 The compilation album received universal critical acclaim from music critics . Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the collection five stars and compared it to Greatest Hits : My Prerogative , saying that although they had the same length , they were " different listening experiences " . He also noted that the more recent tracks " help push The Singles away from teen pop and toward pure dance @-@ pop bliss . [ ... ] It does result in a stronger overall listen , since there are no slow patches here , just a parade of relentless hooks and rhythms that wound up defining the sound of a decade " . Mayer Nissim of Digital Spy also gave the album five stars stating that " [ it ] perfectly captures the career of one of the best singles artists of the last ten years . Running from ' ... Baby One More Time ' to ' Radar ' , you get a single @-@ disc timeline that shows a progression in style and substance from school uniform @-@ wearing pop ingénue to sultry motorik <unk> . [ ... ] The only arguable weak link is the Madonna @-@ featuring ' Me Against the Music ' , but in this context what once looked like a respectful passing of the baton now seems like an unconditional surrender of pop Queendom to its rightful heir . " The reviewer also noted the impact on popular culture and pop music of Spears , highlighting " Oops ! ... I Did It Again " , " Toxic " and " Stronger " . 
