Back to Basics

Als fünftes Studioalbum der US-amerikanischen Sängerin erschien Back to Basics im August 2006 bei RCA Records als Doppelalbum – ein Format, das die konzeptionelle Zweiteilung des Werks bereits formal ankündigt. Die Aufnahmen fanden zwischen Februar 2005 und April 2006 in mehreren Studios in den USA und Großbritannien statt, darunter die Chalice Recording Studios und The Record Plant in Los Angeles, Maze Studios in Atlanta, Allido Sound in New York sowie die Sarm Studios in London. Aguilera, die als Executive Producer fungierte, zog ein breites Produzentennetzwerk heran: DJ Premier verantwortet den ersten Teil mit seinen R&B- und Hip-Hop-Bezügen, während Linda Perry die komplett live eingespielte zweite Disc dominiert, die sich einem theatralisch-jazzig geprägten Klangbild der 1920er bis 1940er Jahre widmet. Die Inspiration für das Projekt entstammt Aguileras lebenslanger Verehrung für die Ikonen des afroamerikanischen Musikerbes – Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald und Otis Redding sind keine oberflächlichen Referenzen, sondern prägen Phrasierung, Timbre und Stilistik spürbar. Der Leadsingles „Ain't No Other Man" – eine mit Blechbläser-Samples durchzogene Hommage an klassischen Rhythm and Blues – gewann den Grammy für die beste weibliche Pop-Gesangsleistung. Die Ballade „Hurt" und das swingend-ironische „Candyman" vervollständigen das kommerzielle Kernrepertoire des Albums, das weltweit Platz eins erreichte. Was Back to Basics von bloßer Retro-Nostalgie trennt, ist Aguileras Mut zur stimmlichen Überexposition: Sie singt nicht über ihre Vorbilder, sie singt durch sie hindurch und bleibt dabei unverkennbar sie selbst. Das Doppelalbum-Konzept birgt naturgemäß Längen, doch der künstlerische Anspruch und die vokale Virtuosität rechtfertigen die Wucht des Projekts vollständig. Back to Basics ist das seltene Popalbum, das den Anspruch, ein Meisterwerk zu sein, tatsächlich einlöst.

I love this woman's vocals, the rythm is very 2000's, so cool, yet not my type of daily music. Every song is great and lyrics works but as an album is to repeptitive.

2/5

Notable Textzeile: Well, everybody got an opinion now, don't they? But it ain't no thing to me It really don't make any difference now to me If you don't like what you see Ich habe das Album beim Putzen gehört, also relativ laut. Die Nachbarn waren vermutlich verwirrt. Dann habe ich das Handy vonwo es auf die Box gestreamt wurde im frisch gewischten Badezimmer liegen lassen. Nach Ende des insgesamt wirklich viel viel zu langen Albums hat Spotify eine Art Best-of-Strong-Female-Pop-Artists gespielt - und jeder Song war sowas von 10-100 Mal besser als die Sachen auf diesem Album. Die sind ja alle gut arrangiert und nichts nervt richtig, ist auch okay abswechslungsreich für das Genre, aber es ist doch ähnlich und Textlich manchmal gut, selbstbewewusst und dann doch wieder komisch weiblich-stereotyp-hetro-Lovesong. Echt hart fand ich den Track bei dem Lobpreisungen von Fans als Voicenotes eingespielt wurden. Why, ich meine wirklich why? Ohne den wäre ich glaub ich bei 2,5 gelandet, so eher 2.

+ Ain't no other men Stimme Es sind viele Songs - Künstlicher Vinyl-Knister-Sound auf viel zu glatter Produktion Ist der Albumtitel ein Insder-Gag? Warum so viel stöhnen, nicht mal mehr singen mit der Stimme? Es sind viele Songs Candyman Ich befürchte meine Kritik richtet sich wenig gegen die Künstlerin, mehr gegen die Produktion (Aaaalter - 10 Produzent*innen am Werk gewesen). Halb so viele Songs ein wenig authentischer Produziert hätten geholfen. Mucho potential, aber so nervig 00er gemacht.

A double album, that's 80 mins long, is back to basics?! So if I could give this 2.25 stars, I would. I appreciate the piano, horns and choir. There was an interesting bass line at one point that sounded like it could've been a Talking Heads sample. And for those who care, I guess she can sing. I'm not a person who cares about singers and their abilities but to each their own. I felt this really lacked emotionally. It didn't stir anything in me and I didn't feel anything from her. Was this her attempt to break out of club music? Maybe. I just found it boring as heck.

There are no 2 words worse than "double disc", especially when it's an album that you already weren't looking forward to hearing. She has talent, and there are some good songs here, but does she have an hour and 18 minutes worth of material? No. There is no good reason for this being 5 minutes longer than Lonesome Crowded West. The first half of this album is pretty consistent in style and tone, but side 2 is just all over the place. If this was just disc one, I would give it a mid 3, but side 2 really drags it down, and bloats the entire album. mid 2.

Når man er i humøret så er det bedre enn andre slike damer

Review - this album isn't very good. I sort of preemptively liked the songs I'd heard as singles, but on relisten they're genuinely not very good. There are some decent songs here and she's a talented singer but the second half is a jazz album performed, written, and produced by people who clearly aren't particularly into jazz. Maybe they like the idea of jazz, the aesthetic. I don't know. In any case, it's not very good. Rating - 3.5/10 Need to hear? NO

There is this common conception of Christina Aguilera as the most talented pure singer of the TRL era. “Sure she makes disposable pop but she has such an amazing voice!” Admittedly, she does the stereotypical R&B trills or glissandos or whatever those “aAAaaAasAAAA”s are called but that is just style, not quality. You can do those and still have a bad, croaky unpleasant sounding voice, which is what I think is the case. I don’t know what other people are hearing that I’m not but I don’t see why she is considered a better singer than anyone else. In fact, I think her voice sounds pretty terrible. So you add a bad voice to generic pop music and sex moans and then sprinkle in the worst offense of all: pretentious boring songs where your fans thank you for your greatness or you name drop actual artists and you’re left with a fairly terrible listen. I’m glad this was cut from future editions of the book and wish I hadn’t had to listen to it.

It's alright.

I was better than I thought it was going to be, plus Biggie popped up at one point which gives this an extra half a star.....

Det är något fel på inspelningen som fanns på apple music. Hennes röst är irriterande redan men det låter som där är några artefakter på inspelningen också. Hennes engineer måste hatat henne

No podcast

Just seems so generic and unremarkable. And way too long.

Outstanding voice and some catchy pop songs but album is overlong and the final track of disc 1 is incredibly cringey

It's pretty one-note for the most part. It's really not for me, basically. I'm not against pop and pop adjacent music, but this is about as middle of the road as you can get, which means that it's ultimately not that interesting to me.

Occasionally you hear someone you respect but aren't particularly into. When I think of girl-pop defaults, Christina Aguilera is on the second tier. We're up there, but it's not quite the same as Britney Spears, The Spice Girls, even Alicia Keys. On a technical level it's easy admiration, but when pop sinks into my skin it's because it's obvious, and I feel like here we're between admiring past genres and heavily implementing the urban feel of 2000s production. This album would be something else with a little Dr. Dre in there, if that's what we're aiming for, but he's not and the project is over an hour long. I'm happy you wave your vocals girl, but it's not exactly timeless. 2.3/5

I get what she’s trying to do, but her voice is too big and polished for it to work well.

Christina's voice is still great, but still not my kind of music. I'd put this one below Stripped personally.

Things Everyone Says About This: A few pretty good bangers Christina really can sing Monotonous production (except a few spots) Way way way--by like an hour--too long Things I am going to say: See above

Started off better than I thought with catchy, well-produced tracks, but went downhill from there to become tedious and grating.

Thought I'd hate it but I didnt. Some of the music combined with her voice makes me wonder how she has never done a song for a Bond movie. Seems perfect for it.

Not a big fan of the older school jazzy 1920s style of her music or voice.

Xtina is a great singer whose songs do nothing for me. It's a shame because she has a great great voice.

Not in my edition of the book! 2006. 2 stars. Cracking pair of lungs and some decent songs - but it's a self indulgent double album, with lots of filler. If this had been edited down to a single album it would be an easy 3, maybe even a 4.

I admit I skimmed through songs . It's not bad, just not for me and extremely long

Wasn't bad, just loooooong. some bops on it though, and some wank, if it was condensed down to a single disc we might talk

In some songs she sings great. But why so cheap (lyrics and sounds)?

Первая часть ни о чем Вторая часть поприятней, но все равно слушать одни сраные мелизмы устаешь. В моменте даже почувствовал себя Ларисой долиной 😉 П.с. Hurt - ахуительнная песня

This is #day578 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… Christina, Britney, Justin, and all those early '00s pop and R&B folks, including girl and boy bands, were part of my childhood. This kind of stuff was always on TV and the radio. As many have mentioned, she's definitely got the voice. But almost 79 minutes of Aguilera belting about going back to basics on a Monday morning is kind of too much. I think having to hear one album of hers before you die is more than enough. But, hey, there's one more to go... This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day579.

Good voice, too over-produced for the sound she is going for.

Favorite songs: Ain't No Other Man, F.U.S.S. (Interlude)

Christina Aguilera is undeniably gifted. And there are some great songs buried in here. But they're alternatively neglected and abused. She seems to have zero capacity for nuance. She holds Miles up as an influence, but she missed one of his most important lessons - "It's not the notes you play, it's the notes you don't play." Her constant OVER-souling is exhausting. And the computerized backing tracks are soulless. These two fundamental characteristics are constantly exposing each other, creating a schizophrenic tension that not only never resolves, it never abates in the slightest, for even a second. Finally, fuck every artist who can't or won't edit an album down to under an hour. It's the surest sign that any artistic intention has been subverted by either a run-away ego, or an unrestrained business model. I have to add that once again this list chooses to celebrate a commercialist "paying homage" to artistic legends, while it all but ignores the legends themselves. I'm 600 albums into this project. Here are the artists name-dropped in this, THE SECOND album from Christina Aguilera so far, and the number of albums, by them on the list: Aretha Franklin (2), Etta James (0), Otis Redding (1), Billie Holiday (0), Ella Fitzgerald (0), Louis Armstrong (0), John Coltrane (0), Donny Hathaway (0), James Brown (0), Gladys Knight (0), Lena Horne (0), Marvin Gaye (1), Minnie Ripperton (0), Nat King Cole (0), Ray Charles (2), Stevie Wonder (3), and Miles Davis (2). Off the top of my head, I'd add the following female jazz and soul singers: Sarah Vaughan (0), Esther Phillips (0), Abbie Lincoln (0), Chaka Khan (0), Roberta Flack (0), Carla Thomas (0), Diana Ross (0), Donna Summer (0). Give me a fucking break. Give me any album by any of one of these legends over this, any day.

Somewhere in here is a 3 star single album.

Not for me

I don't dislike it, but near 80 minutes of Christina Aguilera's intense vocals and musical style is a bit much. The hits are good, some of the other songs are alright and a bunch on here is pretty forgettable. There was a lot more R&B in here than I expected. I think this album would have been better as a single CD, with some of the less memorable songs cut off or kept for a deluxe edition or something.

This was a tough one. She has amazing voice obviously however as far as this album is concerned. I thought the first half was pretty forgettable, the second half was definitely better but still mostly not my thing. 2.5

If Christina Aguilera was bald, she'd be Christina Havenohaira.

On paper this actually sounds cool, having a lot of jazz and soul influence. The intro had me really skeptical, but Makes Me Want to Pray delivers! It's got a real throwback soul feel, and Christina's vocal is powerful. There are a few more moments where those influences shine through, but ultimately this relies much too heavily on typical 2000's pop production and hooks, mostly I assume, to maintain its ability to sell.

Aguilera is an amazing vocalist hidden behind a double album of pop mediocrity.

Boring

I have negative associations with this generation of pop music, so I expected to hate it. I didn’t like it, but I think it is more generic than bad.

I can't deny the pipes, a couple tracks are pretty great, but beyond those there's almost nothing on here that I'd actively want to put on. And the double album went forever.

Mid but she bad

She's better than Brittany. Yeah-ee-ee-AH!

Her voice is good but every song sounds the same. Mid 2000s rnb inflected pop was boring then and is boring now

Not my thing. Like the second disk better. Candyman will always be in my heart tho.

This was a slog. To put out a double album and have not a single one be memorable makes me really question why this is included in the list. I give two stars for at least drawing on good influences, but I would never consider this to be influential in itself. The “dedication to fans” bit was pretty amusing though given that it was just playing fans’ dedication to Christina.

Good voice, but still wasted on poppy garbage. The second disc was better than the first. 2/5

Als je uit deze 1u en 18m alle goede momenten bij elkaar neemt, daar een album met een normale runtime van maakt, is het een mager 3'tje. Nu een erg mager 2'tje.

Surprisingly good at times even as she punishes us with her confidence that 22 tracks is what we want. Christina Aguilera had a truly great, contemporary pop album among these songs. And yet, as a whole, this record really misses the mark. In her position as executive producer, she was the one responsible for identifying the issue. Back to Basics is proof that we all need an external editorial voice from time to time — even if we're good at that skill ourselves — it can be hard to step back and see how the elements operate in aggregate. If this album had been her best 10 to 12 tracks sequenced compellingly it would have been an undisputed classic in her genre. I don't think Aguilera is super concerned though, it obviously performed well enough.

This is so bloated and absolutely doesn’t need to be a double album. This style of vocal acrobatics has never appealed to me, it just feels like showing off instead of actually making good music and serving the song. And the song thank you is just ego driven weirdness. Gets two stars because some of the beats of side one are actually kinda decent.

It was a slog to get through, i really wanted to like it but no.

Entirely too long and the bangers were too few and far between

Overproduced. A few good songs.

Two CDs???? She sure can shriek like a banshee. The truth is that it wasn't bad. How do I know? Because I don't think I know what the hell it is was really supposed to be. Kudos for good production, but that's as far as it goes.

Derivative pop bullshit. Very mediocre, bland songs. The only saving grace is the signers voice, which is phenomenal, but it's basically all a cheap imitation of better artists that actually contributed something creative and unique. I will definitely never listen tot his album again and frankly I'm irritated that this is on the list and other

Not for me

I liked Stripped better. There are a lot of reasons I don't especially like this but let me just note a few. It's not that great and feels very formulaic. The samples are often better than the song itself. Both albums start with a lot hype and then doesn't deliver. Lacks direction and there's too much of it. Things take an especially cringey turn on the 2nd album with Candyman and Nasty Naughty Boy. Suddenly we are transported back to 1940's swing jazz. The sexuality is so thick and cliche that I half expected Jessica Rabbit to appear followed by a pack of wolves in Zoot Suits with their eyeballs popping out of their heads and tongues on the floor.

We DO NOT need more than one Christina Aguilera album on this list if any at all. There are so many artists not represented and SHE somehow deserves two!!? Hell no. 2000’s pop is overproduced shit. It seriously hurts my ears. I couldn’t finish it. Yuck.

Stylé mais je m’e fou psk c’est un peu toujours la même chose

Wasn’t really into Christina in the 2000s, and I’m still not.

This... is a long album! Ah! Two songs in tho and this is way better than that Destiny's Child album. That one... I really didn't get... Like if you absolutely want to include a female led early 2000 contemporary r&b album, I have nothing against this one so far. Disc 2 is a bit much for me haha 2 1/2 Fav: Ain't No Other Man

I'll repeat what I said about a previous Aguilera album on this list. Yes, she has more than one album here. Nobody knows why. "[..] it's decent by way of being better than you expected. But then it carries on for a good bit longer than strictly necessary. And you have enough time to realise that it's not all THAT good. Not as good as the people who decided this should have 20 tracks obviously believed, in any case." Except this, being a double album, has even more tracks. I will add that this cranks up the "sounds trademarked rather than genuine" impression I also had with that other Aguilera album to 11. Candyman just sounds soooo manufactured. I mean... I'd rather listen to this than some KISS album, but...

Great for what it is. Not really my thing, or particularly interesting to me though.

Right, first things first, Christina Aguilera has an outstanding voice. What she also needs here is some musical range, some restraint, and at least 12 fewer tracks. Production and performance is excellent, but the album is massively bloated and does not have enough variety in style to make it interesting - it’s when something a bit different to the standard diva-pop appears that it improves, for example there is some Muddy Waters-style Blues, and some Billie Holiday-style light jazz that stands out in quality. This is t an awful album, but when there are maybe two enjoyable tracks out of 22 that makes it pretty bad for me.

Not much here for me and just way too long.

I can see why this album is on the list. I don't think I've heard a pop album quite like it. At the same time, I didn't really like it. It's too long, and the songs eventually start to all sound the same. Something that really bothered me was how many songs are guilty of using the same drum beat for the entire song, which gets very annoying. Two stars. (Favorite track: Makes Me Wanna Pray.)

Didn't enjoy.

Ugh. I dislike Christina Aguilera. It’s the runs, you know, the need to show off your range by turning a one syllable word into 27. We know you can sing, you don’t have to work so hard to convince the convinced. It’s annoying. I can appreciate that she can sing. When she came out with Britney Spears, Britney had the whole jailbait thing working for her, but Christina was actually talented. Then, because talent wasn’t enough, she turned into XTina to try to take some of Britney’s elderly pervs. But it just seemed desperate and beneath someone with real talent, in my opinion. I do see this album has the usual dozen people credited with writing each song. I still don’t know how that works. Did one of them come up with one note that brought the song together and now he gets a writing credit? I guess it’s still going on today. I remember the days when one or two dude wrote the songs. I’m old and digressing. I love how there's one song about taking it back to basics while using samples, record scratches, drum loops and rapping. Is Back to Basics, like 1989 for Christina? She’s singing about singers from the 40s and 50s, and the song is just computers bleeping and blorping. It irks me. I can tell I ain’t finishing this album. Ah, the single, Ain’t No Other Man. I actually kind of like this song. But I’d be fine if I’d never heard it again in my life. We’re about halfway through the album and I’ve had to turn the volume down several times. She’s a screamer, my friends. We know you’ve got power, but can you not be on full blast at all times, Christina? Good Lord. Christina is now talking in her song. I hate the talking in songs, Bret Michaels, Shania Twain, I'm looking at you two. It sounds so dumb. Unless you’re rapping, otherwise, sing! Why does it seem like I’m so angry? I’m not, just annoyed. This is fun. I want to hear the Mark Ronson song. If anyone can make me like Christina, it’s Ronson. I’ve been a Ronson fan since back in the day, you know, 2003. Oooh, I didn’t think much of the first Ronson cut on the album, but Without You is….kind of….good. It’s also the song with the least amount of songwriters, which is still four, but could fewer cooks lead to a better meal? That’s weird, isn’t it? That’s sarcasm right there. She’s still doing her bs runs, but the music is really great. Ooooh, she sounds great. Why wasn’t this a single? Then we go back to trash with Still Dirty. I love how all these pop singers need to express how dirty they are in a song or two every album. They’re about as dirty as a bar of soap. Carrie Underwood isn’t bashing an ex's car with a baseball bat, XTina isn’t competing in some weird underground sex fight league. She still doesn’t have that nasty in here because it was never in there. She’s your genie in a bottle, not your bad girl on a chopper. And she’s back to yelling at me. Okay, I made it through the whole album….as far as you know. It’s not for me, dawg. I like pop music, but I never fell under Christina’s spell….I was close when she was putting out videos of her in the underground sexfighting matches, but thankfully, my ears kept working. If you’re a fan, you obviously think I’m an idiot, and I am. At the end of the day, I don’t think this is an album of any importance, at least not to me.

This got old pretty quick with me. Feels like it was produced to mostly to show off her vocal range, which it does, with the odd hit throughout. Double album totally unnecessary. She's a great talent but I think i mostly skipped through the last half

The self indulgence of this album is so blatantly apparent, and in no place more than the last song on the first album. There are a few good songs and sadly with some cuts this could have been a solid single album but the huge overreach brings it way down.

++: Makes Me Wanna Pray, Ain't No Other Man, Slow Down Baby, F.U.S.S., Here to Stay, Candyman, I Got Trouble, Mercy on Me, Save Me from Myself +: On Our Way, Still Dirrty, Enter the Circus +-: Intro (Back to Basics), Back in the Day, Understand, Without You, Thank You (Dedication to Fans...), Welcome, Nasty Naughty Boy, The Right Man -: Oh Mother, Hurt 4,5/10

Tämmönen soulihtava poppilevy. Vähän liiaksi popin puolella sillai huonolla tavalla. 2/5

Hieman huvittavaa tehdä tuplalevy otsikolla back to basics -- luulisi, että tällä nimellä olisi vähän yksinkertaisempi tuotos mielessä. musiikkillisesti tää nollarimeno kuulostaa kaikki vähän samalta, ja sen takia jää kakkoseen.

Christina Aguilera is talented, and her voice is incredible, but this album teeters between two worlds - modern (at the time) pop tracks and classic soul ballads with some modern influence. The latter is great, especially the last four tracks of the album, but the rest just aren’t there for me. Also, the “Thank You” track is too much. This comes across much less as a thank you to fans and far more a ‘look at how great everyone thinks I am’.

Too long, too all over the place stylistically, whatever is trying to be invoked in the intro is not achieved. Don't hate a good pop album but this really isn't one.

не моё, сори... слишком качественно что-ли + никогда не нравилось рнб. пока 2 очка, если к концу какая-то песня понравится, то добавлю мб 1 балл...

As solo women go, could be way way worse. She's alright, but I don't think she needs a double album. Way too long unless you're really really into her. Especially since by the time disc 2 (the way better one) you're a bit sick of hearing it. I was never into that R&B mainstream stuff though her voice suits it. The album is mostly upbeat and her ooOOOuuuuUuuuUUUuh thing is less obvious than when she released stuff like Beautiful (which sucks). It sounds a bit dated now, but I also need to accept that 2006 was 20 years ago. It was the style at the time. Time to hang up the belt onions.

I respect her voice but I tire of her music pretty quickly

longer than necessary

90s-00s pop i always feel is the worst period in music history for me personally so when i saw the 1h run time i got a bit down... She can sing, that is all. music is generic, safe and radio friendly, Well mixed.

Christina has a beautiful voice but this isn’t an album or musical style that interests me. I’ll be generous and say 2 stars.

O moj bog. Glih gledam in je a 2 volume album, 78 minut. Ej, I have shit to do today. Uf. Spomnim se to njeno obdobje in vsaj dva komada poznam. Fak, kr ni konca. Še na polovici nisem. Ful se mi vleče, ker je kinda skos isto. Pač njeni, sicer hudi vokali, a velikrat over the top, pop muska zmiksana s starejšimi vplivi (abomination), random hip hop vplivi, ... Ugh, tazadn komad na volume 1 ( "Thank You (Dedication to Fans...)") je na začetku basically remix njenga "Genie in A Bottle", po pa en kup posnetkov njenih fanov, k ji govorijo kok je huda, inspiring pa kolk jim pomeni. Ok. Volume 2 se začne k dobrodošlica v cirkus ("Enter the Circus"). To je še najboljša melodija do zdaj. Je pa volume 2 na splošno mal bolj chill v vajbu in meni lažji za poslušat. Na splošno, not for me. Kr muka. Če zj par dni ne slišim a vocal run, bom vesela.

First Listen; 2; Album was repetitive and not terribly interesting. The singing is good, but the instrumentation sounded dated and cheesy. The second disc in particular sounded half baked. Favorite Track: Ain't no Other Man

The second track has steve winwood on it… that guy wanted to make me fall asleep yesterday. So so long. The one song I recognised was candyman and I remember hating it.

would of been better as a single disc. really drags on as a two disc.

Not for me

I’m a little surprised this is the album chosen to represent Christina on this list. Like, I definitely think there’s an argument for her being included, but the debut or Dirrrty feel like better representations of her as a star. Like, I gotta be honest, I was NOT excited to listen to a Christina Aguilera DOUBLE ALBUM yesterday. And yeah, there’s a lot of bum tracks on here, especially the first half. I think generally the second half of the second album is the strongest actually (which doesn’t always happen)! The great Linda Perry contributes some song writing there which I think helps elevate it. I powered through. Glad I won’t have to listen to this one again.

Christina kills it. Not for me though.

Music was ok. Lyrics are cliche and overworked. She has a great voice.

She has a good voice

I just really can't stand this kind of music. I rate most everything on here 3* because, even if I may not like the music, I can still somewhat enjoy everything I've heard. It's the first album in my, almost, 200 albums that I couldn't finish..... and I even made it all the way through Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake. Bonus star in recognition of vocal talent.

She’s a talented singer. But this sucked.

I recognize the singer's talent and was pleased with the absence of the usual Aguilera brilliance. The album was crammed full of everything and I mean way too full. The whole thing was massive and at the same time somehow sterile.

Aguilera has a chip on her shoulder. Most of the songs on the first album are confessionals about how and why she stands up for herself. This is fine, but she said all that on “Fighter,” a track from an earlier album. The last track reveals that all this bravado might stem from an inferiority complex — playing a mix of fans thanking her for being her, as a way if saying “thanks” to her followers is cringey in its indulgence. The second album shows some range in different pop styles — but there’s still a self-absorbed, tough gal attitude that comes through. Aguilera doesn’t need to be so defensive. She’s got an amazing voice. But she flaunts it unnecessarily, making her tunes about her rather than the music. Her lyrics are guileless, which in this case is not a compliment. These songs could use a little mystery and metaphor. In the end, it’s fine. She’s got a sound, a style, and a great voice. But it’s not an album I needed to listen to. A 2.

disc 1 in overall was good. disc 2 was boring. too long and gets old quickly

Some decent production in spots, but truly, astonishingly bad songwriting. And although I acknowledge that she’s got serious pipes, I thought the goddamn vocalises would be the death of me. 1.5/5

+1 because xtina is a great singer, -1 because thus did not need to be a double album

Got tiring pretty quick. Can only take so much belting and riffing. 2.75

She’s no doubt a great singer, but that doesn’t really make this any more interesting

1,8/5

She has an incredible voice, but the music is definitely not for me. Of course you can hear that all the people behind this project are skilled, but it’s so bland. I had to put on some Joy Division to comfort myself

This is not terrible, its a perfectly middling 00s pop album. I'm at a loss for why this is an album I need to listen to. Its as essential as elevator music. The thing that really stood out in this album is how hard Aguilera was trying to be black. She uses AAVE everywhere, models her signing style on R&B from earlier decades, and uses instrumentals that mix 60s soul, 80s R&B, along with some new jack swing. I don't have an issue with emulating your idols, but we'd be better off listening to a lot more Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, and a dozen other artists that Aguilera copies, than her.

Oli ihan kiva kuunnella. Vokalistihan on oikein mukava mutta lyriikat hyvin kehnoja. Vaikka mennäänkin taaksepäin ja kunnioitetaan vanhoja hyviä aikoja ja lauluntekijöitä, korniltahan se kuulostaa.

Interesting approach with some old samples et al but blimey that drags outside of the singles

mhh mal was anderes, ja tolle Stimme aber..? c

Much respect for one of the best voices of our time but I can't sit through a double album of modern day pop without it giving me anxiety

The good? An album featuring a woman! That seems to be rarity on this list. Christina Aguilera has quite the voice. The bad? The production--it's dated and distracting. It's overly long. The songs are not my thing. It's distracting and annoying after a few songs. I'd like to hear what Christina Aguilera could do with different lyrics, better producing, less pop. She's the type of signer that would turn the Star Spangled Banner into a 20-minute long melisma slog. 2 stars from me, dawg.

good

113/1001 Christina Aguilera - Back To Basics Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ A tale of two halves - literally. First half insipid, uninspired pop with the cringe inducing Thank You, the second is far more interesting, though with barely disguised innuendo.

Christina Aguilera Christina is a great singer but this not really a great album. The retro blues stuff feels a bit too on the nose to me. I wanted to like this more not sure what wasn’t connecting with me. Favorite song was Hurt, Save Me From Myself.

Hot take maybe but i think this kind of sucks. Songwriting is terrible and the excessive vocal runs are so annoying. Production is super boring to me, everything sounds flat and lifeless which i guess is part of this era of production but i hate it. Better than a lot on this list and maybe i am missing something but this is just kind of bad and cringey to me. Also again - why does this have to be a double album?

I was so excited for this but it is horrible. Whatever the opposite of tasteful is…

Input > Output. The anger is gone

Yeah. Just like the other album we listened to on here. Samey

Look, we know CA can sing but that couldn’t really elevate this album above the mediocre.

Two Aguilera albums in two weeks is pushing the boundaries somewhat. The surprise was that I thought Stripped was OK. However, this one less so. The title gives some sort of clue about exploring older styles. Which is clearly what’s going on, but all the attempts at original soul, jazz, ballad and funk(ish) etc. styles just end up sounding like Aguilera singing over some very badly overproduced attempts at recreating classics. They sound utterly unauthentic. I mean, the one where they just play some vinyl crackle noise over a ballad is totally cringe, and does not suddenly recreate Ella Fitzgerald. This generally just gets worse as the album gets on. The best tracks were the poppier ones at the start. Fair play for trying to vary things, but maybe stick to what you’re good at Christina.

The first few songs were the best.

Aguilera’s voice is undeniably great. But she doesn’t believe in holding back. Ever. There’s just way too much wailing and never ending vocal runs. She pushes her voice to the point of shouting the whole time. Also, the songs aren’t that strong. 78 minutes is unbearable for me. Half would have been plenty. But hey, that’s just my opinion. 2/5

Meh not my fav

Nice enough but lacking soul.

Sux

I’m so hit or miss with Christina. Sometimes I really like her, but she over-sings everything, and it’s so grating. She has some good songs, but the way she sings them is exhausting. There’s also no reason this needed to be a double album. The songs were not special enough to justify that. They were also way longer than they needed to be. The production was a highlight, though, and part of the reason this is getting 2 stars from me instead of 1. Honestly if this only had half the songs it did, it’d probably get a higher rating, but it started to drag quite a bit near the middle-end of the first album. And the last song of the first album “Thank You” was so cringe. Really wish they would have skipped that. It felt like something that would make more sense on a pop album in the late 90s, yet still would have been cringe then too. “Save Me From Myself” was probably my favorite song because Christina’s voice was much more subtle and didn’t have the same over-singing she usually does. Her voice is really beautiful when she’s not trying to do too much. “Ain’t No Other Man” and “Candyman” are still fun songs, and I enjoy them like I did when they came out. But overall this album was a big miss for me.

There are a couple of terrific R&B songs on the first disc but the jazz/soul throwback numbers are not great. And the whole second disc makes zero sense. This should have been two albums.

Good singer Some depressing songs Some hits Rest a bit meh

As warblefests go I found this mostly painless. I liked the clear coherent travelogue lyrics that explain in simple terms what was going on, she was trying to emulate old classics. She missed, but she tried. Loses one star for being an unnecessary double album.

78 minutes oh hell no i kind of fw cheesy white girl soul. its not even bad but an hour and 20 minute is absurdly long for a project like this.

This was a rough one to get through as a certified Christina sleeper. “Welcome” and Nasty, Naughty Boy” had some of the best vocals I’ve heard in my life. “Welcome” was also just a really interesting production. I really wish she’d do less over singing and emulating others because she’s talented and those songs showcase what she’s capable of. Lyrically juvenile, at its best, mostly just vapid. Tragically vulgar when it should have been cheeky and playful. I want to deduct another star for how pretentious and obnoxious I find the title juxtaposed to what she gave us(I won’t). I get she meant her inspirational foundation. I don’t care. I think it was a mistake and I think it had a title like that because the album had nothing to say. What a waste. I could’ve listened to Alice Cooper today. #CertifiedHater

I wanted to like this but I did not like this and it did not take it back in the day and the lyrics just weren’t there for me :( Only listened to Disc 1. sorry xtinaaaa ❤️I do hope we get the Genie in a Bottle album as that was one of the first CDs I ever owned

Something about this album feels insincere. I give Christina credit for trying to push herself into a different direction, and distinguish herself amongst her fellow pop princess peers that flooded the early 2000’s. Unfortunately it feels she is overcompensating with a double album of nonsense while trying to be taken seriously.

Bog-standard modern pop. Instantly forgettable.

Banal. Yikes. But better than Meatloaf.

I'm not going to beat around the bush here – I've never really considered myself a Christina Aguilera fan. I definitely wouldn't say I'm a hater or anything like that, but her hits never did much for me. That said, her career was already several albums deep by the time I turned 10, so it's probably fair to say that I wasn't in her target demographic during that time of my life. I've also been more open to the pop girlies of recent years (mainly Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo and Lady Gaga), so I was happy to give this album a fair shot. Aguilera's mission on Back to Basics is made clear in the opening moments of the album: to pay tribute to the soul/blues/jazz artists who paved the road before her. For the first few tracks, it feels like that's (at least somewhat) the case – the very next track after the intro is a full-on gospel tune (which oddly features Steve Winwood, the first artist the Generator picked out for me), followed by two soulful, upbeat tracks produced by the talented DJ Premier. The latter of the two ("Ain't No Other Man") is especially fun and probably the single best track on the entire album. Unfortunately, what goes up must come down and down it goes indeed. After these first four tracks, the names Aguilera dropped on "Back in the Day" (Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, John Coltrane, etc.) come across as little more than lip service. The following nine songs aren't all that bad (and "F.U.S.S." is legitimately a highlight), but are fairly forgettable for mid-2000s pop/R&B. Even some excellent sample-heavy production from Premier and Mark Ronson couldn't elevate the tail end of the first disc even close to the heights of "Makes Me Wanna Pray" or "Ain't No Other Man." First disc? Oh yeah – Back to Basics is a double album. If BTB was just the first disc, it probably would have been an easy three star rating for me. Unfortunately, disc two completely tosses out the "tribute to the trailblazers" concept to focus on more standard Xtina fare and it's all the worse for it. The only true highlight here is "Candyman" and songs like "Nasty Naughty Boy" sound incredibly out of place on the album that gave us "Makes Me Wanna Pray" less than an hour earlier. Why this second disc wasn't released as a separate EP or saved for a future album is beyond me. It makes BTB feel so much more bloated than it already was and it completely loses the character than made the first disc remotely compelling. I'd even go as far as to say that listening through the second disc actively harmed my impression of the first – I let the album loop back to the beginning to re-listen to those first few cuts and the idea of it being some kind of tribute started to feel like a cruel joke in hindsight. If I can find some positives in this album, it's that Christina Aguilera has a great voice and knows how to show it off here. I can also appreciate her straightforward style of writing lyrics – it's often easy to know exactly what she's talking about without having to read into it too much. Additionally, I think it's nice that she attempted to put some respect on some of the great Black artists of the 20th century, even if the execution wasn't fully there. Ultimately, Back to Basics has too many good qualities for me to give it one star, but it's not an album that I ever want to hear from front to back again. Highlights: Makes Me Wanna Pray, Ain’t No Other Man, F.U.S.S. (Interlude), Candyman

Well that's a surprise. There or four decent tracks here. The rest ? The garbage I expected.

I appreciate what she does and she deserves way more credit than she received being stamped, at the time, as a "spears clone". That said the music isn't for me. I appreciate the technical complexity. I just don't cotton to it.

Think I would’ve loved this if it the album was like disc 2. Just a complete throwback. Instead disc 1 is a collection of songs yearning for classic artists but done in the most grating of mid-2000s production value. Christina can sing but I’ve always found her need to do vocal runs in basically every song unenjoyable. 2/5

A little bit disappointed in this. I don't think her voice works with the retro-style of music, the production is terrible, and the execution is VERY 1990s (record scratching, out of place booming bass, etc.) - which clashes horribly with the 60s/70s genre choices. Finally, the album is far too long. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing

Great voice, probably over produced, much more prefer the slower and jazzier stuff

Really felt like this album was never going to end. Took me 2 days to complete it

So boring. Not for me.

It's alright, just kind of standard pop music from the early 2000's. There are a few big hit songs that most people alive at that time will be familiar with. Some other songs are good too and follow a similar pop formula. Not bad but it's not good either. Probably not something I would listen to again.

Not a fan of 90s/00s pop I'm afraid. This sounds like a typical showcase of Christina's vocal gymnastics. I was surprised at the heavy gospel/R&B influences and hip-hop beats and record scratching. Good if you like pop music.

Its hard to pull off a double album. I give Christina an A for effort but this album is too samey to keep my interest. Like most double albums, if you trimmed the fat and released it as one album it would be better. The lead singles from this album are still bops though

I was actually looking forward to this expecting it to be a little bit different and I suppose expecting expecting it to surprise me. Unfortunately, he was generally just her doing that screaming thing she does.

I don't think this is my kind of music.

Childhood me loved her music videos but current me can't do a double album of mid career Christina.

Does she have to put warbling inflections in every note or add syllables to words to show off? Production is dreadful. Jumps from ole timey swing sounds played through a gramophone for no reason to "yo DJ" needle scratches. Mega talent with the wrong team around her.

I appreciate the attempts at paying homage to older singers/performers. She could have saved us all 30 minutes and just said it. Bloated and over produced.

Very impressive production - very impressive singing, yet, everything about it seems very forced to me - inorganic. The TLC album I just rated was a lot better.

When I saw this was a double album, I really wasn't looking forward to it. In reality, it wasn't too bad. When compared to other middle of the road ladypop, I certainly prefer Christina to say Taylor Swift, and especially to shite like Adele, which is music for the Live, Laugh, Love brigade to cry into their prosecco to. If it wasn't a double album, and therefore bloated with filler, I'd give this a 3. As it is, it's a 2 from me.

Hurt is the best one on here. The rest can be pretty annoying.

It's a long one. Let's get started. Disc 1: It's interesting. Four songs in, the production is good, and definitely intentional. I appreciate that for pop record. Something about the vocal style, I try to think how I feel about it. 5 is COOL. Great production and singing. Very very good song. Appreciate. Nice bridge on 7, which is a good song. But the vocals... A break. Let's continue 8 has very nice textures 9 and highlight as well. Interesting production and great group vocals. Nice synth sounds on 10 11, 12, more rhymic, less to my liking. 13. A slick and sweet closer for this part of the album Disc 2: 1. What ls going on?? 2. A bit messy. Vocal to messed up with. Unclear musical direction. 3. I don't really know what to say. Not my thing... 4. Better. It's still a weird direction musicly in combination with the vocal production. Just not flattering for her in my opinion. 5. I'm not sure if it makes any sense. It just sounds artificial. HURT just seems to fit to her style so much more. Although it's not my favorite 2000's pop ballad (beautiful is better) it's a very solid song. Good vocal performance. 7, once again, has that 'old' style. It's a bit silly, I don't like it. Annoying. 8 is fine. 9 not. This entire second Disc is a tragedy. I think that the first disk is a very, ever a very very good pop project. Intentionally produced, good songwriting and great pace. Many songs there- I can see myself going back to. My concern here, I'm afraid, is Christina's vocal choices. Here over the top style is impressive, I guess, but it doesn't fit many of the songs. It's a thing about 2000's pop, many suffer from it in that era, but something about this singer is just extra. If in the first Disc it's a manageable problem for me, in the second one it's just ridiculous. Most of the songs there are just, bad... And it concluded my listening experience in a very bad way. The first Disc could easily get a 3.5 to a 4 from me, but the second has to push it down to a - 2.

A couple good songs in the back. Overall not bad sounding record just a lot of the same.

A little longer than necessary, don’t think this needed a double disc, but I liked jt more than I expected. That Mother song was great.

Look, I'm just trying to get ready for work. Please stop screaming at me, ma'am.

2.5

1.5

2.5

An album of two halves. The first half is an outright slog and the second half manages to be even worse. For the most part it goes for a slim, sprightly modern hip hop feel crossed over with oodles of retro funk and jazz. Makes Me Wanna Pray is a bit of a lazy Lady Marmalade clone but Back In The Day is a feisty improvement, Ain’t No Other Woman another relatively strong production and On Our Way is pretty sleek with some cool crackly vintage piano samples that shine like a crystal waterfall. Unfortunately the album’s style and even Christina’s sultry pipes gets old and samey really fast and there are no songs that really compare with any of Christina’s earlier hits. Wading through this album is a bit like wading through an olympic swimming pool sized block of concrete. Sexy lipsticked Marilyn Monroe looking concrete but concrete nonetheless. The fan dedication that ends the first disc should really instead be updated with audio testimony from all those that have suffered whilst trying to finish this album. The second disc is even more out of sorts what with generic gloop string ballads and the actively annoying gimmicky 40s throwback Candyman. Overall there is a small element of good yet not exactly essential stuff here but the unnecessary double album formatting makes it way more murderous than it should be. And it’s not even in the 1001 book anymore.

Intro (Back to Basics) 2.4 Makes Me Wanna Pray 2.5 Back in the Day 2.3 Ain't No Other Man 2.3 Understand 2.5 Slow Down Baby 2.1 Oh Mother 2.3 F.U.S.S. (interlude) 2 On Our Way 1.8 Without You 1.4 Still Dirrty 2 Here to Stay 2 Thank You (Dedication to Fans…) 1.6 Enter the Circus 3 Welcome 2.8 Candyman 2.6 Nasty Naughty Boy 2.3 I Got Trouble 2.4 Hurt 2.8 Mercy on Me 2.6 Save Me from Myself 1 The Right Man 2.3 Score: 2.227272727

The problem with this album is that it's *just not long enough* .... Fine, she has a great voice but only in a technical sense - kinda makes me remember 1985 when as a stupid kid I very briefly thought Yngwie J (the J is important) Malmsteen was the most amazing guitar player I'd ever heard ...sure he could and can literally still play 68 notes in the space of my 4 but he was and is boring as shit to listen to and that's honestly how I feel hearing Christina sing. Vitally important to note: There is actually a track right in the middle of this endless album that is comprised of / filled with vacuous sycophantic voice mails from fans slobbering all over her HAHAHAHAHAHAHA - So hilariously embarrassing and pitiful. TL;DR: It's just so slick it doesn't sound real, and not in a "oh this is otherworldly/space-rock/EDM/trance" unreal but fake. Plasticine. Maybe it's better than Stripped but ...idk, is it? In an attempt to go "back to basics" it just ends up a platter of very samey ersatz "tributes" to supposed influences and is completely and utterly focused on the vocals in arrangement and mix - just not my thing. Maybe it just needed more fan mail. 3/10 2 stars

This would have been a five if it were Christina's self titled album. But this album did not hit for me. I am shocked its on this list.

Hubris can come in many forms, and in many flavors. In this case, Aguilera is a victim of having a pretty great idea and then thinking that it required a double album. Even though it’s not particularly my genre, she’s got incredible talent and on some songs she both has massive hit potential and a fun, often dirty twist on pop hits of yesteryear. But then she just keeps adding songs, and especially ones that are to settle personal grudges or do bland boring shoutouts. The lyrics are rough when they’re not cheeky, and though the second half is a much better fit for her, it’s an odyssey that isn’t worth it in the end.

Started rough, kind of faux tribute to genres and a cringy track about soul singers. Improved for a few songs and then the circus side? Weirdly sensual songs that feel off. The songs sound decent, if not a bit simple, and her voice is so great. But she sounds the same in every song and I wish a future remaster would remove everytime she starts a song with oh yeah, or ohhhh, or whoa whoa. It sucks and once you notice it all the time it's hilarious. Like if a singer is warming up, I just need the lyrics, not the mi, mi, mis.

4/10 Pop, just pop. Not much more. Except there was more - much, much more. Too much. 1 hour 20 mins. Tough going.

Kudos to the producers of the first half - they really nailed that soul meets classic hip hop sound - and Aguilera's voice is great. The second half lasts forever though, without anything memorable. I could have done with it being about 12 songs shorter.

hard to rate, i dont deny talent and fushion of styles. some are classics, but i dont enjoy it every day. 2+

I'd give this a 2.8 - saved a song. I really do like her voice.

Of the pop singers of her time - Aguilera, Brittany, Mariah, and the like - I always felt she had the most soulful, well rounded voice. Not to say that I like her stuff, this genre is not my thing, but as an objective assessment of the vocal skill. That said, she has a good voice with a good range, but after a while it gets old. A double album of this is just way too much. Kind of got fatigued by her voice by the fourth or fifth song. And if this was supposed to be an homage to the old jazz and soul artists, I didn’t see any evidence of it. With the exception of a couple name drops. All in all, not awful, would’ve been 3 stars if she stopped a lot sooner.

I do not like her music.

It's okay, pop. But not the worst thing I've heard. Candyman was a fun track but the rest didn't really stand out to me.

I have to admit that I was very surprised to see a Christina Aguilera album on the list and after listening to it I am baffled as to why it is on here. Some of it was mediocre, some of it bad and some of it just cringy! Not for me.

Poor and bland

This project is missing an editor. I don’t feel like I needed any of this, so a double album is… a lot. This is basically two single albums packaged together: one album where she covers standards over hip-hop beats, and one album of originals where she’s backed by a swing band, orchestra, and/or choir. See what she did there? Call-outs: “Thank You (Dedicated To Fans…)” is sprinkled with audio clips of her fans praising her and feels more self-indulgent than humble. “Candyman” is like a swing version of Britney Spears’s “Soda Pop” but somehow even worse. Is “The Right Man” about her new husband or her daddy issues? Both? That’s neat.

Well, I made it through. Truth - I stopped before the end of the first disc. But I picked it back up the next day on disc 2, and it was better. Still not going in my regular rotation of music I listen to. Two discs - too much.

Let's get this out of the way - the girl can SING. The problem is that they are DESPERATE to let you know. Every second of every song has her doing slides and scales and going up and down the register and it all feels so over the top and forced. There's a distinct attempt at a hip hop flavor that comes across as desperate mores than legitimate, and the whole thing is overproduced and cringey. She name checks all these great singers of old while tacitly placing herself at the same level - and she isn't. And the final song on disc one is legitimately the cringiest thing I've ever heard. I was so embarrassed for her that I couldn't finish the song. I guess the second disc is much better than the first. The problem with that is twofold: 1.) I was already very annoyed and over it because disc one was awful and 2.) I don't need two fucking discs of Christina Aguilera.

This is the type of shit I usually can't stand. I can't stand about 1/3 of this, so it's got that going for it, which is nice.

It probably could’ve been a 3 if it wasn’t 80 minutes long

Aguilera turns to that big band sound as she echoes the James, Holiday, Franklin era. Clearly she has a great singing voice but I really didn't find anything that memorable on this double album 2/5

One of the daughters has this album.

I can see why Ain't No Other Man and Candyman were released as the singles for this album; none of the other tracks really grabbed me.

A concept album about John Major's Conservative government in the mid 1990s. This didn't need to be a double album and the wartime revival stuff was a bit unhinged.

not another long-ass album, christina!!!!!!!!!! god. okay, she's obviously very talented and has an incredible voice. but in NO WORLD did this need to be a double album. the big singles are great and fun and punchy. the second disk was better than the first. but there is just so much cornball stuff in here, especially the really horny songs. i can't help but wish we had some other more dynamic female pop acts in here because there were plenty of xtina's contemporaries i think would work better for this list than this album.

vocals sound good here, but seriously? a double album of generic pop hits with some callbacks to famous musicians in other genres from the early/mid-1900s? and a fan service track?? am i missing something about why i needed to hear this before i die? it's fine at best and at worst, exceedingly self-important while remaining incredibly dull. it's just not for me, sorry christina. favorites: ain't no other man, hurt

Eh

Catchy but shallow is my first impression of the first couple songs. "Gonna rewind to when the innovators were alive"- well, she failed here. There's nothing innovative here. Yeah, bored. 4 songs in and I'm snoring. This album is pretty awful.. I'm not convinced it's Aguilera's best, let alone worthy of a must listen. I think both her self titled debut and Stripped are probably better albums. None of which I'd go and willingly listen seek out to listen to, honestly, besides one or two songs. In fact the best melody on the first half of the album is the one borrowed from her debut album song, Genie in a Bottle, which is used in Thank You. Candyman is fun at least. Album would probably be better if it was half the length. Definitely think disc 2 is better than the first disc.

Listened to some. She's very good at what she does but I can't listen to it for long! Not for me, maybe the occasional tune.

Christina is a great singer, but she can’t overcome an over-produced and bloated album. Preemo didn’t bring his A game on the songs he produced, which is disappointing.

Point of clarification because I see people saying the term "pop" in reviews without defining what they actually mean. Two different things: pop production and popular music. Pop production is an entire art itself and there exist absolutely iconic albums with pop production, several of which belong on this list (a good example of one that is on this list is Janelle Monae's ArchAndroid). This album is an example of the latter, not the former. The pop production on this is garbage because it's trying to straddle the line between more classic soul, RnB, and cabaret production and modern pop/hip hop. The producer basically ended up just throwing some cheap "oldie" effects on top of the mix and calling it a day. So if you're wondering why this modern pop music sounds like a cheap shitty old record, that's why! To judge this for what it is, which is popular music, also comes up short. She's got a hell of a set of pipes, it's such a shame to see it wasted on this music. Two stars for pipes alone.

It has good moments, and Christina Aguilera is a powerhouse singer no doubt about that. But overall this album is too packed it's just not enjoyable. The first disc is probably the better sounding one for me even though it's mostly her givng ode to get inspirations. Then the last song on there with the fan voicemails is kinda creepy? The second disc seems like it's more true to Christina's musical style, but it's just lame for me. I get tired of her yelly singing with the long switchy notes. But that's just me! Maybe I only appreciate her as a feature in other people's songs.

Whoever made this list really likes Christina Aguilera… anyway, this was better than the last one of hers I listened to. Still not my jam, but it wasn’t all bad. Like I said before, she wouldn’t be where she is if she was a bad singer.

Not my thing. Candyman is fine.

Great voice but it wears thin with the way she sings. I like the bluesy, soul sound she sort of pulls off. It’s the vocal range extension that she wants to show off that doesn’t do it for me. It’s not even close to being the best pop album I’ve ever heard and not even close to being one of her best.

Sometimes an album is greater than the sum of its parts. This album is the opposite. There are a few decent songs here, but man—is it way too long and way too samey. It feels like someone pitched the concept, and then 100 people wrote songs around the theme. There was no real process of refinement or cohesion. They just threw everything at the wall and saw what stuck. The result feels plastic and insincere. Aguilera has a great voice, but after an hour of her oohs and aahs, I’m officially done. None of the songs seem genuinely invested in the album’s theme; they just slap a shallow layer of horns or some other “old school” element on top. It’s like someone watched "Moulin Rouge" and said, “I want that.” Probably a 3-star album, but for the sheer effort it took to finish it, 2 stars.

So long, so full of herself.

meh, disc 1 is v repetitive

She's a talented singer, but this album leaves a lot to be desired. As others have overstated, this is a long album. There's a lot of chaff on this record that likely didn't need to be here. The big band sound had a comeback for a bit in the late 2000's/early 2010's and I think this album was a bit ahead of the curve on that. Bioshock came out the next year and it was still 2 years before Caravan Palace began ravaging theater kids' iPod shuffles. It intends to pay homage, but comes off as uninspired. It's overproduced but tries so hard to capture the warmth of analog recording. It's not really for me, but I bet there's plenty of people out there that still return to this every now and again.

Was really stoked then got over it by like the fifth song.

Pop music is a fickle beast. It serves one purpose - to entertain. Christina Aguilera pushes the boundaries of patience with this 1 hour, 18 minute double album that really should be a single, and no longer than 40 minutes at best. Comparing to other 'pop' albums on this list, for example the Buddy Holly album I had recently clocks in at a respectable time AND entertains. Christina Aguilera (and her fellow pop princesses of the 90s and 00s) try to step outside the boundaries that pop music requires and present their music as art. She is definitely talented, but a double-disc album of her strangling her vocal cords to overemphasize what doesn't need to be overemphasized is pushing it. 2/5

I guess fine but not gonna finish this one. Disc 1 is plenty Will I listen to again: 0%

People still not adhering to the Less is More adage. I preferred Disc 2 but overall was underwhelmed. She’s got a great voice but it went on for so long and all sounded the same. I liked Save me from myself. It’s a shame some discerning producer didn’t intervene and answer that particular request. I don’t want to give her a drubbing but this could have been edited down to one disc. My version of basics is black T-shirt, black jumper, black trousers, sensible shoes. Even that ensemble sounds more exciting to me.

I don't know what to make of this. Aguilera can sing. So what? The songs all feel so overdone. Her performances seem more about proving something rather than trying to emote or convey a feeling. The production team is determined to pull out every trick they can think of. None of it feels authentic or relatable. Not to me anyway.

I tried. I failed. my overall impression is that there's is much ado about nothing. lots of stuff happening. lots of emoting and sounds and so, so many notes. and it all added up to squat.

It's fine but I didn't need a 2006 pop double album in my life. The vocal gymnastics do nothing for me and makes the whole thing seem a bit soulless.

Good voice, some good songs, but way to long (double disc album)

OK, not my cup tea, but good if you like Christina Aguilera

I've heard of Christina obviously but (I don't know what happened to me in the early 00s) I just completely missed her entire career. If you asked me about her biggest hits I wouldn't be able to name even a single song. Listening to this album I think I got the answer to that, I just generally don't vibe with this kind of early 00s R&B. Steve Winwood being a feature on one of the songs was lowkey wild though 2/5

This should not have been this long

Nothing exciting ofc there's that few standout songs you've listened on the radio way too many times.

She has a good voice but this is a bloated mess.

So much drama. Christina over sings everything on this album to the point of making it unlistenable.

I actually made it half way through this way too long album of standard, overwrought diva-pop music. Lightweight and of little consequence, this is music that will be forgotten as quickly as it was regurgitated. 2 stars

The appeal of the tracks on album's first half (especially on those co-produced by DJ Premier) relies solely on the well-chosen samples that provide the backbone of those songs. Aguilera's grit-free vocals, however, wail over the instrumention but leave little impact. Every song seems like it's supposed to be a demonstration of her vocal capabilities, but not every techinque needs to be applied to every syllable. Had she dialed it down from time to time, it would have been far more effective. The last three songs on the first half of the album are Aguilera's observations about her career - they *want* to be bold and powerful statements but instead come across as self-absorbed. (Too bad there isn't a way to delete the fawning voicemail messages from her admirers on "Thank You (Dedication to Fans...)".) The singing on the second half of the album is more straightforward but the songs are largely genre exercises that don't break any new ground. 2

#557. I can't say that I liked this one. It's a pop star past her prime trying desperately to cling on to relevance, and honestly I don't think she's succeeding. All of it was uninteresting, and the album is way to long. 2/5: meh. No, double meh.

Christina Aguilera does have an impressive voice, and as a pop album, this is probably pretty good. It’s not the sort of thing I care to listen to more than once, though, and it’s way longer than it needs to be.

I feel it doesn’t commit enough to the throwback sound of replicating classic singers like Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. The concept has been tried and executed better by many other artists and this album is just bloated as well. 3/10

Mr. President, a Christina Aguilera record has hit the tower.

She's good, it's just not my bag

PGH represent! She's a fantastic singer, edgy in 2006? all over the map , gospel, soul, weird sketches, 50s swing sounding shit, naughty 😏, pop, doesn't make me tingle though

She can sing, but this album was too indulgent. Lots of songs saying the same thing, and it made the entire thing less palatable.

The positive: she can definitely sing and for that I’ll award 2 hard fought stars. But the rest of this ‘package’ is not for me. Pop music in its sickliest sweetest form.

Corr, bit long that one. Nice enough voice of course but double albums are a real slog for this challenge.

I liked the jazzy feel, but it was just too long. And the son were no great. And the track that us just recordings of people kissing her ass was off putting.

Gawd. I'm so tired. Let's get this over with. So. Coming into this album, I had a bias against Christina Aguilera — I'll be upfront about that. I thought that while she did have talent in singing, she didn't have any style. She could put a lot of power into her belting, but you look even barely below the surface and there's no character whatsoever. So the idea of spending nearly 80 minutes with her just seemed intolerable. Just as well, I'll be honest about how old and outdated this bias is. I got it about a decade or so ago, when Todd In The Shadows uploaded his review of Christina's film vehicle BURLESQUE. Back then he still had a lot of that "angry reviewer" in him, as was the style at the time, so it's not like he was exactly trying to be charitable to Christina. Meanwhile, in those days I was way more susceptible to parroting any opinions without ever stopping to ask myself if I actually personally believed them or not, so with this being basically my only exposure to and engagement with Christina besides the chorus of a Pitbull song... I mean, it's not like I ever felt any incentive to see if that bias was based in anything or not. By the time I gained it, she was barely relevant in the mainstream anymore. The story I heard was that her 2010 BIONIC flopped so hard it killed her momentum dead on the spot, and the movie BURLESQUE sure didn't help. Hell, if Todd hadn't reviewed it, I may have never heard of it. As far as I was aware, she disappeared from the face of the Earth after that aforementioned Pitbull single. I don't even know if I knew that "Genie In A Bottle" and "Beautiful" were hers. So I was not looking forward to listening to this album. "Dread" is a bit of a strong word, but it's not, y'know, **not** applicable? Especially when you combine it with the fact that this was supposed to be her "throwback" album, paying tribute to the 1920's soul stars that inspired. Like, great, that's just what I need: modernized retro. And 80 minutes of it at that! A 22 track double album — just what I needed. But, y'know, I gotta realize what I was happening there. See, I'm autistic, and there's this thing I do with food where if it's something I haven't tried before, I'll tend to overthink how much I'll dislike it. How bad the taste and texture and everything about it will be... All that. Normally, though, once I try it I end up— I mean, not loving it, or even **liking** it, but I realize it's not that bad and I was getting worked up over nothing. That's what was happening here, I figured. Once I actually sit down and put the album on, it'll be just fine (a 3 at worst) and I'll feel a little silly for spending so much time worrying about it. I just need to try and push my bias aside and everything will be good. Well. OK, so, I want you to note what I said above: "this was **supposed to be** her 'throwback' album." Let me rip the bandage off here. My big problem with the album is that this record was sold to me as a "throwback." The album is named after this concept, she invented a whole alter-ego to go with it, and two tracks on the album are dedicated to making a big deal about it (the intro and "Back In The Day"). And, y'know, I have no issues with throwbacks as long as they're done right. I mean, you look at Bruno Mars's modernized retro takes on 70's and 80's R&B, or Daft Punk's take on 70's disco. That kind of stuff is great. If only Christina actually did that. Hell, she didn't even do any Meghan Trainor-style modernized retro — and as excruciating as **that** would have been... Goodness! It would have been **something**, at least! Besides a few tracks scattered between both discs, this album ends up just sounding like mid-2000's pop. That's it. I mean, she honestly seems to think that randomly adding vinyl crackle to the start of some songs and having one that namedrops people like Coltrane and Billie Holiday is enough. And, like... Come the shit on. If you're gonna do a throwback, **commit** to it. I thought this was largely gonna be a precursor to what she did on the BURLESQUE soundtrack, besides the only that randomly samples a Marilyn Manson song. Instead, the furthest back she ends up throwing to is, like, 2004, at best. It's not even like these are bad songs. They're largely fine, at best. It just bugs the shit out of me that she put so much importance and emphasis only to largely forget about it. Why did she even bother in the first place? By the time we get to a couple of songs back-to-back on the front of the disc that actually do what I expected this thing to do, I was so tired that I could hardly even bring myself to care. Point of fact, I was a little pissed, actually. Like, what in the hell took you so damn long to get around to this? Goodness me. And the fact that this is a double album. There is no good reason whatsoever that this needed to be a double album. "Here To Stay" and "Thank You" needed to be here? The album needed to have a **second** intro with "Enter The Circus" and "Welcome"? Honest to goodness, it was in the middle of "Welcome" that I really started getting upset. Like, what in the shit Insane Clown Posse carnival barker nonsense is this? This was absolutely necessary? Goodness, what was left on the cutting room floor? And I get the idea: that the first half is sample heavy, while the second goes largely without 'em. But, like, who cares? If the album's overall concept is largely abandoned, why did **this** need to be adhered to? And I wanna narrow in on "Thank You" for a moment, 'coz... Oh, my goodness. I mean, look: despite how I've come across, I'm not that mad at this album — or at least I'm trying **really hard** not to be. It's a dumb mid-2000's pop album with a botched concept. Ultimately, who cares? And this song, I wanna emphasize, I know it's not for me. After all, its subtitle is "Dedicated TO The Fans..."). If you were a fan of Christina's, especially someone who sent in one of the voicemails that get played, you probably loved this. A nice shout-out to the fans. But, I'm sorry, having this play immediately after the song where she proclaims "CRITICIZE ME ALL YOU WANT; I'M GONNA BE HERE FOREVER!", this comes across as one of the most egotistical things I've ever heard on an album. Like, goodness me. It's just even worse when, like I said, Christina largely faded from relevance after her next album. The hubris, y'know? So... Look, it's not a bad album. If you want some loud, dumb mid-2000's pop music, there's stuff on here that'll do the job just fine. Quite frankly, putting my feelings aside, it's a 3. There's some stuff on here that's kind of obnoxious, but overall, I think you could do worse. Christina's voice isn't even as bad as my old bias would have led me to believe. But I can't be dishonest about my feelings. After "Enter The Circus" and "Welcome" got me all pissed off about the album length, and after "Candyman", "Naughty Naughty Boy" and "I Got Trouble" were "too little,too late" in actually accomplishing what this album promised me it set out to do... I'm sorry, but I gotta go with a 2. I can't give it a 1; that'd just be me pissing and shitting my diaper at that point. But for how absolutely tired I was by the last four songs, and for how little I'd ever wanna revisit this material... Yeah. It's a 2 for me. Give it a shot if you want; you might get way more out of it. But me, though? I'm gonna get back to stuff I actually like.

308/1001 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑

Seemed so random she would pick the boogie woogie era as her inspiration. Some songs are ok, some do not need to be listened to before you die.

Solid pipes but not my vibe

Is anyone still listening to Christina Aguilera?

This has a lot going on. Unfortunately, most of what is going on is terrible.

Way too bloated for a mid 2000s Pop album

There are people in the world who think Christina might be Lens daughter. He’s not sure but the hair and the lips are a definite giveaway if you ask me. 2.1

The kind of pop music really isn't my jam, I thought it was going to be my first one star but horn and windwood arrangements dragged it to a ⭐⭐, generally though the warbling vocals (although a tremendous set of lungs) are a bit grating, some good feminist lyrical content but mostly more puerile pop culture themes persist. Would not listen to willingly again.

It my thing

That "thank you" song is peak comedy, saved it another star. Otherwise, really not my jam

Ooof. This was tough to work through. I know it’s all about her voice, but that’s sort of the problem. I just didn’t dig her style, plus the song writing often sounded like everyone was trying too hard. A few good moments plus premier got it a slight upgrade.

There weren't really any bad songs and her voice is undeniable. Maybe I would have rated it higher, but it was way too long. It dragged.

First half is much better on the whole, but still one for the girls. Way too long as well.

Bloated and unfocused. Christina Aguilera is not really an album artist imo so I’m surprised she’s on this list at least twice.

1.91

‘Still got that freak in me’ - Christina Aguilera, 2006 She’s good at singing and none of these songs are bad, but they don’t really stick out from each other. That would make this a 3, but it is also inexplicably nearly 1 and a half hours long.

I mean. It’s ok

Not my thing - songs all start to sound the same after awhile.

Solid output from the original 2000s girls but double is too much.

Far too long for an album that isn't all that interesting. This could have been a perfectly inoffensive pop album, but unfortunately its length drags it down a lot.

Too sickly and just no bite to it at all

Really did not like the start of the album, Christinas vocals where great, but kinda too much. She really proves why someone like Aretha is great, you need to be an amazing singer, and be ably to hold back so the listener doesn't get overwhelmed (take notes Ado). The album grew on me a bit, and some of the songs like hurt showed some great songwriting skills, but this album is waaaaay to long, and most of the tracks are just forgettable.

Actually enjoyed this more than I expected, and was able to finish it, which puts it above Stripped in my ranking. Her voice is amazing, but the very frequent vocal runs do my head in. It's way too long and the Thank You song is very cringe worthy, but there are some quite good songs here and there. I also enjoyed some of the production. Overall, not something I would listen to again though

Sorry if I'm being pretentious but there is no need for an album in this style of pop to be so long. Good voice though

упаси меня господь от этого вокала + подумала вчера как хорошо что уикед не двадцать лет назад сняли, иначе Кристина была бы Глиндой и все умерли

I tried to park my initial dismay but disc 1 confirmed my complete ambivalence for this sort of contemporary generic wailing. Disc 2 at least offered something a little more interesting at times, though still not enough to redeem it for me.

It's good that people are revisiting the sounds of the old days and trying to put some soul back on the table, but this just came across as vapid, manufactured and self-obsessed. She has a great singing voice and has sold a lot of albums, so I'm sure she's achieved what she wanted. I just don't know why it would be on this list.

Just another ex-1001 album!™ http://1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie.wikidot.com/album-artists-a-z-ex ...and the winner of the best name spoken in a Scouse accent goes to... 🤪 Aguilera has a great voice and range, I'm sure her fans love her, but this album wasn't for me, it's far too long and far too much warbly oversinging.

I'm not really a fan of those naughties pop stars albums. They are definitely a relict of their times and for some reason we liked it then. Nowadays, listening to full albums of Aguilera, Spears, Carey or Lopez (or any boysband, for that reason) is like a highest order of punishment. My mental was strong enough to make it halfway through the album, afterwards the changes in the psyche will be irreversible. Christina has couple of nice songs, but her album doesn't belong on this list, unfortunately.

Great voice but got samey quite quickly

Dirt box.

I mean, it's fine for what it is. But not for me.

Too poppy for me

Even though she has a great voice, the album is too repetitive and too long. Most songs are mediocre or bad, however it has some good tracks as well. If she would had cut the album and only included the top 10 songs, it could actually be good and enjoyable.

Not a bad pop album

too much xtina. I had to turn it off midway disk 2.

i did not enjoy most of this but there's a few songs that brought the rating up to 2 instead of a 1. "welcome" was a nice one i hadn't heard before. "hurt" i knew already and i enjoy that song. in general, disc 2 is miles better than disc 1. i couldn't get through disc 1 but disc 2 is nice except for that one song that i skipped xD

Hon får en tvåa och av den anledningen att jag skulle kunna tänka mig att ligga med henne.

I liked her other album on here but this was pretty awful. She was trying to copy Beyoncé and it just wasn’t working for me.

Not for me. The music is cool but she sings too many notes or something.

She's got pipes, but the sound isn't for me.

Way too long. Could have dropped some filler tracks and had a 3 or 4 star album.

Malardo

I don't remember where I've read this thought but it applies perfectly here. Artists with exceptional vocal skills very rarely produce interesting music, they are more focused on displaying the skills She hits notes like she's playing Osu!, got an impressive range and all that, but you can't expect me to keep a soy face for 80 minutes

This felt like two different albums to me, only slightly related. The first album started off okay, but it rapidly became obvious that it wasn't going to go anywhere interesting, and by the end it felt like a one star effort. I particularly detested the last few songs, which seem desperate in the extreme, and made me feel a little bit queasy. The second album was more diverse, maybe a weak three star album. Putting them together, I'm going with two stars for something I'll thankfully never have to listen to again, but wasn't quite annoying enough to justify a single star.

Gosh, she works hard on her vocals and is great at what she does. Unfortunately, the accomplished vocals don't always mean that emotions are communicated better than they would be by just, er, singing. And a large team of writers, it seems, didn't stop this being an album of largely forgettable songs.

idk

A great voice and a few decent tunes but this is not an album that deserves any more attention.

Didn't get to this yesterday but listening now. I'm not loving it might not get through the whole album. It's to bubblegum. Poppy. Okay Oh Mother is the first one that's had me impressed. It's pretty! Night actually listen to that one again!

she has an incredible voice, that i can’t deny. but outside of that, i really didn’t care for this. production hasn’t aged well and the album goes on for far too long.

Going to try to listen to this one with no prejudices, but I can't imagine I would need to listen to 2 Aguilera albums before I die. Plus was really hoping this was some deluxe edition but no, just another long ass Aguilera album. Just like the other one her voice is great, but this is never something I'm going to seek out and just some over-produced pop. I have liked both of her albums more than Britney's album but nothing is redeeming to me about this except her voice.

This was so banal I'm not sure why it ever was on this list. I don't remember any of these songs. She's clearly trying to do an Amy Winehouse thing that really never caught on.

Its a pop album with little to no great songs.

Overall: 3/10 I have to admit, I think Christina Aguilera is an incredibly talented vocalist. It's a shame that the songs she's singing never hold the cake to her immense talent. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did but it really just sounds like generic mid-2000s pop music that follows a formula that I don't particularly enjoy. I didn't hate it but it was overlong and there wasn't much variety. Fav Song: Without You Least Fav Song: Candyman

Style and Identity are very different things. After listening to this album, I am not convinced that Christina Aguilera has either. She does have is an incredible voice. It is not enough.

Blah

I was not looking forward to this, and then I found out it was a double album. I made it through, but I wasn't a big fan.

Liked it more than expected

Dear me, she sure can sing.

Well made and all that, and she is a good singer, but its not for me

She’s great at singing but I didn’t like the songs. Also if the two discs are going to be so different why not make it two albums?

Definitely bluesey. At times, sounds like she's trying too hard to replicate someone like Amy Winehouse who would have been HUGE during this time. Overall, there are some fun tracks (last track is actually really good), but it's pretty forgettable. If you want to listen to this type of bluesey, smokey bar type of singing, just listen to Amy Winehouse, or even better yet, Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington.

A 78 minute Christina Aguilera album? Really Robert? Undeniably great voice, but her singing style doesn’t really do it for me. Trying a little too hard imo. Production is good, content is not very interesting. Pretty forgettable overall.

Too long

Second C.A. Album for the project, and once again it wasn’t awful but it’s just not my thing. She has a tremendous voice but seems to be a bit one-trick flourishing every phrase over similar pop music, and it gets tiring quickly. Although I’m not sure, I assume this project was a bit of a deviation from true pop-singing for her, but why was this released as a double album? Because I have no idea

Incredible voice but lot left to be undesired… second half of the album when she seems to lean into her musical creativity, was better

I listened to this horny mid-2000s retro maximalism on YouTube in incognito mode because I simply could not have the algorithms get that fucked up.

for better and worse, the most excessive dying gasp of the CD era.

Why is this on the list? It doesn’t even have any of her good songs on it.

That 2k pop yeah sometimes it’s good, but mostly forgettable

how did she get two spots on this list... intro- 5 makes me wanna pray- 3 or 4 back in the day- 3 aint no other man- 3 understand- 2 slow down baby- 2 i cant do it. im just not strong enough

OMG I so can't stand this album. 100% NOT my thing, which makes it really hard to give it a rating. She can obviously sing, technically speaking. But it's OK to sing... a... note. You don't need to convert every single note into a piece of two-octave acrobatics containing the full Mixolydian scale. Despite (because of?) this it's all a bit samey and lacks the soul that soul (I believe that's what this is?) is supposed to have. I listened to all songs but could not sit through any in full. Life is too short. I'll give it two starts rather than one because singing like this must be hard and she made me appreciate other music more. Maybe she deserves to be in the list because after all she's famous.

When I listen to this, I feel like someone is trying to hard sell me on something that I have absolutely no interest in... It's almost like that scene in Severance whereas Christina Aguilera is Mr. Milchick and I'm Dylan trying by best to keep it together, like SINCERELY trying until ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VngE9BiEe7Q

I didn't like this album much. Most of the songs are the same electro-jazz pop drivel. I get that Aguilera can sing but this album is just like her other records. The good news is that the last few tracks are quite good. But it's not enough to satisfy me. I'll give "Back to Basics" 2 stars.