Whatev's Christina Aguilera Top 50!

44
Bound To You
Burlesque Soundtrack (2010)

This beautiful ballad co-written by Sia is the highlight of the Burlesque soundtrack for me. When you look at the success of A Star Is Born, it's hard to understand why a song like this wasn't huge. Not sure why a video was made when it was never released as a single. I think she looks really nice in the video and it's had 28 million views on YouTube! :o I saw Burlesque at the cinema but I don't remember that handsome man AT ALL. Anyway, this would be higher but it does get a bit MUCH towards the end with all her shrieking.

Highlight: Vocal overload from 3:30 onwards - if you can stomach it.

Watch:
 
43
Tell Me
Diddy Featuring Christina Aguilera
Press Play (2006)

Xtina plays the rap bitch SO WELL and this is the clear highlight of her efforts in that genre. Produced by Just Blaze, it was apparently written for Danity Kane, but Diddy decided to keep it for Christina instead. It was a #8 hit in the UK but only made #47 in the US due to "lack of promotion". Press Play had some other really hot tracks on it, namely Come To Me (Nicole Scherzinger), Last Night (Keyshia Cole) and Thought You Said (Brandy), but this one just about trumps them all, especially with THAT video - best she's ever looked?

Highlight: 3:30 backing vox are nice. It's not a vocal powerhouse of a song, although it kind of is.

Watch:
 
42
Si No Te Hubiera Conocido
Christina Aguilera and Luis Fonsi
Mi Reflejo (2002)

This love duet ("If I Hadn't Known You" in English) is the first track from noted Puerto Rican Aguilera's Spanish album, which I cannot believe is already 20 years old, and which I happen to believe is her finest work, so you're going to see a lot of it from now on. Her resting bitch face on the album cover is TOO MUCH! The vocals are on point on every single track - the closest to peak Mariah you will hear - and the original compositions are all really good songs, bolstered by Spanish versions of all the big hits from her debut album (with stronger vocals a couple of years on). The fact that this is my least favourite song on the album speaks volumes because it's still bloody amazing, just a bit on the mawkish Disney side. I also think Luis Fonsi does a good job of matching her vocally without overshadowing her. Does anyone else actually know this one?!

Highlight: 3:25 onwards is all kinds of amazing - the key change at 3:40 (OMG) and her sweet cooing at 4:37 especially.

Listen:
 
41
When You Put Your Hands On Me
Christina Aguilera (1999)

Behold! The inner slut! Co-written and co-produced by then-unknown Robin Thicke, this was one of the more overt R&B tracks on the debut album (although it's clearly an R&B album to me) and perhaps a glimpse of what was the come. With lyrics like "When you put you hands on me, I feel sexy... I feel ready" it was all rather scandalous at the time to a 15 year old frigid gay like moi, not to mention the legions of teenage girl fans worldwide. The vocals are stunning - there's no growling, no shouting, no shrieking - just confident, soulful delivery with tight, controlled ad libs and clever runs. SO GOOD. Far better than boring old So Emotional, which will not be featuring in this countdown.

Highlight: From 2:24 there are some gorgeous backing vocals leading up to the final vocoder-laden chorus.

Listen:
 
40
Beautiful
Stripped (2002)

For a few months, when it first came out, this song was everything. I was in my first year at uni and performed it regularly to the boudoir mirror. But since it was played to death it's lost pretty much all its charm. It's an undeniably great pop song, and yes I know it was (supposedly) sung in one take and the lack of perfection is the whole point, yada yada yada, but to my ears the vocals are just not very nice in places. Linda Perry's drab backing vocals don't help. Nowadays I would skip it every time. Still, it's her signature song, winning her a Grammy and the #1 spot in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. It peaked at #2 in the US, where it was kept from the top spot by Bump, Bump, Bump (B2K Featuring P. Diddy) which I only vaguely remember. Of course, it went on to help Stripped shift millions of copies and arguably made Linda Perry a household name.

Highlight: 2:45 "The sun will always, always, SHINE!" - never once recreated live.

Watch:
 
Whatevar said:
OMG who remember this ABOMINATION?!
Click to expand...

I will never understand why she allowed this fuckery. I think she was trying to get away from her earlier material, but why would you want to distance yourself from ANYTHING off Stripped? Clueless bitch.
 
39
Let There Be Love
Lotus (2012)

Yes it's a bit generic, but it stands out as one of the (only) good, fun tracks on Lotus. Max Martin is one of the SEVEN (!) songwriters and also co-produced it. It has a joyous, high energy, anthemic quality. I don't think it was ever officially released as a single, more of a buzz internet release, hence the cheap-as-hell DIY video plastered with positive messages about equality and diversity. I hate the "oh YEAH, oh YEAH!" bits near the end, but everything else is solid enough.

Highlight: The "Ah-ooooooh!" bits (0:43) are cool and afterwards when she sings in octaves on "like that, yeah it feels so good that I can't hold back" etc.

Watch:
 
38
Cuando No Es Contigo
Mi Reflejo (2000)

I wonder if any of you will listen to this. It was never the hippest track on the album and the instrumentation always sounded a bit naff, but there's still plenty to love. "When I'm Not With You" is a cute little salsa track written by Rudy Perez, who wrote all of the new material for the album, and arranged by Sergio George, an American/Puerto Rican producer known for working with many famous performers of salsa music. Two minutes in there's a nice throwback to the original version of What A Girl Wants and her vocals are, again, flawless, from the opening bars to that ridiculous riff at the end.

Highlight: 0:04 "Hooooo-hoooh!" and 4:02 "No es contigo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-yeah" - both amazing.

Listen:
 
37
Cruz
Stripped (2002)

What is this song about? Why is it called Cruz? What does that made-up word even mean? Who cares? It's a great rock ballad, another Linda Perry song, with some strong vox and a few noxious growls here and there - "Cool, calm, co-LEC-ted" is horrid! I'd take this over Beautiful any day, though. I always think of Cruz and Soar as a pair of songs that go together nicely at this point on the album.

Highlight: 3:01 "Leavin' to cha-a-a-ange"

Listen:
 
'Cruz' is in my all time XXXtina top 10. Love it so much.

I think it's just a 'cool' spelling for 'cruise' and that she's leaving as in driving/cruising etc.?
 
Whatevar said:
39
Let There Be Love
Lotus (2012)

Yes it's a bit generic, but it stands out as one of the (only) good, fun tracks on Lotus. Max Martin is one of the SEVEN (!) songwriters and also co-produced it. It has a joyous, high energy, anthemic quality. I don't think it was ever officially released as a single, more of a buzz internet release, hence the cheap-as-hell DIY video plastered with positive messages about equality and diversity. I hate the "oh YEAH, oh YEAH!" bits near the end, but everything else is solid enough.

Highlight: The "Ah-ooooooh!" bits (0:43) are cool and afterwards when she sings in octaves on "like that, yeah it feels so good that I can't hold back" etc.

Watch:
Click to expand...

The amazing high backing vocals in this are done by Sasha Allen :)
 
Imagine having to dirge your way through Beautiful night after night when you could be singing El Beso Del Final
 
I still remember the FURORE of the guys kissing in the video. She went there back in 2003. It probably didn't feel very revolutionary to many of us but to the mainstream and the older generation, she definitely made an impact. It could have all gone very wrong, especially coming off the Dirrty video. I don't remember but I'm sure middle America wouldn't have been kind. Maybe they were too busy getting Madonna's American Life video banned.
 
Whatevar said:
Imagine having to dirge your way through Beautiful night after night when you could be singing El Beso Del Final
Click to expand...

I dread to think how many times she had to go through it whenever some average KAREN tried to audition for The Voice during her 56-season stint :shock:
 
The 2:45 moment in "Beautiful" still gives me chills regardless of how many times I have heard it. I seldom seek it out, though, in general. "Cruz" has always been a highlight, although I prefer the verses over the chorus which I find a bit shouty.

"Let There be Love" is an undeniable bop. I remember being a bit in awe at the video as she had lost loads of weight seemingly overnight. And then she gave us "Feel This Moment" and "Say Something'" that same year. 2013 really was a cocktease of a year for her *has two massive global hits, gets pregnant, and waits an additional five years to capitalize on it*
 
I forgot all about Bound to You. If only she could come up with these gorgeous, lush piano torch numbers on her own. It does feel like it's being absorbed into the even more destitute You Lost Me.

Prima Donna almost starts like a lost classic Eurodance song, and I like the bridges, but it's loudness with no form.
 
I love how Tell Me transformed her back into a parallel barbie version of herself like it was the next single after I Turn To You. Presumably Nicole Scherzinger got down to the final 2 for "you want me to press play?"
 
I pretty much experience Beautiful in its Valentin remix form, which also identifies my penchant for Kelly Llorenna. The video featuring her hobbit feet and Sasha Velour was also nice for the time.
 
36
Army Of Me
Lotus (2012)

This has to be her most Eurovision-sounding song ever. The backing track reminds me of Hero by Dame Charlotte Perrelli. Produced by the Tracklacers, a British duo who developed JLS pre-X Factor and worked with Pink, Lana Del Rey and The Saturdays, the song sounds like it was written for Kelly Clarkson. It's very pop and, despite its oddly clipped vocals on the verses and VERY SHOUTY choruses, it always struck me as the obvious hit on the album. I seem to recall the reviews picking it out as well and she performed it at the AMAs (badly) but that wasn't enough to reverse its fortunes.

Highlight: 3:01 - the "Ri-i-i-ise up!" bits are good if you can stop your ears from bleeding.

Listen:
 
35
Underappreciated
Stripped (2002)

God, this sounds SO GOOD now. What a classy song. One of seven tracks made with hip-hop songwriter/producer (and ex-beau of Lil' Kim) Scott Storch, it sits perfectly after the Alicia Keys penned Impossible at the soulful heart of the album. It's a great VIBE track. The backing vocals are the real star of the show here, reminiscent of Aretha Franklin mixed with SWV. Like so much of the Stripped album, the lyrics are brilliant: each song is like a short story. I think this one is about Jorge, her backing dancer ex-bf. We can all relate to a lover turning out to be a huge disappointment, can't we, gayz?

Highlight: From the "OH YEAH!" at 3:00 on manages to stay just on the right side of overblown.

Listen:
 
20/10 when I thought she sang "I wanna be a Spice Girl". 10/10 after she runs out of petrol and keeps going for it anyway. Actual warfare.
 
Queens of airkiss rnb En Vogue would sound at home on this. Xtina sounds like it's her party and she'll sing how she wants to. I'm not into it anymore.
 
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