Review: Christina Aguilera, Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Hits

Christina Aguilera deserves credit for refusing to play it safe.

Christina Aguilera, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of HitsFor the past 10 years, Christina Aguilera has shrewdly encompassed the finest traits in modern female pop, with Whitney Houston’s pipes, Madonna’s political outspokenness and marketing savvy, and Mariah Carey’s fake tits. Indeed, on her new greatest-hits collection, Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Hits, Aguilera is all things to everyone, running the gamut from teen-pop princess to hip-hop tease to self-help guru to rock goddess to Motown soulstress to ’40s pinup to electro-pop maven with equal aplomb.

Guy Roche’s synth-infused production on early chart-toppers “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl Wants” proves surprisingly durable (the schmaltzy Diane Warren ballad “I Turn to You,” on the other hand, not so much—thankfully, you’re more apt to hear Aguilera’s signature “Beautiful” on AC radio these days); though it wasn’t a huge hit, “Dirrty” is seminal, marking her professional and sexual coming-of-age; and while its success was marred by poorly chosen singles that were released at a prude’s pace, Aguilera’s most recent effort, Back to Basics, is fully represented by all three of its singles.

U.S. fans will have to pick up the import for Aguilera’s “Nobody Wants to Be Lonely” and “Lady Marmalade” collaborations, while “Can’t Hold Us Down,” one of the bigger hits from 2002’s Stripped, is missing altogether. The inclusion of the popular single version of “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” aside, then, the collection’s new Linda Perry-helmed tracks are its key selling point. Among them are “Genie 2.0,” which recalls the stellar sonic architecture of Kelly Osbourne’s “One Word” (also produced by Perry); the throbbing title track, which evokes Goldfrapp; and “You Are What You Are (Beautiful),” which is reminiscent of Moon Safari-era Air. Not exactly what one would call original, but if it’s true that Aguilera’s next studio album will reprise this electro-pop sound, she deserves credit for refusing to play it safe.

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 Label: RCA  Release Date: November 18, 2008  Buy: Amazon

Sal Cinquemani

Sal Cinquemani is the co-founder and co-editor of Slant Magazine. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Village Voice, and others. He is also an award-winning screenwriter/director and festival programmer.

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