A modern take on vintage jazz, soul and blues from the 1920s, '30s, '40s and beyond, her third studio album is wildly inventive, whose throwback style creates a sound that's gritty and raw. The album reunites her with producer Linda Perry and offers new collaborations with producers such as DJ Premier. The upbeat first single, "Ain't No Other Man," will be world-premiered on the MTV Movie Awards on June 8 prior to its debut on June 12.
"This is a concept album that follows a bold vision," explains Aguilera. "The touchstones are Billie Holiday, Otis Redding, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald - what I used to call my 'fun music' when I was a little girl."
The double album, Back To Basics utilizes an orchestra, choir, string quartet and jazz horns, as well as techniques that, according to GQ, "blends a vintage-soul sound with state-of-the-art beatsmanship to form a throwback/hip-hop showcase for her outsize voice." "I Got Trouble" incorporates a scratchy blues feel, while "Candy Man" recalls the tight harmonies of all-girl groups from the '30s and '40s "Save Me From Myself" is an emotionally naked, raw-sounding song dedicated to her husband. "Thank You," dedicated to her fans, features DJ Premier splicing bits of "Genie In A Bottle" with fan voicemail messages. Also sure to appeal to Aguilera fans is the risque song "Nasty Naughty Boy" (which has a '20s burlesque feel) and the sassy club track "Still Dirrty." "No doubt the album of her career." Dot Music"Good taste in collaborators and a voice that has the capability to head heaven-bound..." PopMatters"A truly soulful pop album...one of 2006's best..." Stylus Magazine
Artist InfluencesBillie HolidayDeborah GibsonDoris DayGloria EstefanJanet JacksonMadonnaMariah CareyMichael JacksonPaula AbdulSalt 'N PepaSamantha FoxSelenaSpice GirlsToni Braxton
Artist Contemporaries98 DegreesAll SaintsBoyzoneBrandyBritney SpearsDestiny's ChildDreamEnrique IglesiasHansonJennifer LopezJessica Simpson (Pop)Melanie CN SyncRicky MartinVitamin C
Entertainment Weekly (p.136) - "[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
Q (p.120) - 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."
Uncut (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he second disc is the more interesting....It's psychedelically strange and outrageously entertaining."
Entertainment Weekly 9 of 10Aguilera doesn't have the gravitas of her heroes, and her forays into bluesy torch singing and '40s-style swing are stiff and mannered. But she needn't genuflect before the past - she can make her own glorious kind of 21st-century noise. CD 1 is helmed by DJ Premier (of '90s rap duo Gang Starr) and a host of other hip-hop producers, and their rugged dance tracks, mixing electronic beats with honking brass and other '70s soul samples, are perfectly suited to Aguilera's powerhouse belting...The second disc - a collaboration with Linda Perry, the writer-producer behind Aguilera's 2002 schlock-pop masterpiece ''Beautiful'' - ratchets up the bombast. - Jody Rosen Now Magazine 8 of 10If you take Aguilera's idea of the 2-CD set at face value, Back To Basics is the singer's tribute to pre-WWII-era jazz...Primo indulges Xtina's retro fetish with Jazzmatazz-y scratchy samples and raunchy 60s R&B loops, but it's wholly a contemporary soul-pop assault, with one killer track (lead single Ain't No Other Man), some standout floor-fillers, decent ballads and one gross misstep in fan-fellating (Thank You). And ultimately, Aguilera's the only one of her peers with the vocal prowess to pull it off. - Sarah Liss
Christina Aguilera?s backstory is well-known. A native of Staten Island, the pre-teen began performing in local talent shows while growing up in Pennsylvania. In 1992, after appearing on ?Star Search,?
She joined the cast of the Disney Channel?s ?The New Mickey Mouse Club.? In 1998 Aguilera?s song ?Reflection? for Disney?s Mulan led to a record deal with RCA and the release of her self-titled debut album in Summer, 1999. The album quickly hit #1 on the strength of its first dance/pop single, ?Genie In A Bottle? (which dominated the charts for five weeks) and other chart toppers including ?What A Girl Wants.? It was a feat she would repeat the following year with Mi Reflejo, the smash Spanish-language version of her debut, followed by her hit holiday release, My Kind Of Christmas.
In 2001, Aguilera joined forces with Pink, Mya and Lil? Kim on the smash ?Lady Marmalade? single and video. That eye-popping slice of ear candy kept her front and center in the international spotlight even as she began, slowly and steadily, to lay the groundwork for her second album, Stripped. Released in October 2002, it sealed her status as an international superstar while transforming her previous squeaky-clean image into a fully sexualized woman with lots on her mind. Along with the superheated funk of the album?s provocative debut single, ?Dirrty,? came such standout tracks as ?Beautiful,? ?Can?t Hold Us Down? and ?Make Over."
Earning her first of three Grammy Awards in 2000 for Best New Artist, her subsequent trophies came in 2001 for ?Lady Marmalade? (Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals) and in 2003 for ?Beautiful? (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). Among countless other honors, she is also the recipient of a 2001 Latin Grammy Award for Mi Reflejo (Best Female Pop Vocal Album), a 2000 Billboard Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, and two 2004 Rolling Stone Music Awards (Best Female Performer, Readers? Pick; and Best Tour, Readers? Pick, ?Justified and Stripped?). Voted Sexiest Teen Idol in a VH1 poll, Aguilera?s beauty and charisma have also led Teen People to list her among its ?25 Hottest Stars Under 25? and Maxim to crown her Best International Female Singer (2000), one of the Sexiest Women of the Year (2003) and #1 on their ?Hot 100? List (2003).
Today, while devoting the lion?s share of her time to recording and touring, the 25-year-old is active in a range of philanthropy. A major contributor to the fight against AIDS, Aguilera has participated in the ?What?s Going On?? cover project for AIDS Project Los Angeles? Artists Against AIDS. In 2004 she became the new face for MAC cosmetic company and spokesperson for the MAC AIDS Fund. More recently she became involved in awareness campaigns with YouthAIDS and ALDO. She also sponsors and is actively involved in the Women?s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh for battered women and children.
