nuts4chic - music
|
|
|
by Jack Arnott In 2001, something happened to Christina Aguilera. Realising that she couldn’t beat Britney Spears at her own game, she ditched her bubblegum pop princess image, donned a pair of chaps, incorporated feigned masturbation into her dance routines and became Xtina, a sexed up uber-version of her previous self, complete with piercings. Unfortunately, becoming Xtina carried with it two problems. One, she was no longer invited to children’s parties. Two, she had marked herself as a Madonna like chameleon in the music industry, reinventing herself willy-nilly. And so we have Back to Basics, in which Christina eschews the Stripped hip-hop/r & b flavour and hopes to reproduce the ‘good old days’ of Aretha Franklin and James Brown with a new retro sound. I’m not saying it’s bad, in fact it has a few excellent moments - the DJ Premier produced Back in the Day a prime example - but at the same time, you can’t help feel that she’s trying far too hard to be different. The horrendous Nasty Naughty Boy and the Mambo No. 5 inspired Candyman are awful, awful songs, that try to recall a big band Chicago-like sound, but do not work at all. At the same time as trying to be different, the double CD format mean the album offers some variety; Christina can hedge her bets. So as well as hip-hop influenced tracks, you will also find the odd ballad thrown in for good measure. But rather than managing this eclectic mix of styles, it leaves the record a confused mess, not really sure what is trying to achieve. Christina has a great voice, and when it is given the chance to, it shines. The Back to Basics approach should have meant that pared down production meant her vocals took centre stage, but sadly Christina tries to do too much and achieves little. The highlights, few and far between, do not make up for the mistakes. Next time she reinvents herself, she should think more about the songs, and less about the image.
|
See Also:
|
||
|
|||
Now this is good in some ways because it means that the popstar, unlike fashions in music, will not get dated. I’m sure Bros for example would have had enduring success if their last album incorporated a Nirvana sound, and rode the grunge trend of the early nineties. However, it also means that every album they release has to be completely different from the last.
