21 – BACK TO BASICS, Christina Aguilera (2006)
Creating this album is probably hands-down the ballsiest move any notable female pop star has ever done since Madonna’s earlier transformations in the late 1980s. You will never see Beyonce or Britney Spears take a quintessential shit on their momentum to release a 1940s-inspired throwback album for the sake of making one. There’s a lot to respect about someone who has the artistic integrity to make a project like this a reality, but more respectable is the fact that this album is jarringly high-quality. It’s a long journey of an album, with plenty of distractions along the way, but at its core is an insatiable need on the artist’s part to entertain both the listener and her legacy. Back to Basics is a bit of an over-crowded album, and it’s obvious that Aguilera had much to get off her chest with the over-abundant track list, but there are dozens of brilliantly high-shining moments throughout that echo memories of Etta James, Tina Turner and Ella Fitzgerald. Aguilera’s voice is at its crispest here, and songs like “Hurt” have every making of a timeless classic. We can’t expect everyone to appreciate Back to Basics, but those who are willing to give it a thorough listen will no doubt appreciate its boldness and impeccable attention to detail. Aguilera gets a lot of flack from pop fans (and she tends to deserve a great deal of it) but no matter how you slice it, you still can’t say that your fave made an album quite like this.
Brightest moments: Hurt, Mercy On Me
I'm truly grateful she doesn't care much about album sales
A genuine artist *.*
