Britney's back on top with new album

When Britney chanted ‘Love me, hate me, say what you want about me…' in her 2009 hit If U Seek Amy, she wasn't kidding. After more than 19 years in the spotlight, the 29-year-old star is still one of the most polarising and gossiped-about figures in the music biz. And as the third most mentioned person on the internet according to Forbes, it's clear that her fans still can't get enough of all things Britney.

As her seventh album Femme Fatale gets critics gushing, we reveal why Britney's appeal is stronger than ever. 

We still don't really know her

When the 17-year-old Britney burst onto the music scene back in 1998 with the Grammy-nominated …Baby, One More Time, music critics and fans alike thought they had the measure of the Louisiana native, with most dismissing her as a manufactured flash-in-the-pan pop poppet with a cool line in catchy hooks.

But while the likes of Madonna and Kylie opt for carefully planned image reinventions every few years to keep the fans interested, Brit's impulsive approach to her life and career, with a 55-hour Vegas marriage, a notorious head shaving incident, an ill-advised paparazzo romance and a stint in rehab to name but a few, has meant that, unlike Madonna who is pretty much guaranteed to eat a macrobiotic carrot stick then go to the gym for eight hours each day, when it comes to Brit, you never know what the girl will do next. 

She's actually just like us

You don't think so? Well consider the fluctuating weight, the daily Starbucks runs, the custody battle, the guys your mother wouldn't want you dating (K-Fed, Colin Farrell, Fred Durst), the bitter break-ups (yes, you Justin Timberlake), the highs (album sales of more than 100 million), the lows (Crossroads, anyone?) and the guys your mother does want you to date (Jason Trawick) - all pretty standard modern life fare, right?

"She's been shamed, stalked, bullied, rehabbed and ruled a bad mother by a court of law," observed the LA Times' Carl Wilson. "There's something glorious about answering with a victory dance." 

The numbers speak for themselves

Simply playing the numbers game - the music industry's favourite - speaks volumes when it comes to Britney. After the single …Baby, One More Time shifted a whopping half a million copies in the US on its first day of release, her follow up Oops!...I Did It Again, released in May 2000, broke records for the highest debut sales by a solo artist. And with her appearance on Glee earning the show its highest ratings ever and her recent Circus tour grossing an impressive Dh500 million, it's clear that Britney's number is one!

Femme Fatale: What the critics say 

Rolling Stone: "Femme Fatale may be Britney's best album… How I Roll is sputtering, oddly beautiful techno… say this for Britney: She's an adventuress." 

The Guardian: "Synth stabs, techno builds, house pianos and Ibizan dynamics conjoin with high-end digital production to create a new hybrid pop." 

US Weekly: "… unapologetic, dark, throbbing dancepop… awesome beats." 

Entertainment Weekly: "… in its own overprocessed way, [her voice is] just as iconic and propulsive as Michael Jackson's yips or Eminem's snarls."