Album Review -- Christina Aguilera: Back to Basics
Streaming link here: MTV.com --The Leak
I'm not much of a reviewer so much as an capturer of impressions, so I'll just give some general thoughts here, since I tend to degenerate to listmaking when going track by track.
Before I get into the album, I will preface with the fact that I am not a huge fan of Aguilera's voice. I think she is a tremendous talent, maybe the most vocally talented of her generation of pop divas, but her quality of voice does not intrinsically appeal to me. Her belting register tends to be more growly, while I tend to prefer clear, bell-like tones. Plus, when Christina gets loud, she gets really loud, and occasionally she tends to get overly ornate with trilling, which is not a characteristic in singers I am particularly enamoured with. I have a video of Christina singing the "Star Spangled Banner" from when she was a tiny girl and I prefer it to any of her renditions since she's become a melismatic pop star who adds all kind of (unnecessary) flourishes. On the other hand, she's created some music I've really liked, songs that are catchy, well-constructed, with a self-empowering message, powerhouse vocals, which overall are just a bit different from the generic claptrap they usually play on the radio. I absolutely loved "Fighter" and "Walk Away" from the Stripped album. So that's the viewpoint I'm coming from.
Back to Basics Album Review:
Disc One is primarily R&B with some jazz influence, it’s a fairly consistent body of work, consisting mostly of midtempo songs, but she manages to infuse each track with its own flavor, some more Latin, some more Big Band, and some more gospel, or a mixture of the styles. Disc Two is a bit of a dichotomy, half 40’s styles songs with a modern raunchy twist on the lyrics, and half pure adult contemporary pop. There are some cool sound effects on both discs of record scratching, horns blaring, funky keyboards, song samples, rapping intros, and even muffled vocals (“I Got Trouble”) on songs of similar tempo that keep the double disc from being too repetitive in style. There isn’t a lot of uptempo music, lead single “Ain’t No Other Man” is the fastest on disc one, while “Candy Man” on the second disc is the other notable uptempo track.
Despite the change in style from Stripped, there are a few nuggets for fans of the hits off Aguilera’s sophomore album: “Here to Stay” is the “Fighter” of this album, same kind of pop sound (now infused with horns here) and “be strong for yourself” message. “Hurt” is the “Beautiful” analog on this disc, the big, poignant Linda Perry power ballad. “Still Dirrty” conveys that the message of the original “Dirrty” still holds, but the song style is quite different, not as fast and not as fun, but with funkier instruments. There are also shoutouts to her earlier hits, “Thank You,” a track dedicated to her fans, samples “Genie in a Bottle,” while “Nasty Naughty Boy” borrows some lyrics from “Lady Marmalade.”
Christina shows a wide range of vocal styling, her usual powerhouse wailing is on full display in most of the tracks, but she can rein it in as well. “Save Me From Myself” is a dark, acoustic ballad, where Aguilera’s quiet, whispery phrasing and tone actually reminds me a bit of the Icelandic songstress Bjork. In the verses of “Nasty, Naughty Boy,” she evokes the sultriness of Peggy Lee in “Fever.” She also has some sweet, soft harmonies on “Without You.”
Aguilera’s songwriting is a bit uneven; she ranges from the poignant narration of the breakdown of her mother’s marriage in the lilting ballad, “Oh Mother” to a rather stark, literal description of her own wedding in “The Right Man,” which is brilliantly orchestrated with wedding-march organs. She again tells a compelling personal story in “Understand,” a tale of her finding love and accepting it, but seems just to be dredging up old stereotypes in “Still Dirrty.” The lyrics push a little further than your typical album of love songs—there’s religious influence in her songs “Makes Me Wanna Pray” and “Mercy on Me,” a direction she hasn’t previously gone, and Aguilera and co-writers push the limits of good taste when describing raunchy acts in double entendre in her 40s throwback songs like “Candy Man” and “Nasty Naughty Boy”
The interludes are a little silly and unnecessary—“Back to Basics” seems to be all about doing shoutouts to musical greats, and just oddly literal, and is it really necessary to dedicate an entire interlude to complain about her falling out with producer Scott Storch (F.U.S.S.)? Also an odd choice is “Enter the Circus” to start disc two, as it does not feature a vocal by Aguilera, and is follow immediately by the redundant “Welcome.” The fan voice mails in “Thank You” are also kind of weird. The music would be just as strong and cohesive minus the interludes, but I’m sure her fans aren’t complaining about the extra music. I’m not sure having a double album was a really great idea, it might have been better to break up the similar tempo R&B songs on the first disc with the poppier sound on the second disc for continuous listening, but I can understand the artistic division.
Overall I think this is the third pop album of the year that would win a recommendation from me, following Pink’s I’m Not Dead and Nelly Furtado’s Loose. Each album is distinct in style but manages to be both consistent and eclectic in its own genre and is supported by a strong, unique vocalist.
Because blogs are always more fun with a/v, here's a video of Christina performing "Understand" from B2B:
Tags: Christina Aguilera, album review, Back to Basics
I'm not much of a reviewer so much as an capturer of impressions, so I'll just give some general thoughts here, since I tend to degenerate to listmaking when going track by track.
Before I get into the album, I will preface with the fact that I am not a huge fan of Aguilera's voice. I think she is a tremendous talent, maybe the most vocally talented of her generation of pop divas, but her quality of voice does not intrinsically appeal to me. Her belting register tends to be more growly, while I tend to prefer clear, bell-like tones. Plus, when Christina gets loud, she gets really loud, and occasionally she tends to get overly ornate with trilling, which is not a characteristic in singers I am particularly enamoured with. I have a video of Christina singing the "Star Spangled Banner" from when she was a tiny girl and I prefer it to any of her renditions since she's become a melismatic pop star who adds all kind of (unnecessary) flourishes. On the other hand, she's created some music I've really liked, songs that are catchy, well-constructed, with a self-empowering message, powerhouse vocals, which overall are just a bit different from the generic claptrap they usually play on the radio. I absolutely loved "Fighter" and "Walk Away" from the Stripped album. So that's the viewpoint I'm coming from.
Back to Basics Album Review:
Disc One is primarily R&B with some jazz influence, it’s a fairly consistent body of work, consisting mostly of midtempo songs, but she manages to infuse each track with its own flavor, some more Latin, some more Big Band, and some more gospel, or a mixture of the styles. Disc Two is a bit of a dichotomy, half 40’s styles songs with a modern raunchy twist on the lyrics, and half pure adult contemporary pop. There are some cool sound effects on both discs of record scratching, horns blaring, funky keyboards, song samples, rapping intros, and even muffled vocals (“I Got Trouble”) on songs of similar tempo that keep the double disc from being too repetitive in style. There isn’t a lot of uptempo music, lead single “Ain’t No Other Man” is the fastest on disc one, while “Candy Man” on the second disc is the other notable uptempo track.
Despite the change in style from Stripped, there are a few nuggets for fans of the hits off Aguilera’s sophomore album: “Here to Stay” is the “Fighter” of this album, same kind of pop sound (now infused with horns here) and “be strong for yourself” message. “Hurt” is the “Beautiful” analog on this disc, the big, poignant Linda Perry power ballad. “Still Dirrty” conveys that the message of the original “Dirrty” still holds, but the song style is quite different, not as fast and not as fun, but with funkier instruments. There are also shoutouts to her earlier hits, “Thank You,” a track dedicated to her fans, samples “Genie in a Bottle,” while “Nasty Naughty Boy” borrows some lyrics from “Lady Marmalade.”
Christina shows a wide range of vocal styling, her usual powerhouse wailing is on full display in most of the tracks, but she can rein it in as well. “Save Me From Myself” is a dark, acoustic ballad, where Aguilera’s quiet, whispery phrasing and tone actually reminds me a bit of the Icelandic songstress Bjork. In the verses of “Nasty, Naughty Boy,” she evokes the sultriness of Peggy Lee in “Fever.” She also has some sweet, soft harmonies on “Without You.”
Aguilera’s songwriting is a bit uneven; she ranges from the poignant narration of the breakdown of her mother’s marriage in the lilting ballad, “Oh Mother” to a rather stark, literal description of her own wedding in “The Right Man,” which is brilliantly orchestrated with wedding-march organs. She again tells a compelling personal story in “Understand,” a tale of her finding love and accepting it, but seems just to be dredging up old stereotypes in “Still Dirrty.” The lyrics push a little further than your typical album of love songs—there’s religious influence in her songs “Makes Me Wanna Pray” and “Mercy on Me,” a direction she hasn’t previously gone, and Aguilera and co-writers push the limits of good taste when describing raunchy acts in double entendre in her 40s throwback songs like “Candy Man” and “Nasty Naughty Boy”
The interludes are a little silly and unnecessary—“Back to Basics” seems to be all about doing shoutouts to musical greats, and just oddly literal, and is it really necessary to dedicate an entire interlude to complain about her falling out with producer Scott Storch (F.U.S.S.)? Also an odd choice is “Enter the Circus” to start disc two, as it does not feature a vocal by Aguilera, and is follow immediately by the redundant “Welcome.” The fan voice mails in “Thank You” are also kind of weird. The music would be just as strong and cohesive minus the interludes, but I’m sure her fans aren’t complaining about the extra music. I’m not sure having a double album was a really great idea, it might have been better to break up the similar tempo R&B songs on the first disc with the poppier sound on the second disc for continuous listening, but I can understand the artistic division.
Overall I think this is the third pop album of the year that would win a recommendation from me, following Pink’s I’m Not Dead and Nelly Furtado’s Loose. Each album is distinct in style but manages to be both consistent and eclectic in its own genre and is supported by a strong, unique vocalist.
Because blogs are always more fun with a/v, here's a video of Christina performing "Understand" from B2B:
Tags: Christina Aguilera, album review, Back to Basics
posted by sw | 9:01 AM
2 Comments:
I really think that Christina is a unique talent in today's pop market. She's a got a great voice and a very definite artistic vision. I'm still not sure if I want to buy the album because like you, a little of her voice goes a long way. There is a little too much vocal gymnastics for me to want to listen for a whole CD let alone 2. I might just end up buying my favorite tracks from iTunes instead of the CD.
Thanks for your impressions of the CD.
VV/EE
Yeah, Christina can get really loud. I never used to really understand what people meant by "oversinging" but I think I have an idea now from listening to her. She's very good but a bit difficult to listen through in large doses, and a two-disc album is definitely a large dose. There are more good tracks on this album than there are on most other albums so that's why it gets a thumbs up, but for continuous listening probably not so wonderful unless you're enamoured with her vocal tricks and volume.
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