Britney Spears’ ‘Blackout’ Turns Five: Stan & Deliver

Name: Sam L. | Location: New York, NY | Twitter: @samlansky

3. Radar: It’s the track so nice they released it twice! “Radar” was the subject of an unfairly protracted single release — the song was initially intended to be a single in 2008, following “Piece of Me,” but was then recycled for inclusion on the follow-up to Blackout, 2008’s Circus, and ultimately serviced to radio in 2009, where it peaked at a lackluster #88 on the Hot 100 — but God, remember hearing “Radar” for the first time? Those bone-chilling synths, the vocals processed into strings of robotic squeals, and Britney doing what Britney does best: Pronouncing a completely pedestrian word in a really weird and ultimately iconic way. (Here, “radar” gets turned into “ray-uh-duh,” because, well, why not?)

Even if it took a minute to find its moment in the spotlight, “Radar” endures as one of Blackout‘s most defining tracks — and better still, the video, shot during the Circus era, gives us Breakdownney sounds with Got-Her-Shit-Togetherney visuals. Who could complain about that?