Max Martin is a genius. He is indeed Martin White from It's Alive. If you added a bit more guitar to anything he's written and produced for Backstreet Boys/Britney Spears etc then you'd have a finer honed It's Alive. Max also wrote the Clawfinger-like 'Simon Says' on Swedish female Metal band Drain's second album. He's certainly made more money from producing/writing/engineering for pop acts (first worked on records by Dr Alban and Ace Of Base after quitting It's Alive) than playing Funk Metal and Kiss covers in Swedish clubs.
Remember though that Bon Jovi never really had any hits until they hooked up with Desmond Child. And, as great as they were, the Desmond Child & Rouge albums could hardly be described as full on hard rock!
The fact that Max Martin is involved made me go buy the Backstreet Boys/Britney records!