In the 15 years since ...Baby One More Time introduced us to the sexed up virgin Britney Spears, she’s managed to eschew major backlash. Everyone roots for Britney. Maybe because she’s got the down-to-earth country thang happening, ever loyal to her cutoffs and Uggs. Or maybe, it’s because over eight albums, her somewhat inscrutable je ne sais quoi has never really faltered. 

Say what you want about Britney’s discography, but she rarely repeats herself. Sure, there are themes and memes that carry over. But she’s no, say, Avril Lavigne, stunted in a tweenage popdom, incomprehensibly unable to evolve. 

For Spears, it’s more music-industry savvy than creative genius, a canny ability to keep abreast of the musical clime, and sell each Brit-carnation very well. She sold the faux coming-of-age innocence of Oops!… I Did It Again; the comeback-queen dance-pop of Circus; the dubstep cheese of Femme Fatale.

And she’s selling Britney Jean, the 36 minutes of unabashed club music with its plentiful Random Access Memories moments (tracks 4-7). She also tries out 80s pop balladry (think Tegan & Sara’s latest album) on Perfume – which also has the only interesting storytelling (Spears as other woman) – and to a lesser degree, Passenger. Spears grabs hold of these trendy musical ideas in the most un-nuanced ways possible, but then, subtlety isn’t what we want from her. Throw in a will.i.am collaboration (It Should Be Easy) and you’ve got yourself a hit album.  

With producers/co-writers like David Guetta, Diplo and Dr. Luke onboard, the dance elements are not surprising, and mostly catchy. There is plenty of momentum on the first half of the record – the dreamy intro of Alien (one of those timeless Britney tracks that could actually be on any album), the driving EDM beat of problem-titled Work Bitch. (I’d argue the message is at least semi-feminist; and let’s not forget the girl’s tagline: “It’s Britney, Bitch.”) 

So, it’s a bummer that the last half of the album descends into bland and skippable. On Tik Tik Boom Britney does that thing where she says one word or phrase that sounds a lot (wink, wink) like another one, and T.I. adds a despicable verse (“Beat her, beat her/ treat her like an animal/somebody call PETA."). And the attempt at sisterly sincerity on Chillin’ With You (a duet with her sister, Jamie Lynn) falls very flat. But then, you are as sure to find mega-duds on a Britney album as you are to find mega-hits. 

Also, yeesh: lay off the Auto-Tune. Britney’s warbly, trembling whine/wail might not be for everyone, but she used to actually sing, no? And those who loved it, loved it a lot.     

Top track: Perfume