Shit. This song—written and coproduced by our old friend Max Martin, who understood the baffling provocation of having a 16-year-old girl sing the phrase, “Hit me baby, one more time” repeatedly, even if he insisted he was just doing the melodic math—is too much. She’s too much. Britney’s too-muchness works for her, spectacularly, if you manage to just focus on the song, focus on her triumphantly apocalyptic diction.
