Whatev's Christina Aguilera Top 50!

30
Your Body
Lotus (2012)

*Highest placed track from Lotus*

Another Max Martin track up next, which at the time I thought was a bit of a sell-out step for her, but I guess she needed a Pop hit and it ended up being a great collaboration. Of course, the original version was "fuck your body", so at least lyrically she stayed true to her dirrty ho roots. The backing track is a big beefy affair packed with synths and electro beats. Somehow the FOGHORN voice works really well here and all the "SAY!" and "AY BOY!" moments are essential, not to mention "I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW MY NAME!" She looks so good in the video and looks like she's having so much fun (murdering men). "The lyrics express Aguilera's desire to have sex with an anonymous partner" - thanks, Wikipedia! It peaked at #34 in the US and #16 in the UK - not great for a lead single - and the album also underperformed for her, poor cow. It was shit, though.

Highlight: The WAIL at 3:36 and an amazing run at 3:50.

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29
Masochist
Liberation (2018)

Possibly her most 80s-sounding track - or is it more 90s? It's giving me Phil Collins vibes. It was co-written and produced by Tim Anderson (Solange, Billie Eilish, Halsey) and Darhyl Camper who executive produced Brandy's B7 album (and Jessie J's R.O.S.E. omigod). Yes, she sounds a bit strained when she really goes for it but the vocal production is good enough to make it work, THANK GOD. The song is just beautiful and it's such a shame that this sort of stuff was ignored in favour of "trendy" drivel like Accelerate and Like I Do.

Highlight: The "OH" run at 1:55 is genius.

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28
Fighter
Stripped (2002)

Now THIS is where I can understand the criticism of her vocal delivery. It does get extremely shouty, but come on, it's a bloody amazing song. Surprising that it's a Scott Storch collaboration, as it's more Guns N' Roses than 50 Cent. Red Hot Chili Pepper Dave Navarro contributed an electric guitar solo, but it's the epic strings and relentless beat that really bring the DRAMA. I love the lyrics and found it genuinely empowering as a baby gay with plenty of haters and bullies in my past. Incidentally, I did a Children's Literature module as part of my degree and had to write a children's book; mine was called Diary of a Fighter and was inspired by this song. I got a First HA! WHAT. This was the third single from Stripped, another big hit after Beautiful, peaking at #20 in the US and #3 in the UK. It showed the world that she wasn't just a Pop/R&B strumpet. The dark, arty video got a very positive reaction as well.

Highlight: Great run into the second verse at 1:30 and at 1:43 "before I realised your game".

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dUb said:
Strongly agree! Applies to The Voice Within as well :D
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on the other hand, I absolutely ADORE The Voice Within :D there's something so Disney-like to it, I've always had a soft spot for it whereas for Hurt I always felt like she was trying to re-create Beautiful by bringing Linda Perry again and having a BALLARD as a second single (AGAIN) which just ruined the album's singles rollout by not being the world conquering anthem it pretended to be and hence cutting the campaign short by quickly shoving out Candyman and sweeping everything under a rug :evil:

Finally, I usually HATE her songs where she talks about her father being a cunt or not being in there at all, boo hoo so what? You should be thankful since only a handful of ex-Disney stars turn out to do "alright" in the grand scheme of things.
 
Whatevar said:
Somehow the FOGHORN voice works really well here and all the "SAY!" and "AY BOY!" moments are essential, not to mention "I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW MY NAME!"
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10/10 and those lyrics are ESSENTIAL (@Suedey and @Loufoque to confirm).

Masochist was a nice surprise off Liberation. Listening to it again and it wouldn't sound out of place in Future Nostalgia :disco:
 
"Masochist" is fine but would only trouble my X-Tina top 100.

"Fighter" is great but I echo @SDF that I do not feel the need to ever re-visit it. The American charts were so weird in 2003, it definitely felt a lot bigger than a #20 hit.
 
Also, here for "Pipe"! Not that it would have been a hit, but I would have preferred it as the introductory buzz track to "Accelerate" which is trash.
 
27
Oh Mother
Back To Basics (2006)

This one's for @Pipo! How dare she talk about her abusive childhood, eh? Some have criticised this as a retread of I'm OK from Stripped, but let's face it: that song was dreadful and this one is really good. The lyrics are quite hard-hitting in places - e.g. "He took his anger out on her face" - and I like the way she's singing to her mother. It goes quite deep for me as I grew up in a household with alcoholism and domestic violence and spent more time than I care to remember looking after my mother through her subsequent breakdown, depression, further abusive boyfriends, etc etc (look away now, Pipo dear). I went through a phase of making her a mixtape/CD every Mother's Day and I think this was on one of them. I had it in my head that it was a Linda Perry track but it's not. It has a million different writers, including Xtina and Kara DioGuardi, and apparently contains a sample from a French song, "Vois Sur Ton Chemin". It was released as the fourth and final single from Back To Basics with a lazy "live" concert video. The album version is much better than the latter, thanks to a beefier R&B backing track and lush orchestrated strings. Excuse me while I go and have a cry.

Highlight: 2:55 "It's ovER and we're stronGER, and we'll never have to GO BACK AGAAAAIN" sends shiver down my spine.

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26
Deserve
Liberation (2018)

*Highest placed track from Liberation*

Produced and co-written by MNEK (and Julia Michaels, who wrote Justin Beiber's Sorry and is a Grammy-nominated artist in her own right). This song is all about the chorus: "SOMETIMES I DON'T THINK I DESERVE YA, SO I SAY SOME FUCKED UP SHIT JUST TO HURT YA." I can relate y'all. And MNEK is heavily featured on background vocals. At the time, he said: "Yeah, it's a duet. I'm singing with her. I ain't credited ... but it's fine. It's cool." Ouch! This is another example of a good producer getting her to sing in the right way - there's just enough hollering to make it dramatic but without making it unpleasant. Why didn't they release this?!

Highlight: The trippy outro from 3:46 is excellent.

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25
Soar
Stripped (2002)

Is this the closest she's ever come to ripping off Mariah? Written with Rob Hoffman and Heather Holley, who also wrote the Stripped interludes (no hype, no gloss, no pretence) and Vanishing rip-off I Will Be (in Xtina's own words). Holley specialised in artist development and was responsible for getting Xtina signed by RCA. She also wrote Obvious on the debut album (classic) and Here To Stay, a track on Back To Basics (quite annoying). Anyway, this track is a full-on gospel diva screech-fest with uplifting self-help lyrics and simple live instrumentation. I love the way it merges into the next track (Get Mine, Get Yours) on the album, too.

Highlight: The whistle note at 3:18, of course!

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Reactions: SDF
omg :( I'm so sorry to hear that @Whatevar I had no idea and I just came across privileged and bitchy. Never again. (I'm OK and Hurt are still shit tho).

as from a commercial point of view, whoever thought Oh Mother would SELL an album? I've always felt the ballads from B2B were the downpoints while the uptempo numbers were the highlights and they should have gone with every single song as a single :disco:

Ain't no other man/Makes me wanna pray/Candyman/Slow down baby/Back in the day/Here to stay

a singles rollout :star::star::star::star:
 
24
Slow Down Baby
Back To Basics (2006)

Perhaps the biggest wasted opportunity of her career, this Mark Ronson track was the clear standout for me when Back To Basics came out, brilliantly encapsulating everything she was trying to achieve with Disc 1 of that album. Over time the novelty has worn off slightly, mainly because I played it so much. I still reckon it could've been a huge hit for her and, interestingly, it was released in Australia when she toured over there, reaching #21 with no promotion. Maybe the record company thought it was too similar to Ain't No Other Man. There are too many amazing vocal twists and turns to mention. EDIT: the "Stop. Slow down baby" rap part is from So Seductive by Tony Yayo Feat. 50 Cent (see Pipo's post below).

Highlight: 2:39 "You know that you can't touch, no-woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh" - how many notes?!

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Pipo said:
omg :( I'm so sorry to hear that @Whatevar I had no idea and I just came across privileged and bitchy. Never again. (I'm OK and Hurt are still shit tho).
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No worries bbz, I was just pulling your leg (no they're not - well, I'm OK is).

Ain't no other man/Makes me wanna pray/Candyman/Slow down baby/Back in the day/Here to stay
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That would have been amazing! (Not Here To Stay though).
 
I always found "Oh Mother" a bit nondescript if I'm being honest. I appreciate the sentiment and your personal connection to it, though, Whatev.

I would've preferred any of the following as the fourth single off of Back to Basics: Slow Down Baby, Understand, Save Me from Myself, Back in the Day.

Also, "Deserve" is great. Sad to see "Like I Do" won't be featured.
 
POP! said:
I always found "Oh Mother" a bit nondescript if I'm being honest. I appreciate the sentiment and your personal connection to it, though, Whatev.

I would've preferred any of the following as the fourth single off of Back to Basics: Slow Down Baby, Understand, Save Me from Myself, Back in the Day.
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Thanks hun x

For the record, I don't think Oh Mother was a good single choice either.
 
Soar is fantastic. Agree it’s probably the closest she ever got to imitating Mariah.
 
23
Loving Me 4 Me
Stripped (2002)

So this is the song that inspired me to do this long awaited and critically acclaimed countdown, which is strange because at first glance it could be considered filler on Stripped. It came on randomly the other day after probably years of not hearing it and I fell in love with it again. If this was on an R&B artist's album today, almost 20 years later, I'm sure it would be raved about. Xtina was ahead of her time again. Even Love's Embrace, the interlude that precedes this track on the album, is pretty gorgeous. It's another of the Scott Storch tracks but it has a soft, neo-soul vibe reminiscent of Jill Scott, early Mariah and Minnie Riperton; and, most importantly, there's no over-singing in sight.

Highlight: Loads of beautiful runs and subtle harmonies but I love what she does at 2:43 and the whole section from 3:27-3:45.

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22
Contigo En La Distancia
Mi Reflejo (2000)

This is a traditional song written by a Cuban singer-songwriter in 1946. It has become one of the most acclaimed boleros in Cuban music, having been covered by Il Divo, Luis Miguel (Mariah's ex), Placido Domingo and Andrea Bocelli, among others. Pretty gutsy of her to do her own version as a 21 year old on her second album, but of course it's wonderful. It all builds towards a big crescendo at the end, which she pulls off with class, before ending with a softer final flourish.

Highlight: The chords and HER VOICE from 1:21 OMG.

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Contigo En La Distancia was a pretty bold choice but good for her for having the balls and recording her own version.
It's also my go to Karaoke song :eyes:
 
Fighter just doesn't do it for me and hasn't for years, but that video was moreismoretina at her most artistically successful.
 
21
Impossible
Stripped (2002)

Written and produced by Alicia Keys, this track was used to promote the album with various live performances, but was never released as a single. Yet again, it showcased another genre strand to the album, taking us down the blues path with a raw, soulful vocal that doesn't overstep the mark, funky backing vocals (a clever hybrid of Keys and Xtina) and late-night-jazz-club live instruments. It's a very well written song and was one of my favourites to sing.

Highlight: 2:32 "How can I? How can I give you all my looooove..." and 3:00 "How long can emotions keep on going up and dow-ow-ow-ow-own"

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