Hold Me Closer getting PANNED by the critics

[PatrickMonster 6,517]

Both The Telegraph and The Times gave Hold Me Closer 5/1 star reviews. What do you think, is it really that bad?

The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick rated the song one out of five stars, saying that it misses "Britney's signature sass and with her vocals barely audible, this horrible mash-up of two Elton songs is a baffling 'comeback'." He also compared the song negatively to John's duet with Dua Lipa, "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)", thinking that "lightning has not struck twice".

https://archive.ph/EmJHh

 In another one-star review, Will Hodgkinson of The Times thought that the song "is a massive opportunity wasted", where "all the soul has been stripped away" from John's "Tiny Dancer" and "John and Spears's voices have been treated in a way that makes them sound like they might dissolve into the background entirely.

https://archive.ph/d58ct

[monstrosity 3,943]

I mean yeahh that’s the truth I’m afraid

[sara57 3,018]

I love both Britney and Elton  but tbh I expected a waaay more from this song...

[B2theRich33 2,239]

Hold Me Closer has horrible mixing; both Britney and Elton are lost in the instrumental throughout the entire song. If I hadn’t know, I never would have guessed she was a feature. If that’s what you wanna call it 🥴 It’s really sad her first release in 6 years was this… will be streaming and supporting for the Queen though! It’s just not great :\

[Blackout19 12,026]

I think I am the only one who likes the song...

[RahrahWitch 6,985]

The leaked version is much better, Not sure why they decided to drown Britney's vocals in the released version.

Spoiler

 

 

[Bloody hooker 6,445]

It’s not that bad, but I did expect Britney to have a solo part. I had it on repeat while I was working on something.

[Zeitgeist 228]

It sounds radio friendly, something for the soccer moms like Pink

[Vengaboy 1,286]

I kind of agree, it didn't make me feel much tbh. Doesn't matter though, as long as this is a project Britney voluntarily went into, what matters is that she got to do what she wanted to do. And if this is the start of a comeback then I'm sure there's more to come! Cool project to ease back into the industry, still iconic to have done this w Elton.

[hELXIG 43,082]

I really liked it   maybe I was blinded by my excitement 

[Meat 18,962]

It’s evident that Dua is paying them to write these reviews. She wants her Elton collab to remain superior. @Dojo thoughts? 

[HausOfAntonio 8,021]

I read Hold My Hand for a second and my heart skipped a beat 

[Admin 24,441]

It’s not getting “PANNED by critics”, it got panned by 2 critics which for some reason are the only ones you decided to post.