By infinity-tracking Spears’ thin vocals on her debut, Swedish hitmaker Max Martin made her sound like the nubile robot of every boy's dreams. Adding in a slew of vaguely hip-hop dance beats, …Baby One More Time was full of danceable, sexy trifles that made Spears a star. 

 The title track of Spears’ next record, "Oops!...I Did It Again," almost reaches the melodic heights of "…Baby One More Time," but the whole affair sounds much more menacing. The robot is gloating, amoral, out of control.  

 Spears’ third effort, Britney, was the inevitable attempt to allow her to grow up and overtly claim some of her sexuality. But in the same manner as before, handlers deemed it necessary to ensure she was still a subservient male fantasy figure.  

 Max Martin's hooky handiwork is missed on In the Zone, but the record, made with a grab bag of star producers from Moby to the Neptunes, has definite club cred. Bloodshy & Avant get it very right with the sexily infectious "Toxic." 

 Before Spears’ affairs spiraled out of control, Jive squeezed out Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, which featured a middling cover of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" and a previously unreleased banger called "Do Somethin.'”  

 The turmoil surrounding Spears' private affairs overshadowed the release of Blackout, but the album later picked up steam with critics, earning praise as her most consistent creative effort to date. 

 Spears reunites on Circus with Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, and the Swedish hitmakers who produced her earliest smashes, Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The buzzy "Womanizer" and photog-taunting stomper “Kill the Lights” recall Blackout’s relentless synth crush.