Back to Basics

This is fine, good even, but clocking in at almost two hours is a no-go from me.

Oli kyllä parempi albumi kuin olisin odottanut. Vaikkakin ihan liian pitkä. Voittaa kuitenkin monet alt rock mölyämiset mitä listalla tähän asti on tullut.

It's solid, and I like the throwback style. But holy bloat, Batman.

Bloated into like 3 separate albums, but I liked one of them.

Christina is a vocal powerhouse. I think she was underrated in the context of the bubble gum 1990's pop because she could reeeaallly sing. This album backs up that claim with strong tracks that maintain her vocal prowess already 5 albums into her discography up to this point. This is however one of those instances where I question an album's selection on this list due to the artist having other albums that far surpass the current one. IMO this isn't anywhere close to her self titled (with "Genie In a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", "I Turn to You", and "Come On Over on it) or her album "Stripped" (with "Fighter", "Dirrty", and probably my personal favorite CA track, "Beautiful" on it), and yet roughly halfway into this list we haven't heard either of those yet. Track 2, "Makes Me Wanna Pray" is a fantastic second song. There's gospel in there, there's a super tight band behind her, and it's a perfect platform for her to get up to the mic and do her thing. I love her riffs and rubato-ing in the last minute or so of the track. Great energy. Unfortunately I can't STAND those weird static-y sounds that are panned hard right and hard left here. I think it's some like faux vinyl crackle which would fit this nostalgic / "back to basics" / throwback idea that she is going for, but it's just a little too heavy handed in the mix. This was a nice listen. Again, I can't help but feel that this is at the very best her 3rd best album though.

She has quite a soulful voice, strong range too. Pleasantly surprised about this one! 3.5

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

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

Loved it, thought it was recorded terribly at first due to (what could be regarded in the modern era as) a dusty vinyl rip. But I guess that’s the point, it’s back to basics!

Second half was much more interesting than the first

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

I don’t have a comment on the album as a cohesive unit because I listened to this over two days split up into several listening sessions There were songs I quite liked, especially in the first half of the album, but also songs I skipped about halfway through

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Pop, R&B. Ni fu ni fa.

Good!! Candyman is my fave track.

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.

Solid

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

2.5

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Meh.

not bad tbh

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.

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.

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

Nou, ik zal eens gul doen.

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

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

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

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?

Accomplished, but just not my thing.

3.5

Pop. Bastante mejor de lo esperado.

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

This kinda music is never really gonna for me, I get she's a good singer but she sings every single thing in the exact same way here, over and over again for an hour and a half. Also wasn't expecting it to be so religious. I think the late noughties were not a great time for pop I'm afraid sorry.

I feel this album has been made using the dartboard method. Throw enough musical bits against a wall and see what sticks. Throw enough producers against the same wall again to see what sticks. It all sounds a bit same same to me without anything to lift it out of the morass. I didn't actively dislike it apart from finding nothing to actually like. 2 1/2 stars sounds about right. Well the vocal gymnastics do piss me off eventually. Can you actually hold the same note without taking it up and down and all over the place? On some tracks she does but then can resist on the subsequent longer note. Listening to this reminds me of what I actively disliked about this era.

According to Wikipedia, around the time of the release of “Back to Basics", Christina Aguilera stated that she was dissatisfied with current pop music and wanted to draw more inspiration from the jazz, soul, and blues of the 1920s through the 1950s. That sounds promising, but when you listen to the album, you quickly realize that it’s just turned out to be another pop album. It’s not that the influences she mentioned aren’t audible - they’re simply too subtle to really break through the polished mainstream sound. I like Christina’s voice, but you can safely ignore this album.

Soulful, but not my thing.

It's fine. Not a big fan.

Pop vaya

Doesn't need to be on this list at all

Great voice, decent songs, but not really interesting to me.

She's a talented singer and decent songwriter, but I'm not at all into this music.

2 - not for me

And then we come full circle from art to schlock. It is absolutely a hate crime for the generator to give this so soon after getting Baby One More Time. Christina at least has a viable voice. But is that enough to carry for about an hour twenty of vapid pop baubles? It doesn't look good. The album starts claiming that there will “never be another,” but there are literally two new singers that are indistinguishable from Xtina getting signed by some sleazy record exec every day across the world. There are new producers doing bad facsimiles of classic soul just like this. There's a new song that might as well be Back In The Day every month. Hilarious to something so banal and contrived and invoke “innovators”. Hilarious to invoke Coltrane at all. Hilarious to praise real music right before a song that sloppily rhymes “you got class” with “look at that ass” over and over again. Almost every song is the same exact vocal volume. Almost every song starts with nearly identical “whoaohhhohhh yeahhyeahhh” melisma. There is no art here, just construction. I mean, a sequel to “Dirrty”? Yeesh. Once again, this is the sort of song that tries so hard to be sexual but at every turn suggests they maybe do not know how to have sex. Arguably the only song that does this well is Madonna's “Human Nature,” but that answers actual tabloid busybodies. No one has ever cared if Aguilera was still as sexual as that one song where she looked like she hadn't showered in a year. On the other side of unnecessary, there is the glitched and scratched out rehash of Genie in a Bottle on “Thank You,” with the incredibly dorky subtitle “Dedication to Fans”. I might cry thinking about someone hearing this song and feeling like it was heartfelt and not just a cynical attempt at early parasocial fan relationships. Tragedy. About here the album SHOULD be over. Instead we get another half hour, this time contrived vaudeville circus. It is intrinsically better because it is (presumably intentionally) high camp, but Christina never really sounds like she is trying to have fun. That, and being “better” doesn't make this clutch of songs GOOD. They pull from a different era and genre, but it's still the same writers, still the same performer, still the same hack writing, just playing a different game. If the meat is spoiled, it barely matters if you're making a curry or a cassoulet out of it. It's also just… you couldn't release this as a serious album without the first piece. Not when you're a Diva™. It becomes a weird-tack on, but it would otherwise be seen as an unserious novelty that wouldn't have moved product (and to be fair, they'd have been right). Even if this is a more interesting use of pop free will, its inclusion dilutes and confuses the package. And simply put, it's too long. Every pop album drags from so much filler. This one takes a filler-stuffed 46 minutes and tries to turducken another EP in. There are worse things, but it's just not good, not necessary, and not worth giving above ⭐️⭐️

Obv great singer but felt like she was screaming in my ear for 80 minutes. Music didn’t really inspire me and had kinda circus/medieval vibe at times which I didn’t really need

Loses a star for being so long

The vocals are amazing on this album, but the early 200s production and no switch up in musical style gives me a solar issue to what I ahd with the chronic, it feels a bit like I am listening to a single hour long Aguilera album

Sorry I don't like this type of pop

This is pleasant enough, pretty unremarkable. "Ain't No Other Way" and "Slow Down Baby" have some good winehouseness to 'em; "Oh Mother" has a good atmosphericity. Xtina could still belt in 2006, which is mildly salient info given I wasn't paying any attention to her then, but also not surprising given she was only 26. Nothing against this album, but I'm (mildly) curious why it was chosen.

I have listened to this album before I started this project. I wasn't really looking forward to listening to it again, but did anyway to remember since it's been awhile. As it was the first time, I found this a bit of a slog to listen to. It actually took me multiple day to get through it because I kept finding other things I'd rather listen to. It's not necessarily a bad album. Christina is a phenomenal singer, and I was a fan when she first came out and had some of her CDs. So I have no issue with this kind of music or her. But man, some of this album is corny af. Naming all the inspirational musicians, the song with fan recordings thanking her, the circus thing on the second disc. Ugh, idk. It just makes me cringe a bit. Nasty Naughty Boy was a little much too for me (and I have no issue with sex songs) but that was cringey too. And "F.U.S.S" (F*** U Scott Storch)? Was this song really necessary on here and did she think he actually listened to it? "Still got the album done without you". Ok girl, good for you. Candyman is a banger though. And the song she wrote for her mother was nice. Definitely my last time fully listening to this album.

TWO DISCS?!? It’s not nearly as bad as I thought, but it isn’t good either. This suffers from being a 2006 pop album, which is a death sentence. The production sucks. The sound scape sucks. Her voice would be great if the music matched it.

This album did remind me of John Major’s ‘Back to Basics’ campaign of the mid ‘90s. Just as Major professed a commitment to ‘family values’ while the entire Conservative Party were having affairs, Aguilera professes a commitment to classic musicians and styles whilst churning out some of the most typically overproduced 2000s pop you can find. It really drags on across its double album length, the low point being Thank You (dedication to fans), a bizarre and egotistical ‘song’ consisting of lauding answer phone messages from fans. My personal favourite was probably one who described it as inspiring him while bombing Iraq. What a tribute!

The positives: she certainly has a great voice (although I think a bit more restraint at times would have been fine), and quite a few songs were admittedly pretty catchy and fun. The negatives: it’s absolutely too long (it might have got 3 stars had it been half the length), many of the lyrics were remarkably egotistic and self-congratulatory (her ‘Thank You’ to fans was particularly egregious), the frequent name-dropping of jazz and soul greats just made me wish I was listening to them instead, and the production was rather one-note, so it all blurred into one after a while.

Album 298. Back to Basics — Christina Aguilera (2006) Omfg, Aguilera again. I'm pissed off with 22 songs / 78 minutes of this music. I don't know, her music just feels so fake. Idk why, maybe because it's trying so hard to be similar to and copy something from the past that it plainly kills everything that I should appreciate or idk. The second part of the album is better btw. 2/5 Liked: — Nasty Naughty Boy — Hurt

2/5. Classic case of the double album that really doesn’t need to be a double album. I get what she was going for here, with the first disc being more hip-hop influenced and sample heavy and the second disc having more live instrumentation, but the issue is that both discs have quite a bit of bloat. It would have been better to just mix the best tracks of both discs into a leaner ~40-45 minute album. As it stands though, the bloat on this thing really brings it down and lessens the impact of any of the highlights.

Just too much CA. Double album is tough to get through. I like the second album more than the first. But still just too much. Huge talent.

Christina Aguilera for me just proves that talent doesn't equate to compelling art. She's got talent in spades, phenomenal singer, but she's taking the piss at 76 minutes of basically the same song looped. Very few decent hooks, almost nothing memorable about it and I found it tough to get through

There are a couple of good tunes on here. The singles I knew were stuck in my head for the rest of the day. The rest I could take or leave. There is no doubt Christina has an amazing voice but there is a bit of the theatrics about it. I think often unnecessarily and can become grating quite quickly. I'd echo the sentiment on the very era specific production too. I also know Stripped is coming at some point and it's an album I had a lot of exposure to at the time so let's see how that goes.

This didn’t need to be a double album, I’m sorry! Aguilera is probably one of the most skilled vocalists when you look at the pop girlie canon and I love getting to hear her push that to the limits. I think this album was also a fun exploration of genre and aesthetics, but again far too long and could’ve been done in 13 tracks. The hits are hits for a reason and they did numbers in my room in ‘06 but on the whole this felt like a slog - I think this is an admittedly harsh 2 stars

Christ(ina), 77 minutes of Aguilera’s caterwauling? In truth, the first half hour of this is pretty good, but far better artists than Xtina have failed to make a double album maintain interest and quality throughout, and some of the choices here are unforgivable: the idea of having a five minute wankathon centred around voicemails from adoring fans is loathsome, sticking it in the middle of the album is diabolical

a 2 disc Xtina album! why? Also she has more than one entry on the list which is kind of mind boggling to me. There are some good beats in here, but pretty much none of these songs do anything for me. Yes, she has a beautiful voice, and the presentation of the album is fun at times. Naughty Naughty Boy gives huge Jessica Rabbit vibes and I'm sure would've done it for me in 2006, and who am I kidding, 2026 too. There is a fun mix of sound here, from R&B to Lounge/big band music. Enjoy it for what it is I guess. 2000's fun pop.

TWO Christina Aguilera albums?!?! Why on earth does this list have two Christina Aguilera albums and one of them isn’t her 2022 masterpiece “Aguilera”?!? This list is in desperate need of a revision because neither this or Stripped is worth the spot they’re taking up. This is a fine album but it wears its inspirations on its sleeve and never does anything to elevate them. Just listing artists you like isn’t the same as honouring them. I dunno man it’s crazy to me that this list has no Dua Lipa, no Chappell Roan, no Sabrina Carpenter, no Billie Eilish, hell there’s no good Madonna albums but there’s two DOUBLE Christina Aguilera albums. Diabolical

Another pop album where the focus in how talented the singer is. Yes she's a talented singer I don't want to listen to 80 minutes of her voice.

Time capsule but that’s about it

168. Back to Basics - Christina Aguilera (2006) 8.9.26 Variety: 4 Adequacy: 3 Listenability: 2 Uniqueness: 1 Emotionality: 2 = 2.4 rounded down to a 2 "You're struttin' 'round here/ Like you think that I can't do without you" I am ill-equipped to judge this sort of music with any sort of authority, but when has this stopped me before? Aguilera is one of those names I have definitely heard tracks from before, and enough of them to know she's a very talented singer and performer who is just not my cup of tea. As impressive as the operatic vocal runs of Whitney Huston and the crazily acrobatic ones of Mariah Carey were ( both owing huge debts to the likes of Aretha and other pioneering soul and R&B singers), there seemed to be a whole generation of women who were influenced ( I think) in a negative way by this stuff. In my mind Christina Aguilera is one of the worst offenders, and I think went on to negatively influence a whole other generation of hopefuls who go on America's Got Talent, The Voice, American Idol, etc... and perform astounding feats of vocal gymnastics, but otherwise seem entirely devoid of any other talent. Some of these people then go on to minor, often short, careers where their meager talents are drained completely into one or maybe two big songs, after which they are left with nothing much more worth giving. Aguilera herself is an all around talent, dancing, acting, and all that, but the focus on her singing seems to be a combo of her outsized voice itself, and the ability to ape - in an overdone way - those runs that her heroes perfected that is SO big that is it ripe for parody. It annoys the fuck out of me when it happens, and has ruined many an otherwise empty and slick, yet undeniably catchy pop song. I do not recognize any of the tracks on this from the title, but let's see. THE TRACKS Disc One "Makes Me Wanna Pray" - A gospel inspired calling card number. Though dd she need to impress anyone by this point? The GIANT voice is here in all it's glory, but the song itself, such as it is, leaves pretty cold. Pretty soulless soul, and did we need five writers for something this basic? "Back in the Day" - Name checking a host of the soul and R&B greats at the opening of your song is a bit of a swing, and seems to be setting it up for failure. The turntablism elements here, aside form being super annoying, don't do anything to engender any additional goodwill here. This was pretty damned boring, and full of such a ridiculous level of hype that I'm very doubtful the rest of the album will be able to live up to the promise made here. "Ain't No Other Man" - Ugh... the perfect example of the grating vocal runs opens this up. I think going forward we can just assume there will be a lot more of it, and I'll try not to harp on it too much. It's just background noise for the rest of this.... double album. Dear lord. Disposable and with a lot of jazzy signifiers which make this feel like the sort of lifeless Diet Pepsi-commercial aesthetic established with Ray Charles in the early 90s. This was painful. The worst evolution of the "baby, baby , baby" mode of pop song. "Understand" - This is a MAJOR step up from the previous tracks, and feels like a real soul-tinged but of R&B. Annoyingly though it relies heavily upon a sample of the far superior Betty Harris song "Nearer to You" as a crutch, which undercuts what I think would have been a contender for at least an early highlight. As such, it feels cobbled together, and unconfident in it's own ability to grab the audience. Why not just excise the sample, and sing the line herself, which she already does elsewhere in the same song. Baffling choice. "Nearer to You" by Betty Harris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e46hzxLsEUU "Slow Down Baby" - A much more subtle use of some samples, this time from both 50 Cent ( a vocal refrain) and Gladys Knight and the Pips (the horn line I guess). This is otherwise has a somewhat catchy core melody. Maybe it's just taking her a bit to warm up, but this is a step in the right direction. "Window Raisin' Granny" by Gladys Knight and the Pips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHW-JEIW5DU "Oh Mother" - On this ostensibly sadly deep song, we get the worst instrumentation yet. This felt like the sort of thing that the only Island could take and with very little effort change it into a spot on parody. It sounds cheap and it's a cheap attempt at a tug on the heartstrings which falls completely flat. Why would anyone listen to this over a dozen or more infinitely more successfully similar songs by Stevie Wonder? "F.U.S.S." (Interlude) - I'd normally skip this sort of thing, but it's first truly interesting thing on the album and it's used as a glorified interlude. The deep bass and funky keyboards along with the percussion loop play VERY well over top of Aguilera's understated and actually affective vocals. This could have been a minute or two longer. "On Our Way" - Ok. After a few false starts, is Ms. Aguilera finally on her game? This very 90s throwback R&B track hits way better than most of the other stuff on here melodically, and is full of solid hooks. It starts to get a little lost just after the middle, but gets right back on track. This owes more to the likes of En Vogue and Aaliyah than any of her contemporaries I think. "Without You" - The roll keeps on going with this FAT bass heavy catchy little number, with its jazzy synth touches and layered choral vocals. A bit stripped down, and straight forward, Aguilera does not guild the lily to any sort of detriment. At a glance, surprised to see this was not a single. The vocal run near the end even feels entirely earned. "Still Dirrty" - A step backwards here, and what seems like an attempt to capture that Lauryn Hill sound, and fails in every respect. The hip hop mode does not suit Aguilera very well, and I think there's much slower, much quieter, and jazzier version of this that could possibly work. "Here to Stay" - Another fair to middlg use of some 70s soul samples, which also suffers in comparison to the source. The best part about this one is the very deep bass string line. This one felt like it was missing some instrumentation, and had a lot of empty space in the sound. Those horns could have been live in the studio and WAY louder and more effective. Instead it just sounds like the old song just happens to be playing on a tinny boombox in the background while they were recording this. The Best Thing You Ever Had by Candi Staton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3aMT60KqxY "Thank You (Dedication to Fans...)" - This would have been much better without all the skit-level inserts that serve as an embarrassing bit of self celebration, despite nominally being all about the fans. Disc Two "Enter the Circus" - Literal circus music. Ok. I can get behind this. I've been trained by Nick Cave, Tom Waits and other to kind of dig the carnival aesthetic. Unfortunately this is another interlude, and in fact not a well realized and bold step outside her established sound. Could have been fun. Oh well. "Welcome" - We get some Bee Gees sounding poppy violins to start off, which gives us a different vibe, and Aguilera continues the circus theme. It feels like she wanted to try her hand at some Elton John-ish pop balladry, but ends up being a weird mish mash of sounds rather than something that's all that engaging. You've got country, cinematic Bond-esque strings, cabaret, singer songwriter stuff. This feels like the beginning of strange concept album she has tacked on to the first side. While not entirely successful, I'm very intrigued to see where this will go. Or will she just drop it immediately? "Candyman" - A big *ahem* swing that is far and above the most sexually interesting song on the album do far, but is giving off more "Mambo No. 5" vibes than I think was intended. This was about 10 years to late I think. "Nasty Naughty Boy" - Ok. I take it back. The last one was cartoonishly sexy, where this one is much more effectively seductive and does a way better job at eliciting a vintage vibe. More on target anyway. Still, it's the kind of surface level throwback that would not be out of place in a heightened modern musical pastiche filled homage to this sort of femme fatale nightclub thing, but otherwise bears little resemblance to the real McCoy. This more Madonna in Dick Tracy, and less Billie Holiday. "I Got Trouble" - The kina sorta concept album within an album continues with a similarly cartoony take on the blues. The faux crackly vinyl to radio microphone effect was entirely unnecessary and they didn't even commit to the bit with the instrumentation being clean as a whistle. Go one way or the other and this steps up a bit. As it is, it just sounds like a production mistake and makes no sense as an aesthetic. I do find myself wondering now what a more serious, stripped down blues and jazz standards album would be like with Aguilera. Maybe get Bonnie Raitt to produce and provide guitar duties? I would give that a listen. "Hurt" - Sad piano is sad. Overblown and needlessly operatic, in the sub-Celine Dion / Andrew Lloyd Webber mode. Just go listen to Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" instead. Even the 7:10 album version of that would be more tolerable than this. "Mercy on Me" - Echoes of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" in the opening, we disappointingly get a slow, bluesy, gloomy piano ditty instead. Well enough suited for tv drama montage fodder, and not far off from the sort of stuff we recently heard on the Adele albums we recently heard. "Save Me from Myself" - This was a surprisingly interesting little acoustic guitar and string led number that felt like a big left turn. A bit sad and a little bit jazzy, it stays on target and doesn't explode into the giant bit of soul pop kept expecting it to. And loved the zigging vocal melody that keeps going in just the direction to didn't think it would. Where's the album full of this stuff? "The Right Man" - This was way to big for me. Replace the lyrics, and some twangy electric bass guitar notes, and it sound like Aguilera's audition for a Bind theme. A big swing and a big miss for me, but there's something admirable about the attempt. HIGHLIGHTS - "Slow Down Baby" - "F.U.S.S." (Interlude) - "On Our Way" - "Without You" - "Save Me from Myself" MIDLIGHTS - "Understand" - "Still Dirrty" - "Here to Stay" - "Welcome" - "Mercy on Me" - "The Right Man" LOWLIGHTS - "Makes Me Wanna Pray" - "Back in the Day" - "Ain't No Other Man" - "Oh Mother" - "Thank You (Dedication to Fans...)" - "Candyman" - "Nasty Naughty Boy" - "I Got Trouble" - "Hurt" FINAL THOUGHTS To quote a noted travel writer, this was "...thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread." This was just not built for me, and I get that taste is a spectrum, but this felt messy, unfocused, and full of a certain quality of being overly self impressed in the presentation that really turned me off, and made me wonder who this was even for. The self empowerment aspect of a lot of this sort of bold, brash soul tinged pop from the era even seems to be absent, and leaves me at a loss for any sort of immersion into the interior thoughts of the various narrators of the songs or a feeling of emotional weight. While several of the tracks were catchy and very listenable, it was still mostly just a bunch of songs of her loudly describing things at you. This is one of two Aguilera albums on the list and I am not looking forward to the other after this. Maybe the first one, being earlier will lean towards the Britney Spears-ish more ear friendly dance pop though, and won't be as abrasive to the ears. This one was a brightly colored, paper lion of an album. All flash, no substance, but with some nice touches that peaked through now and again. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Those highlights would make up a very nice EP's worth FURTHER LISTENING - M!ssundaztood by Pink - Frank by Amy Winehouse - Version by Mark Ronson - Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams by Solange - Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars

Woo nothing Dimery loves more than a double album! But apparently not enough to keep it in subsequent editions? It’s not bad, it’s not great. It sounds very dated and samey, but with legible grit and swagger from Christina and DJ Premier. Despite her range and confidence as a singer, there’s not a whole lot of melodic range or ingenuity here which leaves the listener exhausted before the first disc is even near its end. I am impressed she and her team focused as much as they did on soul classics as a tone and part of the presentation, which is consistent with the contemporary, recent popularity of Crazy in Love and One Thing, not to mention Winehouse, but it just feels like an album (or 2) long name drop rather than creating classic material. Ain’t No Other Man is a keeper.

Sorry, but this screams rich girl decides to spend way too much on record instead of writing a big term paper. And still gets a B. That Intro song just screams Introduction paragraph in term paper. Then does the same thing the next song. Show. Don't Tell. Gawd Tina! Lots of filler. What is she coming back from? I don't care for her use of sexual innuendo, it's too on the nose. Lacks the subtlety of the music she's paying homage to. It's a fair homage to what she wants to do. It's just bloated. 2

Admittedly didn’t get as far as disc 2 but that’s my right as double albums are self indulgent. There was some gospel stuff that sounded nice, but aside from that it’s the over produced pop I hate. Why?

She looks sticky

Oh this was way too long Playlist add: "Oh Mother"

Christina’s voice is about the only thing keeping this album afloat. She can obviously sing the hell out of just about anything, but most of these songs don’t give her much worth singing. The whole retro concept sounds better on paper than it does stretched across an album this long. The first half was especially rough. Too much run of the mill 2000s pop dressed up with horns and old record samples. The second half was more tolerable, mostly because it leaned a little harder into the older jazz and blues sound instead of trying to force everything into a radio single. And the whole thing has enough cheap double entendres to make it feel more corny than clever. There’s talent all over her performance, but the songwriting never comes close to matching it. One great voice carrying a pile of mediocre songs.

Like Whitney Houston, I can hear she has a great voice but I don’t like the music. 2.5

So much talent wasted on this mess. Embarrassing.

Didn’t know what to expect from this. Wasn’t as out and out pop as I expected, but still very overblown and OTT. First half quite RnB with Amy Winehouse vibes (and she does have a voice to match). Second half more like show tunes, and a bit ridiculous in places. The 5 minutes of fan recordings saying how amazing and inspirational she is can absolutely get in the bin.

I do like how the second disc differentiated itself from the first, after the first was the pretty typical pop R&B of the 90s and 2000s. But I still didn't love it

every song sounds the same... for eighty minutes

A 79 minute Christina Aguilera album sounded like the purest form of torture imaginable going in. And the length of the album still did make it very difficult...but it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting it to be. There's a lot more Amy Winehouse to her than I remembered

The only reason this does not get 1 star is the quality of her voice and clean underlying sound. This is a masterclass in how to fail to execute an idea. It is called 'Back to Basics', but is stuffed, bloated, with experimental variation and ideas designed to test the listener's patience. It is a hard listen when it shouldn't be, and in one word can be descirbed as "disappointing".

She has a greaaat voice, but her songs are like not my favs. Without You was my choice

It's a good pop album. It really isn't bad. It's just so long

Vielleicht Check ich es in 30 jahren

Xtina, can we have a talk? You have a world-class voice. Go make the classic record. Go do the soul and blues and whatever else. Cover some Billie Holiday songs. See if Tony Bennett has room to gawk at another 30 year old pretty girl during a duet. You didn’t have to do this. But here’s the real comedy of the entire endeavor. The record she could have made, was being made AT THE SAME TIME. WITH THE SAME PRODUCER. Does Mark Ronson hate her? Was he laughing at her the whole time? Because our boy knew Amy Winehouse was MAKING the classic record - an actual all-timer - while Christina was doing whatever this is. I’d like to believe Mark sat them down and gave them a choice. One of you can make a true classic, but you have to die. The other gets this mess, and a TV show. But like any deal with the devil, the TV show was a karaoke show with an over-inflated version of Carson Daly. I’m confident Christina would like to go back and change her choice.

Disc 2 is a wild ride, and yet my preference

Lovely voice. Not my taste though.

Stormannsgalskap. Ganske utrolig at hun fikk holde på med det her. Dobbeltalbum med tvers igjennom ordinære låter, ispedd fans som takker henne for at hun er den nye jesus. Fett.

Oh dear. Carole King yesterday, and now this. I was there when Genie In A Bottle dropped. It was much better than Britney's pedo-bait. But as time went on her reliance of vocal gymnastics over bland melodies and over-produced tripe sunk her to the level of every other generic pop star of that era, and any other era. This isn't good. It's not as bad as I was expecting, but it still feels like too much of a throwback to eras long gone without much new to justify the decision. Too much brass, too much Gospel, too bland, too many vocals screeches, and too many damn songs. 22 songs is a ridiculous number for a pop album of the Noughties. I knew a couple of the singles - didn't like them then, don't like them now. Of course she has great vocals, but they're also kind of unlistenable. It is a curious thing to have such great vocals, but not really know how to sing. Or how to make even one worthwhile song in 22.

Definitely didn't need a double album from Christina Aguilera

This felt overproduced and, at least at first, like someone performing too perfectly, but with something lacking. I liked disc 2 more as it felt more varied.

The hip hop intros do feel slightly out of place. I don’t mind it because it adds some interest. Personal preference the vocal style is doing a bit too much (noted she is a very skilful singer). Lyrically unsurprising

Eine gute Stimme, nicht meine Musik

rare bullshit

It’s not bad but a double album is a bit much. Some cool takes on vocal jazz and blues styles. But it’s too much Xtina.

Same year and same producer as Back to Back. For the frist half before ALL the filler - Take back to black, take out the actual instrumentation and just some early aughts drum beats - look honestly, it isnt as bad as i thought it would be. I actually kinda enjoyed it. But it is WAY to long and then the second half is so lazy, so self indulgent and so much filler.

Back to Basics - Christina Aguilera (2006) I'm underwhelmed by the lack of cohesion this album lack. Aside for being long, it felt like I was in the escape room with every door leading to no where. Every track felt disconnected to its predecessor in both Disc. But I was drawn to the second disc better and I liked "Save me from Myself". It's not bad of an album but overrated to include it in "1001 Albums". Nothing so special about just a typical pop album. a 2

it was fun to listen to but didn't really love any songs, the cirus one was cool

good voice. too long.

Blah- not my thing. Christina can belt it out certainly, but not in a way that I enjoy.

A couple of retro singles aside ( ain't no other mam and candyman) aside there really isn't a lot here. Limited in scope and the difficulties are with all teenybop singers are do they disassociate themselves from their past and move to more grown up songs. This is neither really

Nope.

She's obviously got an incredible voice, but the songs are just.... All a bit boring. They're good and fine, but they're just missing that something special.

She have a nice voice. But this type of music os not really my pair of shoes. It od boring after few songs simmilar to one another.

Ugh. Nu-R&B sucks, and especially when the same vocal gimmicks permeate the entire album. Probably was worth a listen when this kind of thing was fresh, but ain't no more.

Can’t deny the strong vocal range here, but her style has never resonated with me. Props for attempting a concept album, but others have done this style better.

This was a slog to get through. It’s clear that she’s got an incredibly strong voice with a huge range, but how would I even know that since all she’s doing is shouting at me. She needs to settle it down, soften it up and maybe try giving a proper nod to those famous singers that she is obligatorily just name dropping to check the box. For a much better album that gives a nod back to the influences while pushing the sound into a modern world, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black is way better.

I listened to this on a road trip to the beach and my son vomited on himself. Hey Xtina - do less. 2.5/5

Meh 2.5/5

For a start, insanely long. This should not be a double album. It should barely be an EP to be honest, because so much of it is absolutely identikit. Also, it's weirdly dated much more than most pop of the era. I didn't like it, is what I'm saying. The singles are vaguely enjoyable, I guess, but a lot of the time it's just Xtina warbling over Generic Backing.

I felt this when it came out, and I still feel it: this album takes every minor annoyance about a Mariah Carey album, and exxagerates it immensely. Way too much melisma, too many vocal overdubs, and just generally too busy. A basket of white gospel R&B cliches. It's a shame, as she has phenomenal talent, spoiled by a myriad of arrangement and production choices.

Way too long

what a mess of an album. the last track on disc one is an homage to fans, but comes off as a narcissistic back patting. so many samples and nods to old music that seems better done by those ancient acts. its pretentious and dumb at the same time. there were some moments and samples that were “fun” in a way, but the album is mostly a slog. i dont get it. she can sing, though.

Checks notes. No, I didn't need to listen to that. I heard enough of her over played, over produced music in the early 2000s.

fühlt sich bissi an wie kulturelle aneignung?? idkkkk also all in all nit schlecht aber is so soul jazz type. all in all idk 2.5/5? stabile mitte würd i sagen. also wieder mal nit schlecht. aber nur ein zwei songs de mi richtig catchen. aber fast alle auf disc 2 tbh: hurt, mercy on me

A very noughties r&b album

I gave it a chance but it just didn't click with me. It's one of those albums that I can see why people like it, but it just isn't for me.

not for me unfortunately

Enjoyable, but, definitely not my wheelhouse. I can appreciate her artistry, even if the music doesn't really click.

Are there good tracks here? Yes. But good lord, this album is far, far too long. Anything good is diluted down. This album vastly overstays its welcome. Its a shame, I really wanted to like this :( 2/5

Not my thing

2/4 of my Run Of Toss. KD Lang was bad. This was not as awful as I thought it might be. Give me this every single time over KD Lang. At least there are some DJ Premier beats. But. A double album?!? I’m not going to lie. I skipped. A lot. I don’t like it. I don’t want to listen too it. But I can at least respect it. Sort of.

Amazing voice but I couldn't really get into the music – too calculated in its production

album se sastoji od dva dijela. prvi mi je bio dosljedno blago nepodnošljiv pop s elementima arenbija. drugi mi je bio nešto bolji s pokojom dobrom stvarju (»hurt«), ali ima zbog krindža teško slušljivu pjesmu »nasty naughty boy«. i malo je album sve u svemu predug. bilo bi bolje da sam preslušao samo drugi dio, onda bih možda dao i trojku. ovako je dojam za dvojku. šteta jer je glas dobar

Christina has an unreal voice. Shame that this record is a clusterfuck of overproduced poo. Could have been half the length, and feel like her talent is wasted on some of these numbers.

I didn't have a 2006 Christina Aguilera double album on my bingo card this morning, but here we are. I think Christina has an amazing voice. It's strong and confident, and she has the ability to modulate it to convey many different styles. Ultimately though this album isn't my style, and I am not particularly interested in repeat listens.

Não consegui ouvir todo, achei muito repetitivo

Toooooo long and repetitive

I'm probably never listening to this again, but it's a well-conceived, constructed, and performed pop album with some real depth. I admit I didn't realize what a vocal powerhouse she is.

I’m sorry that was just too much Christina Aguilera all at once

disc 2 is the only part worth listening to

I really dislike this style of singing. It's about as pleasant as listening to fingernails being drawn down a blackboard.

Christina! The album's too long Christina!

Not for me, only a couple songs I found interesting. She has a good voice but it gets a bit boring after about 30 minutes. Feel like this should have either been two separate projects or condensed into one better short album. No need for a double disc

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!

2/5 - For about 30 minutes, I was OK, but I lost the thread entirely during Enter the Circus. How is a double album "Back to Basics"?

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

5/10 – Mediocre

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

After a fantastic first three songs (excluding the intro), Back to Basics fails to piggyback on its opening and instead indeed goes back to basics, the basics being formulaic, whiny, incessant ‘neo-soul’, the sort that you’d really like to turn off, but can’t, because then you wouldn’t be staying faithful to the 1001 list. It’s just intrusive enough to creep out of the background if you try to focus on something else, and in one case (Nasty Naughty Boy), it’s intrusive by way of being pornographic. On top of that, it’s a double album (it could all fit onto one disc fairly easily, but it’s all for the cheap concept) so it’s about 45 minutes longer than it needs to be. You could shave off about ten minutes by slimming down the vocal intonations. She can sing! Isn’t that great. But I think I’ve got the message. Ms Aguilera can now kindly fuck off. So tracks 2 through 4 are worth listening to, they’re some seriously great R&B / soul / whatever they are. Track 4 on the second disc or 17 overall is worth listening to if you want to masturbate, I suppose.

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