Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Hits (Album)
Ah Christina, what a journey you’ve had; to be honest I thought you’d be the one having fallouts and breakdowns like Ms Spears – you’ve actually turned out pretty normal!
Pop music is a bit of a guilty pleasure, kinda like eating a family block of Cadbury Dairy Milk in a single sitting but without the stomach ache (most of the time). Keeps Gettin’ Better is a chronological best-so-far album.
Kicking off the track listing is Genie In A Bottle and What A Girl Wants, you remember them? From when Christina was sixteen, dressed in white, on a beach, generally covered up (except for a little midriff exposure)? Has it only been ten years?
Without a doubt, the strongest section of this album is the grrl power Christina (Dirrty, Fighter and Beautiful). They’re robust, power-pop songs that were massive hits for Christina (or was it Xtina at that stage?) and really cemented her place in the pop stratosphere.
Following the power pop is what I really think of as the Bette Midler stage of Christina’s career – boppy, retro, performing-for-the-troops pop songs. This is really when she stood out to me as one of those performers that would be around for a long time… similar to Mariah but less flaky.
I do however have a couple of gripes about the album; the first is Genie 2.0 and You Are What You Are (Beautiful) – they are remakes of Genie In A Bottle and Beautiful, respectively. Now I don’t mind the odd remake, especially if it adds something different/new/better to the song –however, these don’t.
The second issue I have is the cover photography; I think she’s in an astronaut’s helmet? And seriously, that lipstick does not look good on anyone! Okay, I’m off my rant-wagon now. There are two new tracks on Keeps Gettin’ Better; the first one is really saccharine and catchy, it’s also the title track. The second new track Dynamite is not as strong- actually it’s completely forgettable- but that’s alright, you can’t win them all!
Overall Keeps Gettin’ Better is a strong collection of some of the better pop songs of the last decade, it makes me proud of what Christina has become.
