Album: Britney Spears, Femme Fatale (Jive)

The madder she gets, the more interesting she gets. That ought to be how it works.

Sadly, perhaps due to a last-ditch attempt by her label to get her back on track, Britney's latest has none of the head-shaving mentalism you'd hope for. Max Martin, Mr "Baby One More Time", has been roped in again along with scores of interchangeable Scandinavians to create an album of autotuned landfill chartpop which you will scour in vain for anything on a par with "Womanizer".