in the music industry, as well as away from her love interest in the song.[1] (NOTE: The reference quoted ONLY lists ONE meaning, not TWO "apologizes for being gone for so long", there is NO proof that the article explains the meaning correctly). The song speaks about a girl and a boy, with the former saying: "You're a little cold. Let me warm things up and break the ice."[1] Spears' breathy vocals are layered when she sings "Hot Hot Hot Hot"[4] in the choruses and sound similar to that of her 2001 single "I'm a Slave 4 U." She sings of the intensity of "breaking the ice", lyrically stating "You've got my heart beating like an 808". Midway through the song, she halts, "I like this part...", mimicking Janet Jackson's style in "Nasty".[1] The heavy drum line drops and the song finalizes in a repeated chorus, with ad-libs included by Spears.

Reception

"Break the Ice" received positive responses from the critics. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times described it as a "rave-inspired flirtation."[5] All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine referred to the song as a "stuttering electro-clip."[3] Darryl Sterdan noted in Canadian-based website Jamcanoe.ca: "...[Spears] brought a choir and one of Madonna's old synth-pop leftovers with her."[6] Digital Spy's Nick Levine awarded the song four stars out of a possible five, calling it Spears' "third cutting edge pop gem in a row".

Pop star Madonna, who famously kissed Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards before they became estranged friends, commented she loves Blackout and that "Break the Ice" is her favourite track of all.[4] She often works out to this single.[7]

Music video

File:Break the ice1.JPG
Britney's animated self in the video.

Robert Hales directed Spears' first animated music video. The video was heavily inspired by Japanese anime (created in South Korea) and her Toxic video. The music video was premiered two days later on the website BlackoutBall.com,[8] a site designed to "serve as a virtual black tie premiere party" for the video.[9] The video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live on March 17, as well as various British music channels. The video also premiered on MuchOnDemand in Canada on March 15th.[citation needed]

The video opens with a close-up of the animated Spears mouthing the words "it's been a while." After, a clone of Spears is shown inside a liquid cocoon. Scenes of a futuristic city illuminate the night skies and the superheroine Spears is seen on top of a skyscraper with a full moon behind. She jumps off the building and crashes into an amber glass ceiling. She lands in an indoor water fountain and begins fighting demonic-looking men dressed in business suits. She fights the men under the surveillance of similar men in a state of the art security room. A breach of the security system sounds and an army of men equipped with goggles, shields, and sticks attempt to attack Spears as she enters the highly secured laboratory. She gains access and walks through aisles of clones held in liquid cocoons. She nears one of the tanks and kisses her goodbye then plants a timed bomb on the tank. She jumps out of a window of the blasted building. A wide shot of the exploding building is shown and the word "Victory" is depicted on the side of the structure. The video ends with the words "to be continued", using the same font as in the album Blackout.

Chart performance

"Break the Ice" charted on the Billboard Pop 100 at number seventy-five and on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs at number seventy-two, prior to the single's official release. The single debuted at one-hundred on the Hot 100 on March 15, and has so far reached number fifty-nine.[10]

The single is doing well on European charts; it debuted and peaked at number eleven in Sweden, its first chart appearance outside North America. In addition, the single debuted in Ireland at number thirty-seven, reached number sixteen in the following week and went on to number ten. On the UK Singles Chart, the single debuted at number thirty-six.[11] On 6th April, Break the ice moved from 36 to 25 on the UK singles chart.

Formats and track listings

Official versions and remixes

Release history

Region Date Format
United States 3 March 2008 Radio
Europe 7 April 2008 CD
United Kingdom[13] 14 April 2008 CD
Germany[14][15] 2 May 2008 CD
Australia[16] 5 May 2008 CD

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Bulgarian Top 40 14[17]
Canadian Hot 100 20[18]
Irish Singles Chart 10[19]
Philippines Hot 100 51[20]
Romanian Top 100 85[17]
Swedish Singles Chart 11[17]
Turkish Top 20 17[21]
UK Singles Chart 25[22]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 59[17]
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 37[17]

Personnel and credits

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Vineyard, Jennifer (October 12, 2007). "Britney Spears' New Album, Blackout: A Track-By-Track Report". MTV Canada. CTV Globe Media. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Friedman, Roger ((October 11, 2007)). "Britney Spears' 'Blackout' Hits Internet". FOX News Network, LLC. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Album review: Blackout". All Music Guide. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference http://britney.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (October 29, 2007). "'Miss Bad Media Karma' Sings, Too". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Sterdan, Darryl. "BLACKOUT Britney's back with a thud". Jam Canoe. Canoe Inc. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  7. ^ {{Cite web |last=Digital Spy |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a92676/britney-spears-break-the-ice.html
  8. ^ Daniel Kreps (2008-03-12). "Britney Spears' "Break The Ice" Video To Premiere Today, Fandemonium Ensues". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  9. ^ Natalie Finn (2008-03-12). "Britney Drawn to Perfection". E! News. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  10. ^ Billboard Magazine. "Britney Spears: Billboard Chart". Billboard. Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  11. ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php
  12. ^ "Singles: Break The Ice (2008)". HMV.com. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  13. ^ "Break The Ice (2008)". HMV. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  14. ^ "Break the Ice/Basic [Single]". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  15. ^ "Break the Ice/Premium [Single]" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  16. ^ "Break the Ice (Spears, Britney)". Herald Sun HiT. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  17. ^ a b c d e "Break the Ice". aCharts.us. aCharts.us. March 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=Canadian+Hot+100
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ [2]
  21. ^ [3]
  22. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles.shtml#thirtyone

External links

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