The aftermath of ' 2007 freak-out and wound up with her ceding control of her personal and professional life to her father and producers, respectively, leaving her as no more than a figurehead of an enterprise. Of course, had essentially been the face of a carefully calibrated pop machine for years, but every element of that contraption hinged on her persona, the songs and the sound fitting her evolution. Starting with , started to slip into the background on her own records, a progression that continued unabated on and finds some kind of culmination on 2011's . Essentially a cleaner, classier remake of the gaudily dark is a producer's paradise, each cut decked out with stretched vocals, glassy keyboards, and insistent beats, all coming together in hyperactive arrangements that shift every five seconds. Sonically, it's all surface style, driven by sound and given shape by hypersexual lyrics. dutifully steps through the paces, singing enough of the words so they can be tweaked in the computer, never getting in the way of the producers, who deliver a showcase. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine