Gavin Mueller of Stylus Magazine deemed "Everytime" as the best track of In the Zone, explaining "it is just a spare piano ballad, simple yet effectively fragile". Ali Fenwick of The Johns Hopkins News-Letter complimented Spears's songwriting and added the song "shows a glimmer of the talent that hides behind the robotic, synthed-out vocals on the rest of the album." Christy Lemire of msnbc.com called it "actually a pretty tune" and named it the best ballad in Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.[14] Jason Shawhan of About.com said "Everytime" "screams Single!". Spence D. of IGN said the song "continues to mine the Zone turf and unleashes what is ostensibly Britney's first mature ballad, at least in terms of being musically staid and stripped of any danceteria sweat and gloss." Linda McGee of RTÉ.ie said that along with In the Zone's "Brave New Girl", they were "individually impressive", but disrupted the direction of the album. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly commented, "With its dainty piano, 'Everytime' plays like a forlorn postmortem on her Justin Timberlake era."[18] Sterling Clover of The Village Voice called it "a weeper in the best 'Time After Time' (1984) tradition." William Shaw of Blender said that while "Everytime" was not her greatest ballad, the lyrics were "certainly heartfelt". A reviewer from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner stated, "[the] breathy ballad [has] got a stage musical feel to it, but Britney's no Elaine Paige". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine named it along with "Shadow" "two sappy ballads".
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Despite strong chart performance, the track has received mixed reviews among Rihanna's fans and critics, as it is the first ballad she released and quite a contrast to the pop/R&B/reggae foundation of her previous work. Her vocal performance has also been the subject of criticism. Shaun Kitchener of UKMix states "There's no denying that her voice is strong",[5] but Bill Lamb of About.com states, "Rihanna's voice is not particularly strong. There are points here at which it sounds thin and reedy", though due to the fact that this song was thought to be a strong contender for the Grammys. However, when the 2007 nominations were released, the song received none.
You should know we don't even use that person. No need to start trouble. 
