'Femme Fatale' reviews usher in end of Britney Spears' career?

Contrary to the initial hype mustered by the single 'Hold it against me' and its much-anticipated video, Britney Spears' latest album, 'Femme Fatale', has failed to impress the critics. The reviews of the pop singer's seventh studio album decry the lack of energy that Spears was known for, raising concerns if 'Femme Fatale' would mark the end of her career.

While a headline on The Seattle Times read, With 'Femme Fatale,' Britney Spears ascends to ice queen, A.D. Amorosi of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, But on Femme Fatale, Spears sounds more willing than ever to become both a tool of technology and its remote yet passionate commander. Listen to Trip to Your Heart, the achy- breakiest electro-pop ever, and tell me you can't feel Britney's yearning through the Auto-Tune-and-tweaks.

On the other hand, a review on Edmonton Journal noted, Here we have the kind of pop star whose voice only sounds right when it's Auto-Tuned.

A USA Today review titled, 'Brit's 'Femme Fatale': Plenty fun but nothing fresh', argues, Spears isn't spearheading a beat revolution here. None of the 12 songs (16 on the deluxe edition) are groundbreaking or challenging. This is synthetic, assembly-line dance music that pulls the strongest elements from 2007's Blackout and 2008's Circus.

Spears' appeal can be baffling. Her voice, swamped by the fastidious production, is thin and colorless.

Still, her babyish coo and seductive breathiness prove appealing on such pop-tastic thumpers as Hold It Against Me and Inside Out.

With many media outlets questioning if Spears would manage to repeat the success of her earlier albums with 'Femme Fatale', released following the singer's tumultous times with shaven head and rehabs; questions on the possibility of a far more serious consequence of the failure of the album signalling the end of Britney Spears' career have also surfaced.