Christina Aguilera – Christina Aguilera

July 26, 2012 at 4:45 PM | Posted in Christina Aguilera | Leave a comment

ALBUM REVIEW
Christina Aguilera – Christina Aguilera

1. Genie In A Bottle
2. What A Girl Wants
3. I Turn To You
4. So Emotional
5. Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)
6. Reflection
7. Love For All Seasons
8. Somebody’s Somebody
9. When You Put Your Hands On Me
10. Blessed
11. Love Will Find A Way
12. Obvious

♦ ♦ ♦

Christina Aguilera is the self-titled debut album by American singer Christina Aguilera, released on August 24, 1999. The album reached the top 5 on the charts in Canada, the United States, Switzerland and New Zealand, selling over 17,000,000 copies worldwide.

This entire album is pure nostalgia for people my age, this is the music I grew up with when I was little. It already starts out with Genie In A Bottle, a genious track that oozes great pop music that’s danceable too. Christina’s vocals have always been great, and this song shows her great range from low to pretty good full voice belting. The little sexual references like ‘I’m a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way’ are very sexy yet so covered up they still sound innocent.

What A Girl Wants is one of those typical girl anthem’s from the 90s like ‘Independent Women’ by Destiny’s Child was, but I’d pick this one over DC anytime since it expresses more love and thankfulness to a significant other. This track sounds more like R&B thanks to the light but yet strong percussion in the background. When it comes to her adlibbing, this is one of my favorite tracks since Christina hits the full E6 whistle note in the very last seconds of the song.

I think I Turn To You is still one of her best and most expressional ballads to date, both musically and vocally. It already starts with great sound effects, like the sound of rain and traffic, before Christina starts to sing in a really sincere and quiet voice, which gets stronger near the end when she belts out her higher notes again. I love the lyrics in this song, expressing great love to someone who’s been a true friend.

So Emotional is a funkier track with a bit of a bounce to it, it took me a while to like it but now I love it and I almost know it by heart. The track also has quite a relaxed sound to it, and although Christina’s adlibbing doesn’t stay away in this song, her vocals are more relaxed as well, keeping it low profile. She really needed this song at this point since she already had three songs that definitely showed her huge voice.

The next song brings forward some of her Puerto-Rican roots and her great sense of energy. Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You) has the catchiest chorus on the entire album, with the background vocals chanting ‘All I want is you‘ over and over again, with Christina doing the additional lyrics. Christina might have been more innocent back then than she is nowadays, but this track might be the first hint to her more mature side, both vocally and musically. One of the best on the album.

Reflection is the song from the 1998 Disney movie Mulan, and since I ADORE Disney this song is extra special to me. The lyrics are quite recognizeable too so I treasure this track forever. Christina puts great emotion into her vocals, very sincere and honest when she sings ‘When will my reflection show who I am inside?‘. I have loved this song since I was four years old so nothing can take this away from me. It remains one of her all-time best ballads.

I don’t know why but somehow I always like the light sound of Love For All Seasons, already starting with the amazing synth and guitar melodies in the beginning of the track. I like how Christina referres to all the individual seasons in the chorus, together with the harmonious background vocals. Besides the adlibbing in the last part of the song, this is one of her tracks that is much easier on the ears.

Somebody’s Somebody sounds very nostalgic, oozing the 90s ambience in which this album was made. It’s a little more uptempo than the past two tracks, with very catchy melodies and bass riffs. It’s the unexpected surprise on this album, simplistic yet pretty strong thanks to Christina’s vocals. The lyrics might be a little cheesy but at least they’re very sweet.

From sweet to a more sexy atmosphere with When You Put Your Hands On Me. ‘I just know | When you put your hands on me | I feel sexy | And my body turns to gold‘. The lyrics are a nice 180 from the past three tracks, but this is the first on the album I find a little bit dull when compared to the rest. It’s still a very catchy and enjoyable track, it’s only a comparison.

Blessed has been one of my favorite songs on the album since three years, back when I dated someone this song still reminds me of x] But that’s okay, it’s a very sincere song, lyrically pretty much in the style of What A Girl Wants. I like how the music stays light-hearted with soft guitar melodies and strings,, just like Christina’s simple but sweet background vocals.

Love Will Find A Way isn’t one of the songs I could remember all that well when I started to write this review, but when I put it on I was surprised by how catchy and pretty it sounds. Being another uptempo track, it has amazing percussion and guitar riffs in the background. Both the music and the lyrics make this song very uplifting and summery, Christina’s vocals emphasize that even more. A last minute favorite, as I like to call it!

The last track is a ballad, and in fact one of the original demos Christina sent to her producer before making this album. Obvious starts out very intimate and simple, and I like how Christina sings her lyrics (‘I don’t know what to do anymore | I’m feeling like a little girl‘) with accessory vulnerable vocals. The percussion, piano and soft strings blend very well together, with the strings adding more dramatics to the last part of the song. Pretty last track.

I notice sometimes how reviewing an album can either increase or decrease my interest in it, and this is no exception. Most songs that were first less known to me now pursuaded me to listen to this album a little more often, and in this case I name songs like Love Will Find A Way and Somebody’s Somebody. I used to listen to the first six or seven tracks and that was it, such a shame. This debut album was really a springboard for Christina, and although it did not have the musical style she would follow later on, it made her who she is now and brought her right to the top. She’s still one of my favorite singers, ever since this first album.

OVERALL RATING

4½ stars