This song is badass. I don’t care about Britney Spears’ singing, but the music of the song itself kicks ass. If Britney Spears wasn’t singing and it was just an instrumental song, it would be a sweet track.
I found myself kinda liking it, too, and when I first heard it, I wasn’t aware that Britney was the one who sang it. Britney does an OK job of handling the lead singing task. She doesn’t have the pipes that Aquilera has, but she’s an OK vocalist. I’m not sure why everyone despises her so. She seems to be well fitted to her role of pop singer.
I’ve listened to this song about 400 billion times, and I still love it. But then, I’m a big Britney fan in general.
Love the video, too.
That’s becuase it’s The Neptunes. Most stuff they produce comes out great, regardless of the artist. 
Also - the “I’m a slave 4 U” instrumental (that they did) is amazingly hot - it sounds like the Talking Heads or something.
Is there a list somewhere of all the big hits the Neptunes have produced? I’m not a huge fan of the bubblegum pop and R&B genres, and hip-hop is very hit or miss with me, but whenever someone tells me the Neptunes produced a particular song, it’s usually one I like. With these musical styles, where the producers are as important (if not moreso) than the performers, I’m always very interested to know who was “behind the song.”
Interesting. I wonder how much good music is never heard by a lot of folks because of the execrable lead singing.
I’m pretty sure the Neptunes didn’t produce that song. It was Bloodshy & Avant according to this link and a few others I found.
Link
You are right that they did produce “I’m a Slave 4 U”, but Britney publically said she would not work with the Neptunes after she did her “Britney”, album on which the Neptunes produced a few songs and remixes.
You can find a partial list of songs the Neptunes have produced here . Some of the following songs are very catchy if you like rap/hip-hop:
Baby- Clap that Boy/What Happened to that Boy
Clipse- When’s the Last Time, Cot’ Damn
Fabolous- Young’n
Jadakiss- Knock Yourself Out
Jay Z - La La La (Excuse Me Miss Remix)
Justin Timberlake – Señorita
Kelis- Milkshake
Snoop Dogg- Beautiful
LL Cool J - Luv U Better
Ludacris featuring Pharrell Williams - Southern Hospitality
Nelly - Hot In Herre
N.E.R.D.- Maybe, What’s Wrong With Me
Noreaga - Full Mode, Grimey, Oh No!, Nothing, Superthug
N’Sync - Girlfriend
ODB- Got Your Money
P.Diddy- D.I.D.D.Y, Show me your Soul
Pharrell Williams featuring Jay Z - Frontin’
Usher - U Don’t Have To Call
They also are part of a group called N.E.R.D that has two albums. Although they mostly produce singles, they do produce full albums for artists on their label called Star Trak; which can be found here.
Also, if you like the Neptunes you might also like beats done by producers such as Timbaland, Just Blaze, Kanye West, The Alchemist, Lil’ Jon, and Jazze Pha (who collectively do most of the well known hip-hop beats today).
I heard a version of Toxic that had the vocals from Usher’s Yeah Yeah song. Lil’ John screaming “OKAY!!!” never sounded funnier.