Details
Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Intro (Back to Basics)
2. Makes Me Wanna Pray - (with Steve Winwood)
3. Back in the Day
4. Ain't No Other Man
5. Understand
6. Slow Down Baby
7. Oh Mother
8. F.U.S.S.
9. On Our Way
10. Without You
11. Still Dirrty
12. Here to Stay
13. Thank You (Dedication to Fans)
DISC 2:
1. Enter the Circus
2. Welcome
3. Candyman
4. Nasty Naughty Boy
5. I Got Trouble
6. Hurt
7. Mercy on Me
8. Save Me From Myself
9. Right Man, The
Album Notes
This CD includes "Back To Basics" bonus video.
Christina Aguilera seemed intent on constantly reinventing herself over the course of her first several albums, and it's hard not to be impressed by her leaps from teen-pop sensation (1999 self-titled debut) to raunchy, sexually precocious R&B singer (2002's STRIPPED) to blues and jazz-steeped diva on 2006's BACK TO BASICS. With its smoky torch songs, occasional big-band arrangements, and allusions to seminal divas like Billie Holiday and Etta James, the ambitious double disc casts Aguilera in the soft, romantic light of vintage soul crooners.
Yet BACK TO BASICS is undeniably modern. In fact, the first disc, assisted by the hand of the always-stellar trackmaster DJ Premiere, thumps alongside any club bangers of the early 2000s. Aguilera's dirty-girl persona is still present here, but she's dressed up and fitted into better songs and productions. The nostalgia-hued vibe of the second disc--with the singer playing the breathy chanteuse--provides a perfect complement to the first, so that the album as a whole reveals an artist of increasing range, skill, and creative maturity.
Industry Reviews
4 stars out of 5 -- [T]he second disc is the more interesting....It's psychedelically strange and outrageously entertaining.
Ranked #48 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums of 2006 -- [P]roducers DJ Premier and Mark Ronson helped Aguilera realise the mix of saucy soul and roaring gospel she envisaged.
[The] rugged dance tracks, mixing electronic beats with honking brass and other '70s soul samples, are perfectly suited to Aguilera's powerhouse belting. -- Grade: B+
The spirit of old-school jazz, blues and soul inhabits the set....Aguilera succeeds in balancing references to jazzbos and soul singers...with over-the-top kitsch.
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