Xtina - Liberation (2nd birthday listen party)

Huns, reading this thread

we gays do like to torture ourselves, don’t we :disco::D
 
Oh I think "Twice" is my favorite on the album. But I DO have an affinity for piano ballads.
 
The streams for Twice suggest they could've pushed it harder and maybe found a minor hit.

A really lovely, haunting song... and yet so closely in line with her balladry between Back to Basics and Lotus that it almost feels out of place here, on an album very much defined by forward-thinking production.

It was a HUGE highlight of the tour. Brought the house down.
 
The streams for Twice suggest they could've pushed it harder and maybe found a minor hit.

A really lovely, haunting song... and yet so closely in line with her balladry between Back to Basics and Lotus that it almost feels out of place here, on an album very much defined by forward-thinking production.

It was a HUGE highlight of the tour. Brought the house down.
Did you see the tour live? I have so many questions if so
 
Accelerate is still garbage. Why is STILL trying to be black?

"Pipe" is amazing though :D
 
“Accelerate” is OK but the visuals accompanying it in the video make it a very unpleasant experience. It sounds very cheap and dated as well.
 
It's a shame nobody had the energy to write a chorus for Accelerate. I do like the SYNTHS though.
 
“Accelerate” is OK but the visuals accompanying it in the video make it a very unpleasant experience. It sounds very cheap and dated as well.
Oh I love the video, and the fact that she blew the entire campaign budget on an advert for her new lips. :disco: totally something I would do.
 
What was the crowd demographic like? Did she look better in person than the pictures? What songs were received the best and worst? Was it FULL?
:D

The Ziggo Dome is a 17k capacity venue and it was either full or close enough - maybe 90%?
She looked pretty good - beautiful outfits and she seems happy in her body and was giving it good energy with the choreo.
The crowd was 5% stans, 15% other gays, 50% casual female fans and 30% their bewildered other halves.
The setlist started slowly and she was only doing half of some songs, but it got going midway with Twice. It, Say Somethin', Ain't No Other Man, Candyman, Feel This Moment, Beautiful, Fighter went down best - all MOMENTS.
The closer was a truncated version of Let There Be Love which she basically just danced to rather than singing but it felt like the end of a huge gay party.

I'd say it was a really excellent show and most people seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. I was pretty surprised actually.
 
I don't care for Pipe really. There's nothing to it, should've been an interlude.
 
The production qualities on this album are so inconsistent . “Masochist” sounds so lush.
 
Masochist could've use a production boost. Some memorable parts but it kinda fizzles towards the end.
 
“Unless it’s With You” I think would have saved the album if they rolled it out with a huge Grammys perf. It’s the best ballad on the album by a country mile. It’s so elegant.
 
"Unless It's With You" is another song where she shines. The harmonies are so pretty and it actually SUITS her voice.

I think that's my biggest problem with Christina. I fucking hate her head voice. It's so screechy and grating. Everything below that sounds great. Her falsetto is beautiful, I wish she'd use it more.
 
The last “our love will remain” right before the final chorus is beautiful.

i don’t want to get married... :(
 
Unless It's With You is a CLOSER. Thematically it feels a bit RANDOM, but in that sense there's actually not much of a thread running through Liberation. But vocally, melodically, musically it's probably the most solid track on the record - and when the final chorus comes around it's just sweet, sweet honey.
 
07 Liberation
05 Maria
07 Sick of Sittin'
06 Fall In Line
09 Right Moves
09 Like I Do
08 Deserve
08 Twice
06 Accelerate
06 Pipe
07 Masochist
10 Unless It's With You
 
I can't believe my first listening party ever was for a CHRISTINA album.

Move to Pop Toilet plz.
 
My overall feelings on this album are that, like all Xtina records post-Back to Basics, it's up and down in quality terms, and perhaps has fewer towering highs than Bionic.

However it's clearly more ambitious than Lotus, they fixed the awful mixing/mastering issues of that album, her vocals are much improved too, and it sounds like the work of somebody beginning to embrace the idea of being an artist again, even if still finding her exact space in which to operate and excel. A stepping stone album to something stronger next time, perhaps.

7/10
 
The album does feel somewhat SLIGHT after a complete listen. Definitely does not have the copious amount of lows as Bionic; yet, for some reason, it feels less satisfying /whole. Especially for her first offering in six years. In any event, a few great moments are tucked in the middle and end sections.

I think it ultimately needed one by the numbers pop anthem /single. The general lack of strong hooks in the uptempos is definitely apparent.
 
05 Liberation
05 Maria
04 Sick of Sittin'
06 Fall In Line
05 Right Moves
10 Like I Do
09 Deserve
05 Twice
04 Accelerate
08 Pipe
07 Masochist
10 Unless It's With You
 
Long-time bf and father to 1 (I think!) of her kids

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