Toxic

Release type:What's this?
single
First released:
Feb 2 2004

Overview Edit

"Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. Co-written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, the song was initially offered to Kylie Minogue, but she rejected it. Spears has named "Toxic" as her favorite song from her career, and originally had to convince her record label to release it as a single. "Toxic" is a dance-pop song with influences of electropop and bhangra music, that features varied instrumentation, such as drums, synthesizers and surf guitar. It is accompanied by high-pitched strings and breathy vocals. Its lyrics refer to being addicted to a lover. The song was well received by critics, who deemed it as the strongest track of In the Zone, while praising its hook and chorus.

"Toxic" attained worldwide success, reaching the top-five in fifteen countries, while topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Norway and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became her first single to peak inside the top ten in almost four years. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Joseph Kahn and features references to Blade Runner, The Seven Year Itch and the films of John Woo. It portrays Spears as a secret agent in the search of a vial of green liquid. After she steals it, she enters an apartment and poisons her unfaithful boyfriend. The video also includes interspersed scenes of Spears naked with diamonds over her body. After Janet Jackson's Superbowl incident, the video was considered too racy for MTV and was moved to late-night programming.

Spears has performed "Toxic" in a number of live appearances, including the 2004 NRJ Music Awards and in three of her concert tours. It was the opening number of The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004), where she sang atop of a bus wearing a black catsuit; Spears also performed remixed versions of the song at The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009) and the Femme Fatale Tour (2011). "Toxic" has been covered by artists such as Mark Ronson, Yael Naïm and A Static Lullaby, and in television series Glee. The song has also appeared in feature films such as Knocked Up, You Again and television series Doctor Who.

"Toxic" won Spears her first Grammy at the 2005 ceremony in the category of Best Dance Recording, while gaining her credibility amongst critics. The song has been included in lists by Pitchfork, NME and Rolling Stone as one of the best songs of the decade. It has been noted for redefining the sound of dance-pop music. "Toxic" is also considered one of the defining songs for Spears. The music video is also known for showing Spears for the first time as a confident adult woman, comfortable with her own sexuality.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_(song). Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
BMG
Catalog number:
unknown
Release dates:
  • Feb 3 2004

Genres

Pop, Contemporary R&B, Electro, Dance. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars TOXIC but addictive
I discovered "Toxic" when I first saw the "Toxic" video on TV. My initial reaction was... this can't be Britney... it doesn't even sound like Britney. I think because it's got a europop flavour in it and sounds Kylie-ish. But I automatically loved this track. It's catchy... it's nice... it's different... and it's unusual...PERFECT. When I bought the CDsingle, something familiar was on the credit list...CATHY DENNIS--one of the co-writter/producer of Kylie's mega-hit track "Cant Get You Out of My…
Written by Joe L
3 stars Love It!
I really didn't care too much for anything Britney has put out from this new album, but when I heard Toxic, I was relieved, this is the Britney Spears I'm used to. The original version is great in itself, and I couldn't wait for the maxi-single to be released. i just recently got my copy and loved the fact that there is an instrumental track. The best one is Armand Van Helden Remix- But I don't understand how Bloodshy & Avant can even can even call itself a remix-all it is is just the original s…
Written by TechnoFreak "dutty302000"

Track listing Edit

  • CD

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    Toxic (Album Version)
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    2
    Toxic (Album Instrumental)
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    3
    Toxic (Bloodshy & Avant's Intoxicated Remix)
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    4
    Toxic (Armand Van Helden Remix Edit)
    ?:??
    Play Buy track

Other versions Edit

5 tracks format: 1 x CD
release dates: Mar 1 2004 in United Kingdom
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Toxic 4 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: Jive Records
release dates: Feb 2 2004 in Europe
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Toxic 5 tracks format: 1 x CD
release dates: Mar 1 2004 in United Kingdom
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