Me Against The Music - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic selected "Me Against the Music" as one of the 'track picks' from In the Zone. Caryn Ganz of Spin called the song "a fine specimen of Britney 4.0—a fast-paced dance anthem, all grinding percussion shuttling through a traffic jam of synths." Dave De Sylvia of Sputnikmusic said that "Aside from numerous rather awful name-dropping passages and a disappointing chorus, the track is an ideal way to open the album. It's an up-tempo dance track with a big name attached; what else could you ask for?" Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine deemed it as "arguably one of Britney's finest moments and one of her mentor's worst". Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine said that "Madonna vamps it up (literally – her appearance here is not Sapphic but vampiric, the wizened old crone bleeding another period of forced longevity into her career like a cruenating corpse leaking plasma backwards) on 'Me Against The Music', but can't make it a bad tune." Gavin Mueller, also writing for Stylus Magazine, said that the single "benefits from a kinetic garage-inspired beat, even when a tepid Madonna threatens to spoil the fun."

Spence D. of IGN commented, "Initially catchy, it's ultimately forgettable other than it's the musical counterpart/fallout to/from the duo's lip lock publicity stunt on the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards." Jamie Gill of Yahoo! Music Radio stated that "Madonna's appearance on the brilliantly titled but deeply dreary 'Me Against The Music' was a postmodern prank designed to make all sane listeners think 'actually, American Life was pretty good, after all.'" While reviewing The Singles Collection, Mayer Nissim of Digital Spy said that "the only arguable weak link is the Madonna-featuring 'Me Against The Music', but in this context what once looked like a respectful passing of the baton now seems like an unconditional surrender of pop Queendom to its rightful heir." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called "Me Against the Music" "the album's coy, overly busy single". Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian noted it as "the only duff track" of the album. Jon Pareles of Rolling Stone wrote, "Madonna shows up in the album's first song, 'Me Against the Music', as if endorsing Spears's foray into come-hither posing and club-land beats."

Larry Flick from The Advocate denounced the track as an "'Into the Groove' redux". He added that the song "propels the listener into Spears' collaborations with heavy-hitting producers. There's nary a hint of her pristine pop past on Kelly's hip-grinding 'Outrageous' or Perry's 'Girls & Boys'. Instead Spears swims through dark, often hip-hop hued waters with occasional forays into minor keyed electro dance terrain." Ali Fenwick of The Johns Hopkins News-Letter said, "Despite bringing out the big guns in a duet with Madonna, 'Me Against The Music' is not danceable, the measure of success in any pop tune." Linda McGee of RTÉ.ie commented that although much of the content of In the Zone is "catchy", "it is hard to see any potential singles impressing as much as 'Me Against The Music'." Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times deemed it as "an odd, overstuffed track, not so much a song as a series of party chants". Mim Udovitch of Blender called it "lackluster".