You want it to be bad. You want it to be really, really bad. You want it to be so eye-squintingly awful this train wreck called Britney Spears disappears from our lives forever. Unfortunately, it’s not that bad. In fact, it’s nowhere near as bad as it deserves to be.

Despite the constant drama—the marriage, the head-shaving, the divorce, the rehab, the custody battle, the MTV performance and the lack of underwear—Britney has done what she used to do better than anyone else: made an enjoyable pop album.

From the opening tones of Gimme More to the closing Pharrell Williams-produced ballad Why Should I Be So Sad, Britney proves she can leave her chaotic personal life at the door to produce the goods in the studio.

There are classic club tracks (Gimme More, Hot As Ice), sexually suggestive eyebrow-raisers (Break the Ice, Get Naked (I Got A Plan)) and nu-rave romps (Toy Soldier, Ooh Ooh Baby).

And Britney still can’t sing. Her vocals have more layers than a French pastry factory, often sounding so distorted a robot could be singing. But aren’t all Britney Spears albums like that?

You’ll always be a freak show, Britney. But as long as you keep churning out albums as good as “Blackout,” we won’t stop watching.