Whatev's Christina Aguilera Top 50!

-2
Blank Page
Lotus (2012)

Now technically this beautiful Sia-penned ballad should be a Top 10 shoe-in. While the song itself is excellent, the vocals are just that little bit too rough and shouty in places, which really spoils it. She doesn't sound comfortable at all and makes the classic mistake of trying to ape Sia's vocal style. A hideous live performance at the time proved that it was, truth be told, beyond her range. At the climax it becomes wholly unlistenable - "I am a BLA-A-ANK PAGE!" at 3:40 is just horrendous :D

Highlight: 2:19 "If I could undo that I hurt you, I would do anything for us to make it throooooough" is pretty heartbreaking.

Listen:
 
-1
We're A Miracle
Pokemon: The First Movie (Soundtrack) (1999)

How does a song like this end up on the fucking Pokemon soundtrack? It's a full on Disney ballad co-written by David Zippel (who also wrote Reflections) and Xtina, an early forray into songwriting for her. It was also the B-side to Genie In A Bottle [*EDIT: it was in fact What A Girl Wants in the UK]. She really pulls out all to vocal acrobatics here and was still young enough in '99 to sound amazing. Love that she does all her own backing vocals too. There's just something ever so slightly amateur about it, but well worth a mention.

Highlight: I love 2:16 "Together there is nothing we can't do OH ooh-ooh-ooh" and the key change at 3:14 obvs.

Listen:
 
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Whatevar said:
-7
Don't Make Me Love You
Christina Aguilera - Special Edition (2000)

Let's go right back to the debut album now. Written by Shelly Peiken (who also wrote What A Girl Wants and Come On Over Baby), it was recorded for the 1999 album, but didn't surface until the re-release in 2000 on a bonus disc. It's joyful fluffy 90s pop in the same vein as much of the album, just not quite as high standard. It still has those classic early Aguilera vocals and the breathless whisperings give a hint of the sexual awakening that was to come.

Highlight: Lots of great ad libs but 3:06 "I-I-I need you to go slow and steady baby" is my favourite.

Listen:
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Crushing on this so hard right now. Easily up there with the best of pop class 99 and we didn't get enough of this from her.
 
omg, that We're A Miracle youtube video :D the screen at the 4.07 mark is SENDING ME!

WAM was a b-side to What A Girl Wants in the US, for Genie we got BLESSED instead :disco:
 
Whatevar said:
-6
Just A Fool
Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton
Lotus (2012)

I know some of you love this. Originally pitched for Pink and recorded by Adam Lambert, it's her first (and only?) foray into country music and it's a great song, but her vox are just TOO MUCH sometimes. She's literally SHOUTING. I don't know why they didn't just lower the key to make it less painful. I have to turn it down. Love the epic strings as the song builds. It did pretty well, reaching #71 in the US with no video being shot.

Highlight: The strings on the final chorus.

Listen:
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Glad we dodged another wall punching Pink anthem here. It really bites with "so cruel" (I'm shocked she found such a good connection to this word, HA!)
 
Whatevar said:
-4
Without You
Back To Basics (2006)

Tucked away towards the end of B2B CD1 is this little gem. Co-written with Kara Dio Guardi and Mark Ronson, and produced by Ronson and Producertina, it's just a really nice R&B-lite piano ballad with gorgeous foghorn-free vocals, and one of few tracks on the album not to be based on a sample. Not quite memorable enough to make the Top 50, but lovely nonetheless.

Highlight: 2:03 "The way we are TODAAAAY"

Listen:
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Camouflaged among the beige Back to Basics, a true gem and proof that hits aren't always worth bothering about for Madame when she can sigh this one out (just as well of course).
 
Whatevar said:
-3
My Girls
Christina Aguilera Featuring Peaches
Bionic (2010)

One of the stand out tracks on the much maligned Bionic is this electro-disco number produced by Le Tigre. It was a bit of a departure for Chrissy at the time and Peaches was the hottest lesbian in town, giving this track a cool, punky edge, while remaining firmly in the pop camp. Would've made a great single and still sounds fresh today, unlike most of the album!

Highlight: I can't think of one. It's more of a vibe track.

Listen:
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My Girls is her Sheryl Crow moments. Just imagine her own (non foghorn) What Makes You Happy.
 
Whatevar said:
-2
Blank Page
Lotus (2012)

Now technically this beautiful Sia-penned ballad should be a Top 10 shoe-in. While the song itself is excellent, the vocals are just that little bit too rough and shouty in places, which really spoils it. She doesn't sound comfortable at all and makes the classic mistake of trying to ape Sia's vocal style. A hideous live performance at the time proved that it was, truth be told, beyond her range. At the climax it becomes wholly unlistenable - "I am a BLA-A-ANK PAGE!" at 3:40 is just horrendous :D

Highlight: 2:19 "If I could undo that I hurt you, I would do anything for us to make it throooooough" is pretty heartbreaking.

Listen:
Click to expand...


Oh I cannot believe this has bellowed out so early. It's one of her most fragile moments. Leona could never have wimpered as magically.
 
Whatevar said:
-1
We're A Miracle
Pokemon: The First Movie (Soundtrack) (1999)

How does a song like this end up on the fucking Pokemon soundtrack? It's a full on Disney ballad co-written by David Zippel (who also wrote Reflections) and Xtina, an early forray into songwriting for her. It was also the B-side to Genie In A Bottle. She really pulls out all to vocal acrobatics here and was still young enough in '99 to sound amazing. Love that she does all her own backing vocals too. There's just something ever so slightly amateur about it, but well worth a mention.

Highlight: I love 2:16 "Together there is nothing we can't do OH ooh-ooh-ooh" and the key change at 3:14 obvs.

Listen:
Click to expand...


Very Eternal with an extra octave.
 
50
Somebody's Somebody
Christina Aguilera (1999)

Right, let's kick off this countdown-proper in style HA! WHAT! When I put a Diane Warren track at #50, you KNOW it's gonna be a HOT countdown. This is a max track with so many amazing moments. I must've shrieked "with a LOVE that will CHAAANGE my life" so many times as a classically trained vocal teen queen. It's a mature, soulful offering for such a young pop artist and, for me, it was songs like this that set her apart when she first came out. Musically, it's quite a weird affair, being based largely around one pulsating note, but with those trademark Warren chord progressions that take you by surprise. It all builds towards the final chorus, which is pure joy. Then, after 4 minutes, exhausted and collapsed in a gay coma, you think it's all over, but the music starts up again and Xtina riffs on pretentiously for a further minute. Genius.

Highlight: The riff at 2:35 OMG / Key change at 3:15 / The big final chorus ad libs from 3:54

Listen:
 
Not disappointed "My Girls" or "Without You" missed the top 50, although "My Girls" isn't as rotten as I remember. "Without You" is fine but everything after "Slow Down Baby" on disc 1 is forgettable, imo.
 
Whatevar said:
-2
Blank Page
Lotus (2012)

Now technically this beautiful Sia-penned ballad should be a Top 10 shoe-in. While the song itself is excellent, the vocals are just that little bit too rough and shouty in places, which really spoils it. She doesn't sound comfortable at all and makes the classic mistake of trying to ape Sia's vocal style. A hideous live performance at the time proved that it was, truth be told, beyond her range. At the climax it becomes wholly unlistenable - "I am a BLA-A-ANK PAGE!" at 3:40 is just horrendous :D

Highlight: 2:19 "If I could undo that I hurt you, I would do anything for us to make it throooooough" is pretty heartbreaking.

Listen:
Click to expand...

I ADORE 'Blank Page'. I agree with your comments about the vocals and her trying to ape Sia's vocal but I love it nonetheless. :shy:
 
Blank Page is an amazing song as it is FULL STOP, not even her shrieky banshee vocals on it could ruin it :disco:
 
I don't think anyone else could get near the emotion she wrenches out of it. Her 2 powerhouse Sia ballads are in a league of their own. If she could commit to a whole album of this standard Adele would be in the guest vocal gutter in 6 months.
 
49
Fall In Line
Christina Aguilera Featuring Demi Lovato
Liberation (2018)

I'm no Demi Lovato fan. God knows why she's on here as she doesn't really contribute very much. Was Xtina chasing a hit? I think Demi took an overdose shortly after this was released as the album's second single. It flopped quite badly despite being a "female empowerment anthem" with a pretty decent video. It's just way too shouty from the second chorus onwards, but it did earn Xtina her twentieth (!) Grammy nomination. It's a good song and feels a bit like Walk Away's crappier, shoutier cousin. They did a terrible live performance at the Billboard Awards, which probably didn't help matters. I favour the Carpool Karaoke version in which Xtina sounds amazing and James Corden is completely out of his depth.

Highlight: Demi's studio-engineered shrieking (in her dreams) at 3:36 is fun.

Watch:


Carpool Karaoke version:
 
I love how much of a disaster THAT was :D
 
48
A Song For You
Herbie Hancock Featuring Christina Aguilera
Possibilities (2005)

This was another turning point in terms of her being taken seriously as a world class vocalist. Herbie Hancock is a huge jazz musician in the US and this song featured on his 45th album of collaborations with other artists. This track was nominated for a Grammy Award and they performed a live rendition at the ceremony in 2006. Unfortunately she always over-sings it live; I much prefer the original recording, which still contains enough flourishes but without compromising the melody. Her snotty attitude while recording it in the video below is hilarious.

Highlight: I love her low notes and riff at 1:24 "made some bad rhymes".

Watch:
 
Oh the single. They clearly banked on it being THE HIT. Lol no
 
I'm truly amazed at Christy tbh, sure she's famous for being a cunty bitch (uncalled for most of the time) but I'm glad she hasn't been canceled yet. Perhaps she doesn't give a shit about anything and that's why she rarely weighs in or has she done/said anything remotely problematic and it just flew under everyone's radar?
 
47
Express
Burlesque Soundtrack (2010)

Ofcom received almost 3,000 complaints about the live performance of this quite-good-song on X Factor back in 2010. Slut-shaming prudes! Now a firm fixture on the set list of her Vegas residency and worldwide tours, it's nothing amazing - a bit of fun at the most - but it will always have a place in our hearts. It only managed to limp in at #102 in the US and #75 in the UK!

Highlight: Has to be "BEEN HOLDING BACK FOR QUITE SOME TIME!"

Live on X Factor: :D
 
46
Car Wash
Christina Aguilera Featuring Missy Elliott
Shark Tale Soundtrack (2004)

Originally a huge hit for Rose Royce in 1976, this disco classic was given a (now rather dated) R&B update by Xtina and Missy when they were at the height of their powers/looking to cash in. Amazingly this had 7 producers, including Missy, Xtina and Ron Fair, who exec produced all of Xtina's early work. I don't think she ever performed it live. In the US, it only managed #63, but it was a Top 5 hit in the UK and became the 48th best-selling single of 2004 with sales of over 100,000 copies! Its highest chart peak was in Australia (#2). I'm still fond of it but it does sound a bit ropy with hindsight.

Highlight: High note at 3:12, obviously.

Watch:
 
Whatevar said:
47
Express
Burlesque Soundtrack (2010)

Ofcom received almost 3,000 complaints about the live performance of this quite-good-song on X Factor back in 2010. Slut-shaming prudes! Now a firm fixture on the set list of her Vegas residency and worldwide tours, it's nothing amazing - a bit of fun at the most - but it will always have a place in our hearts. It only managed to limp in at #102 in the US and #75 in the UK!

Highlight: Has to be "BEEN HOLDING BACK FOR QUITE SOME TIME!"

Live on X Factor: :D
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YAY! That HOT MESS performance is one of my all time favourites .. :disco:
 
Pipo said:
aren't Christina's fish character BRAIDS some sort of cultural appropriation?
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I have no time for OTT wokeness to be honest - I just always hated the song.:zombie:

XXXXtina can appropriate whatever she likes as far as I'm concerned and yes I can say that as a member of the BAME community :disco:
 
straightorbroken said:
The finger clicking and dead eyes stare are my favourite things about Express. Car Wash is the Xtina nadir.
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Most of the stuff she released between B2B and Bionic was! The label clearly didn't know what to do with her, the pointless GH, the awful remakes and these tired ass collaborations just were not what she needed and didn't provide any sort of direction at all.

Sure we have a girl who can sing but what do we do with her?
 
45
Prima Donna
Bionic (2010)

Tricky Stewart and Claude Kelly were responsible for three tracks on Bionic: Desnudate (dreadful), Glam (just OK) and this, which is in my opinion the superior song thanks to its heavy 808 beat, clear melodies and strong hook. The lyrics are all very empowering and for once her aggressive vocal delivery actually works. It also features uncredited vocals from Lil Jon.

Highlight: The final chorus from 2:43 packs a punch

Listen:
 
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