Back To Basics - Christina Aguilera

Sweet Christina…very few artists have had such an effect on me. One minute she lifts me to great heights of inspiration with powerful and soulful vocals, and then the next she makes me want to give her a little slap for writing such tacky and self-centred lyrics.

Back To Basics is a 2 disc album that seeks to redefine her character from the explicitly (and some say grossly) sexual caricature of 2002’s Stripped to a modern-classic blended, vocally towering Diva. And in many regards she achieves this goal with the appropriately titled Back To Basics.

I don’t think anyone has ever had any doubt about her ability to sing; of all the “teeny bop” singers that emerged in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Christina is unmatched in her ability to deliver emphatic vocals. She demonstrates this time and time on this album, and displays range that few performers on the planet would be able to match.

The first CD is a great combination of dance orientated tunes, ballads and perky pop rock. “Makes me wanna pray” is a fantastic song that features some of Christina’s trademark power and vocal “muscle”, and I also liked the 80’s-sounding organ accompanying her played by none other than the maestro himself, Steve Winwood.

“Ain’t no other man” is another top quality track which features sounds that I would guess are meant to emanate from the big brass era but come off sounding a lot more modern. Despite that, it works, and the result is an original and funky sounding treat.

My favourite off the first CD however is “Slow down baby”, a twisting and unpredictable number that beautifully works in samples of Gladys Knight and rapper Tony Yayo over an effective vocal arrangement and original melody.

The second CD did not work quite as much for me. Despite Christina teaming up with the talented Linda Perry to write the songs, I found myself wishing at times they had picked just a couple of numbers from this CD (especially the brilliant “Hurt” and possibly “The Right Man’), dumping the rest and adding them to the first CD to really produce a kick-ass album.

The second CD is an anarchic collection of jazz, rhythm and blues that seeks to do a little too much for my liking, and instead of sounding classical and timeless, just sounds corny and meandering. It is still listenable, don’t get me wrong, and there are some enjoyable tunes which will have your toes tapping.

As always Christina’s vocal work is faultless, and some of the musical arrangements are fun, but if you are expected to pay extra for this CD because it actually contains 2 discs, I would want more of what you get on the first disc rather than what she attempts on the second.

Several of my friends disagree, and say they enjoy the different styles and contrasts between the discs. But when I ask them which disc they play the most, bar none have said the first.

I feel Christina is trying to create another caricature for herself with this second disc (that of a R&B Diva) rather than focusing on producing music that comes naturally for her, and for which she is best suited (in the opinion of this fan which I know would mean diddly-squat to her).

Okay, now I need to get a couple of things off of my chest. For someone who writes great music and can sing the house down, lyrics such as “...makes my cherry pop and my panties drop” from “Candyman” and “…receive a little taste of sugar below my waist” in “Nasty naughty boy” are just trashy, and do her no artistic favours. They are throwbacks to the Stripped era, something I wish she would move on from.

And secondly, the continuous references to her personal life can become a bit too much at times. Yes, we know your parents were unkind to you. Yes, we know what an asshole you think former producer Scott Storch is. And for God sakes, yes, we know you are insanely in love with Jordan Bratman and that you think he is the greatest man to ever exist, but it’s this type of continuing self-indulgence that tends to annoy me.

Oh, and the name dropping of Billie Holiday, Etta James and Aretha Franklin as if to push the point she is on par with those legendary performers was a bit off putting.

And lastly, when you create a song like “Thankyou” and dedicate it to the fans, and then fashion that song to demonstrate what an inspiration you are, how you have saved the lives of your fans, and how you keep people sane in Iraq, it generally doesn’t come across all that magnanimous. But that is enough negativity.

Back To Basics is a very good album showcasing this talented woman’s ability and featuring some fantastic tracks which you are sure to revisit time and time again.

4 stars out of 5!