Back to Basics

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Tue Aug 15 2023

4

I somehow feel a bit sorry for her here, maybe she’s a victim of her own success? As a teen pop superstar phenomena I’ve never really taken her seriously. She’s devastatingly attractive, has a massive voice, she is writing all her own stuff and working with brilliant producers. But it is still a bit too pop for me. I get the feeling this album will catch some hate on here, but if you can get past the perfect pop packaging she’s a very talented artist and there are some good tunes on here.

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Tue Aug 15 2023

4

It’s a long album, but you can choose any song and be blown away by her talent. Definitely changed my view of her, since I always just had her a generic pop star in my head. My bad.

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Mon Aug 14 2023

2

Christina is apparently the queen of releasing bloated, saccharine albums with ironic titles. Multiple tracks on this album have a distracting vinyl crackle that fades in and out constantly. I thought it might be a problem with Spotify, but it turns out this was an intentional production choice, which is baffling. Best track: Without You

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Tue Aug 15 2023

5

Can’t believe it’s my first time hearing this. Front to back bangers

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Sun Sep 10 2023

5

I previously thought Christina Aguilera was a pop artist because of other people's songs that she was featured in. But this album clearly shows she is confident working with a variety of genres, so one of the themes of the album - getting inspired by old-school rap and soul music - works really well. The songs themselves also cover a variety of moods and themes so that anyone can find something to enjoy: the vibe varies from sweet to bold, from heartbreaking to weird and funny. And yet, the album does not feel disjointed, but rather a genuine expression of Aguilera's different sides as a person and interests as an artist.

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Sun Sep 17 2023

5

I liked the first disc well enough, although I felt a bit like an outsider… especially through the Thank You song at the end (seems she and her fans are having a personal moment I didn’t feel entirely comfortable listening to). I wasn’t sure I was up for a second disc. To my surprise that second disc really connected with me! The best Christina I’ve listened to. Fantastic!

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Sun Sep 17 2023

5

When I said that Stripped was a long, epic album, I didn't realize we weren't through. Woah! This did really feel long sometimes, but man it also packs a lot of amazing stuff in it! I'm impressed! I'm blown away! A powerful tribute to the women who inspired her.

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Fri Sep 22 2023

5

Love me some Christina and not ashamed

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Tue Aug 15 2023

4

This was way better then I expected it! Wow, I did miss it back then I guess. I can’t remember any song. But hey now I know it and can go back to when I want to

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Fri Sep 08 2023

4

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would

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Fri Sep 15 2023

4

For the world of pop, although it leans heavily to R&B, this is a very ambitious album. It experiments in original ways that still keep the album enjoyable. The songs are beautiful and, it goes with saying, so is Christina’s voice. The production is impeccable. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it overstays it’s welcome, however, if one didn’t think the project was becoming repetitive on disc one, than one must have felt it on disc two. For an hour and nineteen minutes, it still makes an incredible effort in that all the songs sound fairly individual. I enjoyed it, great album. 4/5

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Sun Sep 17 2023

4

I really quite enjoyed many tracks on the album…more than I expected. I think that if the album ran shorter I would have liked it more.

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Sat Sep 23 2023

4

Très belle prestation de la part de Christina, malgré une longueur d'album absolument insoutenable, Deux albums 4/5 d'affilé, ce n'était plus arrivé depuis des millénaires

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Sat Sep 23 2023

4

Une Christina Aguilera des grands jours qui samplera les choristes et invitera d'ailleurs Kad Merad en duo sur le morceau en question. En parlant de choristes, j'en profite pour vous partager une anecdote. Quand j'étais en classe de CP, la maîtresse nous annonça un beau matin qu'un monsieur allait nous apprendre des chansons. Ce vieux monsieur arriva bel et bien accompagné de ses mystérieuses intentions (je suppose maintenant qu'il était pédophile). Nous apprîmes donc lesdites chansons, totalement idiotes au passage, et n'entendirent plus parler du vieux pédo pendant plusieurs mois. Vers la fin de l'année, alors que nous étions tranquillement en train de travailler en classe, celui-ci se pointa pour nous annoncer que nous allions nous produire le lendemain soir dans une grande salle de concert devant des milliers de personnes. "Tu te fous de notre gueule ?" répliqua l'ensemble de la classe. Vous vous en doutez, nous avions complètement oublié ses chansons à la con et le concert fut une cacophonie.

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Fri Sep 29 2023

4

Way way better than expected. One I'd never have checked out.

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Thu Nov 02 2023

4

Some excellent ballads with jazz and other influences What a voice, comparable to Adele Favourite song: Mercy on Me

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Fri Nov 03 2023

4

Christina Aguilera does pop to perfection so this album does not disappoint on that front. It has that speakeasy flavour that I remember being popular at the time but it doesn’t date the album too badly. The length was daunting and I think it could have been much shorter but it flows well and keeps hitting highs all the way through.

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Tue Nov 28 2023

4

Production is too busy, mostly over-sung but the talent is undeniable

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Thu Aug 17 2023

3

Vintage aesthetics are perennially wrung out in pop music, and this album seems-self aware of that fact. As a matter of fact, that’s dang near one of the theses of the album. But I don’t give points for self-awareness. Christina’s vocal delivery is a great match for the album, however. She has an aggressive, over-the-top rendition of a vintage voice, which is absolutely made for a 2000s vintage pop album. Unfortunately however, this album is a rocket ship with no fuel. Christina builds the foundation for unique ideas about vintage promiscuity and womanhood, and reaches farther back for samples than many of her peers, but the ideas hardly ever go anywhere. What makes the album unique, feels almost buried under unremarkable love songs and the excess of 2000s album structures. If the trends had been in Christina’s favor, maybe this album would have aged better with other artists building on it. Alas, the pop zeitgeist would be looking to the future instead of the past for about 5 years following this album, so it stands alone. And this is not an album that benefits from standing alone.

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Mon Aug 21 2023

1

Such a long and terrible album....honestly nothing redeeming about it. 1/5

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Fri Aug 25 2023

1

I fail to see how a bog standard, basic pop album is something that must be listened to before you die. Genre defining? No. Ground-breaking? Hardly. Paradigm shifting? Not even close.

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Mon Sep 18 2023

1

It started of fine and there were some moments i liked, but it went for way to long and there are some really bad moments too. Couldve been tolerable if it was like half as long. But then it still wouldnt be good, i would just not hate listening to it as much.

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Mon Oct 30 2023

1

Tried to listen with no prejudice. Disc one is fairly painful; unchallenging dusty beats with Xtina moaning over the top. Disappointed to find out most of it was produced by DJ Premier. 'Thank You' was frankly embarrassing, as was the section naming famous musicians. Saying "Billie Holiday" out loud doesn't musically align you with your hero, it just reminds me that I could be listening to something better than this. The songs on disc two weren't all that, but were a far better use of her voice.

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Thu Nov 23 2023

1

The intro song is so corny I'm sorry. I think I didn't really like any of the self-referential songs (Still Dirrty) because they were very plainly written and just not every interesting. The "Thank You" interlude was also weird to me? The sampled fan voicemail selections were... interesting. The second half opens... interestingly... with Nasty Naughty Boy, which was. A song. It's incredible how sexual some of these tracks are while also being decidedly not sexy.

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Wed Aug 16 2023

5

I feel like the greatest artists always have a signature style and Aguilera's voice is so unique that it makes me cum instantly. Back to Basics draws back the curtains and stabs a dagger of joy into your back. Faultless.

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Wed Nov 08 2023

5

So damn cool. Lot of energy

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Thu Nov 23 2023

5

Of course Christina’s voice is fantastic! There wasn’t a single song that I didn’t enjoy, and most of the album (all but three songs) were new to me. This felt like two completely separate albums, and I honestly feel like the album would’ve benefited by being released as two separate albums. It was almost too much Christina at once. Especially since the two halves of the album are so stylistically different from each other, I think two 30-40 minute albums would’ve been better than one almost 80 minute album. But anyway, this is 4.5 stars for me.

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Sun Aug 27 2023

4

Guilty pleasure alert! that said...no album should be 80 minutes long. holy smokes

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Sat Sep 02 2023

4

This album is a bit like Simply Red - such a powerful voice that gets a little overwhelming after a few tracks.

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Thu Oct 05 2023

4

A lot better than I expected. I remember really hating on Ain't No Other Man & Candyman when they came out. 10-year-old me had particular tastes when it came to music. Anyway, this kind of pop record really shows that Christina is more than whatever the media thought she was. Back to Basics is a great album and almost a "re-branding" of sorts. It seems a bit long, but the songs go by quicker than you think. Sidenote: I really liked "Oh Mother" as a HUGE fan of Bruno Coulais' work on Les Choristes.

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Thu Oct 05 2023

4

I dock one point for the heavy use of tech (samples) when time and money was likely available to pay a few more great session musicians, maybe some that the ladies she is paying tribute to have used, but four stars for the message: "I've waited for some time To get inside the minds Of every legend I've ever wanted to stand beside So here I stand today In tribute I do pay To those before me who laid it down and paved the way" Niiiice.

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Thu Oct 19 2023

4

Allow me to say, I love "Ain't No Other Man", but I'm going to have to pace myself here. The Wall is the same length! Ok, Disc 1 is done, I definitely enjoyed it more than I thought I would, more than other crooners like Britney Spears & Mariah Carey. Disc 2: oh this is a Tom Waits record Alright it isn’t, but she had me fooled It’s melodramatic, and the bloat is real, but I’d still go far as to say that they should’ve kept this in the book. It’s a decent representative of 2006 pop music, and it’s kinda silly only 4 albums make up that year in the new edition of the book HL: “Makes Me Wanna Pray”, “Ain’t No Other Man”, “Slow Down Baby”, “Here to Stay”, “Candyman”, “I Got Trouble”, “The Right Man” Not as crazy about: “Hurt”

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Fri Oct 27 2023

4

Never really listened to Christina Aguilera but this album is pretty solid

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Thu Nov 02 2023

4

The handful of her song I've heard before already let me know she has an incredible voice, but this is the first album of hers I've listened to all the way through. Wow. She is superb at her craft and I really enjoyed this. What a voice, what expression, what soul!

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Tue Nov 07 2023

4

El comienzo de Oh mother es como la canción principal de Los Chicos Del Coro. Está bastante bien el disco.

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Tue Nov 07 2023

4

Ugh - I braced myself when this album turned up - but but but - it turns to be a pretty half decent record. First half is a strong showing of R&B, Soul and Gospel influences that are actually tasteful, then this second is split between some decent pop ballads and had it ended at the ‘Thank You’ track it would been an actually great record. But then it kind of descends into this gaudy cartoonish cabaret that gets old very very quickly. But if you skip that - this is a good record. I would never have guessed.

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Fri Nov 10 2023

4

Side B !

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Mon Nov 20 2023

4

My poptimism must be back in full force, for I overlook the distractions of faux-analog to pronounce the first volume of Back to Basics 75% successful. Christina's voice explodes with power and pretty much never lets up, noted length-induced fatigue aside. The sustained performance over 00s RnB is pretty unique, but the second disc is more interesting if a smidge less impressive. The double LP is certainly sprawling, doesn't feel the need to vary overmuch, yet gets away with a very small number of skips.

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Mon Nov 27 2023

4

Très bon album de pop, j'aime beaucoup l'influence des années 40/50 et sa voix surpuissante supporte bien les paroles. Malheureusement, en faire un double album, c'est quand même chaud, la deuxième partie semble de trop.

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Tue Nov 28 2023

4

Once she gets away from the Mtv inspired pop songs, her true range comes out and you can really see what an amazing artist she is.

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Sat Aug 12 2023

3

Excelente voz femenina. A ratos sensual, en otras con más timbre. Canciones fáciles de escuchar. En la primera parte del disco, canciones con más ritmo. En el segundo CD, se luce y se aprecia más su voz

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Sun Aug 13 2023

3

Pop. Bastante mejor de lo esperado.

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Fri Aug 18 2023

3

3.5

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Fri Aug 18 2023

3

Accomplished, but just not my thing.

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Sat Aug 19 2023

3

I prefer this to Christina's earlier 1001 release. Her jazzy, bluesy voice is firing on all cylinders, and she's much more listenable than singers I'd lump in the same category, like Britney or Mariah. The songs shoot off in Different directions and the production, is, at times, downright edgy. My million dollar question though, is why do so many superstar female vocalists, from Christina to Beyonce to Madonna share song writing credits with many, sometimes more than a dozen, guys?

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Mon Aug 21 2023

3

idk why but i thought christina aguilera was a pop artist. it was good but nothing really special. a little long

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Wed Aug 23 2023

3

Never thought I would enjoy but this one is her best album. Amazing voice

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Tue Aug 29 2023

3

It has some fun pop bops on it. I can't listen to a whole album of it really though.

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Tue Sep 05 2023

3

Nou, ik zal eens gul doen.

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Wed Sep 06 2023

3

She has a great voice, not really my bag, but a real talent. 3 stars.

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Wed Sep 06 2023

3

Shows off her talent, but it goes on a little too long. The "Thank You" track was probably well-intentioned, but comes off a bit cringey, like testimonials for the Christina Aguilera brand.

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Thu Sep 07 2023

3

6th September 2023 Listened mainly on the drive to and from Costco. Christina brings her pop vocal prowess to play with a big band. Results are strong.

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Thu Sep 07 2023

3

not bad tbh

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Fri Sep 08 2023

3

Meh.

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Fri Sep 08 2023

3

I actually liked some of this album. Incredible voice with some riffs on old school standards

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Fri Sep 08 2023

3

Some songs on this album are quite good - Aguilera recruited a group of talented producers and they generally delivered. However, this album is way too long. And part of its central theme is calling back to past classics. I’d certainly rather be listening to any of the artists that she name drops than this album. The second half of the album also felt entirely superfluous to me. Side note: the album cover is one of the worst I’ve seen in over 900 projects on this list. 6/10

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Fri Sep 08 2023

3

5/10. There were some nice old fashioned Soul/R&B sounds in there, and I respect her for taking those and doing something new with them, but I'll admit I would've probably liked the album more if she hadn't. And why was there a clown-music song on this album? She's not even British.

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Sun Sep 10 2023

3

I listened to it as duty calls me to. It's competent but 100% not my thing. Idk.

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Thu Sep 14 2023

3

It's not necessarily an album that I would relisten from top to bottom, however there are few songs that I discovered and added to my playlist I enjoyed them especially Slow Down Baby & Still Dirrty.

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Sun Sep 17 2023

3

We got Aguilera's Stripped on my birthday just a couple of months ago and my review then mentioned being put off by the 78-minute running time. And here we are again with another 78 minutes of music. And again still, I am impressed with Aguilera's voice but I find a lot of these songs very samey and not my thing at all. My ears perked up a bit with the first few old-style tunes on disc 2 but then we were back to mostly full-throated melisma eventually. I wish this album was about half as long.

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Fri Sep 22 2023

3

Had some Christina Aguilera songs I had heard before like Ain't No Other Man but I hadn't heard the majority of the songs before. Some good songs but not all my style.

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Fri Sep 22 2023

3

Stripped has been one of my most unexpected highlights of this process. Realising that I'd missed a truly brilliant album out of snobbery at the time. This, the follow up, is less great. Both sides have a single banger (Ain't No Other Man and Candyman) and there's good bits - a twelve bar blues gone 00s pop, an odd duck with a 50 Cent sample and an opener with Steve Winwood! But it's overlong, overstuffed and a bit of a slog overall

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Fri Sep 29 2023

3

Not my style, but she's great at what she does.

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Sun Oct 01 2023

3

Ahh why do these albums have to be so long? This was two albums smashed together for no reason. In isolation I dind't hate either, but together it's dumb. I liked the 2nd one more. Still because of the excessive length I disliked it. Cut out the fat and make something good.

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Mon Oct 02 2023

3

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Ain’t no other man

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Sun Oct 08 2023

3

2.5

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Thu Oct 12 2023

3

Very strong first half. If you just look at that disk 1 it's probably 8/10. The second half makes the album pretty bloated. A lot of highs, and a lot of filler

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Fri Oct 13 2023

3

Un mix de old school jazz et de soul à la sauce moderne. Cool style. Y'a des tounes ça faisait longtemps j'avais pas entendu.

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Fri Oct 13 2023

3

Good!! Candyman is my fave track.

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Sun Oct 15 2023

3

Pop, R&B. Ni fu ni fa.

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Mon Oct 16 2023

3

And here we have the most overt pop album I've done so far. It was also released the year I was born! Anyway, this one's okay. I think Christina is a really good singer. Her voice lends well to these songs. The writing and subject matter is a bit basic, though. The album is a bit too long, but unlike the last album I listened to, LCD Soundsystem's "American Dream," that comes from the amount of songs, as opposed to the length of the songs. Something interesting about this album is the clear split between the first and second halves in terms of tone. The first half is fairly consistent, with the same general sound and use of horn samples throughout. The second half started by feeling pretty unique, then it made me uncomfortable, and it ended fairly strongly. Overall, nothing amazing, but a pretty decent album all things considered. 3/5.

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Wed Oct 18 2023

3

Twee cd's vol zuurstok-hip-pop-n-soul. Ze heeft wel een dijk van een stem, dat valt moeilijk te ontkennen. Maar waarom wil ze dat continu etaleren op volume brandweer zonder daadwerkelijk enige vorm van tekst? Wohohoho yeaheaheah! Steeds maar weer willen laten zien hoe goed je hard kan zingen. Muzikaal zit het verder wel goed in elkaar, uitstekend gebruik van beatjes en toeters om de boel aan te kleden. Alhoewel Christina zichzelf liever uitkleedt sinds haar gebooste plastic zelfvertrouwen. Een degelijke 3, al blijft ook nu weer het probleem dat een dubbelalbum volstrekt onnodig is.

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Wed Oct 18 2023

3

Dit is het soort artiest dat ik totaal niet volg. Zo iemand die uiterlijk altijd verstopt gaat onder een laag plamuur, glitter en nep, bah. Toch is dit in muzikaal opzicht wel een aardig afwisselend album, veel verschillende stijlen en allemaal wel leuk gedaan. Maar ja, ik knap af op die track 'Thank you' (met allemaal slijmerige fans) en al die andere zelfverheerlijking. Puntje eraf daarvoor.

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Wed Oct 18 2023

3

I only knew Christina Aguilera by name. I probably heard a bunch of her songs before but wouldn't be able to name a single one. I must admit I was skeptic before listening to it. I even thought about skipping it all together. After some thought I did force me to listen and it was.. Good? It's far from what I listen usually, but I really enjoyed it. No songs really made an impression on me, but I still spent a nice moment listening to it. It's a 3, but it very well could have been a 4

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Thu Oct 19 2023

3

Tremendous voice and some catchy songs, but ultimately felt that the album was too long. Pretty much quintessential 2000s pop. 6/10.

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Mon Oct 23 2023

3

Decent album but again there just seems something missing, shame that they tried so hard to have her capitalize on the RnB craze back then

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Tue Oct 24 2023

3

There are some great tunes here, and I like the production choices and instrumentation, especially in the first half. But damn the album is too long.

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Thu Nov 02 2023

3

First of all, the production is like nails on a chalkboard. Especially the S-sounds and some of the percussion. That being said, she has a good voice. The songs would have been good with a more organic production. The arrangements are too tight, too perfect, emotionless. And it's longer than it should have been. Apparently this record is not in the latest editions of the book anymore. There's other records I would remove before this one, despite the obvious shortcomings. Favorite song: Oh Mother.

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Fri Nov 10 2023

3

This is definitely NOT back to basics. It's a very ambitious album with loads going on. I think she's got a great voice (but would like to hear more calm) and I enjoyed this more than I expected. The main problem for me is just that it is far too long, lacks a bit of cohesion or direction, and she repeats a lot of the lyrical themes so much throughout. I reckon you could make a great 35 min album from this but 78mins? Nah.

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Tue Nov 14 2023

3

If this were just disc 1 I'd give it 4 or maybe 5. She's got the pipes and this is great 2000s pop! Ain't No Other Man is one of my favorite pop tracks of the era. But this album is nearly 90 minutes long and the entire second disc is disposable.

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Wed Nov 15 2023

3

Ok, too long and too poppy. She has a really strong voice and there are some really good songs on there though.

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Mon Nov 20 2023

3

I hate albums with a thank you song. Her songs are not good enough for an album this long.

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Wed Nov 22 2023

3

Before even looking, I knew the community reviews were going to be a dumpster fire. Not every album is going to be Led Zeppelin II. The whole point of using this site is to broaden your horizons. It's embarrassing seeing people reacting to this album like they're being asked to shoot the family pet. I agree that it's not a great album. It has some of her best songs on it, but the entire album has one specific vibe to it that gets a bit old very quickly. She's a phenomenal singer, but it all feels a bit one-trick after a few songs. The backing tracks all sound a bit samey after a while too. Some of them are very sparse too. And I'm not sure that this album is as deep as she seems to think. Still, it's not horrible. You guys are just babies.

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Fri Nov 24 2023

3

Better than I thought. Cool samples and production. But very long.

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Wed Nov 29 2023

3

Second half was much more interesting than the first

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Fri Dec 01 2023

3

I like the idea of this vintage framework on an album and Christina Aguilera certainly has the vocal chops to do something ambitious with it. But the concept, such as it is, is uneven and not fully fleshed out. The samples and other bells and whistles were mostly just annoying to my ears. Christina is obviously an extremely talented vocalist and her performances are technically excellent here. But she’s very much a belter who relies on volume rather than nuance, and I needed her to dial that back. To paraphrase another reviewer, you can name check other/better singers all you like, but you’d better be prepared to serve up something remarkable, and I don’t think she has here. A second disc was unnecessary and should have been shelved or worked into a separate album. Fave Songs: Understand, Hurt, On Our Way, Oh Mother, Here to Stay, Without You

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Mon Dec 04 2023

3

Qui tingués dubtes sobre la veu de Christina Aguilera, hauria d'escoltar aquest treball. Sembla un catàleg d'exposició de la seva potència, versatilitat, flexibilitat i solvència a l'hora d'afrontar qualsevol génere. Les composicions, la majoria r&b contemporani més aviat genèric, no acompanyen el suficient, però tot i la seva duració, és suficientment variat i interessant com per fer-se un lloc entre els discos a tenir en compte de la segona meitat dels 00s

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Sun Aug 13 2023

2

MORE? There's TWO Christina Aguilera albums on this list? She's not going to fuck you, my guy. This is apparently the better one though, so whatever. It's more R&B. As always, way too damn long. Nobody should be listening to R&B for over an hour at a time. That's the musical equivalent of overdosing on sugar. Disc 1 is an actual Tartarus punishment. I think I could get married and have 6 children by the time that slogfest wraps up. Disc 2 is where Christina remembers that there's more to music than crooning ChatGPT prompt-ass lyrics over beats that are about as deep as a metronome. It opens with a weird circus song that reminded me I'm listening to a music album and not white noise, and then had a diverse streak of some nice songs. I really liked "Welcome" and "Hurt" especially. 0/5 for disc 1, 3/5 for disc 2. Over all a 2/5 experience that I will never return to in the 378 more years I plan to live on this Earth. (Also this is my 600th album! I bitch and whine a lot, but it's been a fantastic journey so far. I'll miss this a lot when I'm done.)

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Mon Aug 14 2023

2

Not for me.

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Tue Aug 15 2023

2

Undoubtedly a good vocalist. Just not for me.

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Tue Aug 15 2023

2

2 Christina albums?? Ok, Dimery had the hots for her for sure. Björk for his "I'm an intellectual" moments, Christina when he just wants something skanky... but gotta say, she's obviously dialled that back a bit since 2002. Album art is atrocious. Font and colour scheme straight from some bedroom DIY new age album called something hilariously cheesy like "Aquarius Dreaming". aaaand it's garbage pop music same as the other one. Pretends to be some kind of retro jazz thing, but adding fake pop/fizz samples to 2000s R&B doesn't add class or make it anything but 2000s R&B. She does that wailing idol singer thing well, but... eh? This is just too much. 2/5. Update: HAHA someone else had the exact same thought as me. High five!

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Sat Aug 19 2023

2

This album was certainly better than the last C Ag album 1001 threw at us. The funky and gospel infused music that were the first few songs was easier to handle than the pop from the other album. After the first few songs the album unfortunately reverted to pure unadulterated pop. I couldn’t get past the first half dozen or so songs.

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Mon Aug 21 2023

2

Back to acids, huh? What about that idea? The lack of artistry is made up for by technical polish. It’s like rubbing your face all over a freshly polished red classic convertible from the fifties, but in sound form. Feels like what would play in the trailer for an Ice Age film. The occasional song has a genuinely interesting sound, like “Without You”. It’s cool. Sounds like a shittier version of Kiss from a Rose. The second half of the album has done interesting moments, too. The whole experience feels too much like processed cheese, however. I can’t bring myself to give this anything approaching a 3, most likely because of my superego’s association of itself with high culture and it’s inability to concede to guilty pleasures.

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Tue Aug 22 2023

2

basic

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Thu Aug 24 2023

2

The second disc was a lot better than the first. Without wanting to put words into the artists mouth it definitely felt more like what they wanted to make whereas the first disc felt a bit, manufactured, for lack of a better term which made it a bit difficult to get through. Most of the songs on the first disc were written by half-a-dozen people, whereas the second just a couple. Felt a lot more personal and a lot more interesting. Stand out songs: - Welcome - Hurt

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Fri Aug 25 2023

2

Surprise entry. Doesn’t offend but definitely doesn’t inspire

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Sun Sep 03 2023

2

This album begins with the explicit statement that Christina Aguilera is trying to be old school. This too on the nose statement is followed by the name dropping of various jazz greats before dropping into a first half typified by the melding of classic soul and R&B with hip hop motifs and samples. The second half starts with uncomfortably sexually charged songs dripping in bad innuendo before ending with a mea culpa of sorts. The transition is very jarring. This album should have been pared down to maintain some musical cohesion. When it’s good, the music is enjoyable though Aguilera’s trademark over singing does overshadow the album. She’s clearly an extraordinarily talented singer, but completely loses the plot and is mired in over technical vocal delivery.

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Tue Sep 05 2023

2

Madam kan heel aardig zingen, en het is ook behoorlijk catchy. Maar tegelijkertijd ook wel heel behoorlijk gedateerd. Zou allemaal wat spannender mogen.

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Tue Sep 05 2023

2

Dat ze wel kan zingen wist ik al wel, maar het is zo jammer dat het allemaal van die theatrale bagger is, die ze maakt.

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Wed Sep 06 2023

2

Another album that's not my thing. This rating is not reflective of the quality of this album, just not something I'd listen to.

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