Christina Aguilera’s best moment on record came with 2006’s double album, Back to Basics. It’s been all downhill since then.
It’s as if she reached a crossroads at that point and inexplicably turned down the completely wrong path. After recording her best batch of songs and receiving a level of critical acclaim that had eluded her for years, she decided to turn away from the neo-soul revival that fit her like a glove and toward watered down electronic pop.
Christina Aguilera is the artist who was most in need of image rehabilitation before the debut of The Voice.
In the previous year or so she’d made headlines for splitting with her husband, flubbing the lyrics of the national anthem at the Super Bowl and tripping onstage at the Grammys. And her most recent album, Bionic, was a high-profile flop.
On The Voice, she didn’t really do herself any favors. Her teasing banter with her co-hosts, Adam Levine in particular, was often more awkward than funny and at times she seemed to have a bit of a cruel streak.
Here’s a song that I’m tempted to refer to as a guilty pleasure based on who’s performing it, but that wouldn’t be accurate. Far from guilt-worthy, this is an extremely well-written and well-performed song that’s close in spirit to the work of some of my favorites.
I don’t really know what to make of Christina Aguilera. When she hit the scene as a kind of response to and capitalization on the Britney Spears phenomenon, I dismissed her as another pop tart with looks in place of talent. But the truth is she was a victim of her marketing. She’s got a voice better than any of the mega-stars out there, and puts the showier artists like Madonna to shame.
Meet Me In Montauk 