As Bad As Britney? Five "New" Songs That Ruined Retrospectives

Today marks the official release of the new Britney Spears single, "3." The song continues a long musical tradition for the "legends" of the industry: the obligatory unreleased song on a hits compilation. The song, off the singer's new Singles Collection, is just one of many examples of a both pop and rock stars phoning it in to boost record sales. Check out five of our favorites below.

Green Day, "Poprocks and Coke"

While many critics and music geeks try to make the case for Green Day being the greatest rock band of their generation, they might want to erase this previously unreleased song from the record books. Appearing on the International Superhits! compilation, "Poprocks and Coke" is the very opposite of a hit song.

Madonna, "Celebration"

Britney's spiritual mother is in the midst of the same game as Britney. Releasing yet another greatest hits compilation this month, the previously unreleased title track is just another reminder that Madonna, like Spears, doesn't quite have the same spark as her golden years.

Blink 182, "Another Girl, Another Planet" (The Only Ones Cover)

The only cover on the list, Mark Hoppus and company turn in a cringe-worthy pop-punk cover of the classic British tune.

Cher, "Don't Come Crying to Me"

In 1999, Cher was going through her umpteenth comeback, but this song had the potential to derail it. A pop song with a dash of country, "Don't Come Crying to Me" appeared on If Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits at a time when the star was getting praise for her new dancefloor sound.

Michael Jackson, "Beautiful Girl"

The King of Pop was also the King of Unreleased Songs. Jackson's The Ultimate Collection featured a whopping eight unreleased songs, and was far from the first time he attemted to revive his career with new songs on a hits album. "Beautiful Girl" is just one of these songs, but we'll take any Jackson material we can get now that the legend has passed on.