Disc #42: Christina Aguilera (Back to Basics - Disc 1)

Artist: Christina Aguilera
Album: Back to Basics (Disc 1)
Released by Sony BMG Music Entertainment in 2006

After an extended break, it's great to be back folks. Life is very good, but very busy. I don't know how long it will last, so let's enjoy the ride while we're on it.

The next disc to review is the first off of Aguilera's 2006 double-disc release, "Back to Basics". I don't know if I would go as far as to call this a concept album, although there are some recurring themes throughout. Aguilera's idea for the album was to pay tribute to some of the greats of the jazz and blues era. This is heard through the sound of contemporary R&B and hip-hop beats, blended with classic sounds such as horns and samples of recordings from that era.

This feel really comes through on the album. Without giving too much about the second disc away, I like this one much more. The songs are catchier and it flows much nicer. I think that the first disc could stand alone as an album by itself.

One of the highlights is of course the huge hit-single "Ain't No Other Man". This is a great tune, and even though it was majorly over-played, I still bop along to it. My personal favourite is "Back in the Day". This song is the literal personification of the tribute to the heroes of the music industry. It includes loads of samples and is really fun to listen to. As some names are being spoken during the intro, you can hear Christina say the name of her own personal inspiration, Etta James.

This isn't the type of disc I would typically throw on for a good listen, but it was entertaining and well produced. It's also a lot of fun, and she should have stopped with these tracks. I will give it a score of:

6

Join me next time as the experiment continues with Disc #43: Christina Aguilera (Back to Basics - Disc 2).