Spears is assisted by One More Time producer Max Martin, hitmaker Diane Warren and, of all people, Shania Twain (herself no stranger to cheese), who co-writes "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," one of the record's best tracks despite its obvious resemblance to Del Amitri's "Always the Last to Know."

Spears, whose alleged breast implants did more to hurt the cause of teenage female self-esteem than anything since Kate Moss, tries to make up for it with the saucy, Girl Power-ed "What U See (Is What You Get)," in which she admonishes a hapless suitor, "I can never be nobody else / And I like the way I am." Spears is more assured on bristling pop tracks such as these than on gooey ballads, including "Dear Diary," which she co-wrote herself.

Oops is sprinkled with Spears' presumably real answering-machine messages and obviously faked teen banter, all of which is presumably meant to assure her audiences that the ever-richer, ever-blonder Britney is still jest us folks. About her slowed-down, tarted-up version of the Stones' "Satisfaction," the less said the better, though if Devo and Aretha Franklin couldn't do right by it, even the newly pneumatic Britney doesn't stand a chance.