Back to basics

Aguilera began work on her third album in 2005 . Christina explains the big break in her career by saying that “ she wanted to get more impressions, which she will talk about in the new album .”

For recording, Aguilera was invited by fashionable DJ DJ Premier, who worked with the infamous Notorious BIG , Jay-Z and many others. Christina also invited Rich Harrison, Mark Ronson, and Linda Perry, with whom she had previously worked on the album Stripped .

By 2006, enough material had already been written for the album, but that was a lot on one disc. And then Aguilera decided to make the CD double. At the 2006 MTV Movie Awards, Christina officially announced this.

In May 2006, Pepsi released a commercial in which Christina performed “Here to stay” with Lebanese singer Elissa .

Aguilera comes up with a new nickname - Baby Jane (like X-tina in Stripped ). She uses the new pseudonym in her video, “ Ain't No Other Man .”

Aguilera drew inspiration for the new album from the works of Billy Holiday , Ella Fitzgerald , Etta James and other jazz artists. She later said:

I really love jazz performers. In their music they reflect all the heartache. This is very close to me.

The songs in the album with two discs turned out to be very versatile. The first disc with elements of music of the 1930s, 1940s in modern processing. Almost all songs used samples from old jazz songs, except for “FUSS”, “Without you” and “Still Dirrty”. The second disc consists mainly of ballads written by Aguilera and Perry. The second CD also uses the theme of the circus of the 1920s.

Most of the songs Aguilera dedicated to her husband, Jordan. For example, in Ain't No Other Man, she sings about her loving love for him and declares that “she doesn’t need any other man” (Ain't No Other Man but you), and Save Me From Myself is a touching ballad-gratitude husband for his love and for helping Christina get out of a prolonged depression.

“Still Dirrty” is a continuation of the hit “Dirrty”, which was sharply criticized due to a controversial video in which Aguilera shows a sexual image and an act of masturbation. In Still Dirrty, Aguilera asks fans not to be deceived by the new image of the glamorous diva of the 1940s, because inside she is still dirty.

In the track “ Oh Mother, ” Aguilera describes the mother’s difficult relationship with her father. Christina said in an interview about this song:

All my songs from this album have a positive color. For example, in Oh Mother’s song, I don’t shed tears, saying "here, how unfortunate I and my mother are." On the contrary, I thank her for her willpower and spirit, for the fact that she was able to escape from that life with beatings and humiliations.

In the song “Back in the day,” Aguilera pays tribute to the singers she listened to as a child. This is Billy Holiday, Etta James, Otis Redding and others. Christina calls them "innovators" and "creators"

In the last song from the first disc, “Thank you,” Aguilera sings about love and appreciation to her fans. The track used samples of the hit singer " Genie in a Bottle ".

Back To Basics was number 1 in 15 countries, including the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany.

The album debuted immediately in first place on the US Billboard 200 chart , becoming Christina's second album number 1. In the first week of sales, 615,000 copies of the album were sold.

The album went gold in Japan, Korea, Austria, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark and Sweden; platinum in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Singapore; 2-platinum in Australia and 3-platinum in Canada, Ireland and Russia.

• " Ain't No Other Man "
  • Release Date: 2006
  •   United World Chart - 6
• " Hurt "
  • Release Date: 2006
  •   United World Chart - 19
• " Candyman "
  • Release Date: 2007
  •   United World Chart - 25
• " Slow Down Baby "
  • Release Date: 2007
• " Oh Mother "
  • Release Date: 2007

Notes

• Intro (Back to Basics) contains a sample from The Thrill is Gone (Live) performed by BB King , The Crusaders, and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
• “Makes Me Wanna Pray” contains a sample from “Glad” performed by Traffic .
• “Back in the Day” contains samples from “Charlie”, performed by Don Costa Orchestra, and “Troglodyte”, performed by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Also includes a sample from the song “Close (to the Edit)” by Art of Noise .
• “Ain't No Other Man” contains samples from “Happy Skippy Moon Strut”, performed by Moon People, and “The Cissy's Thang”, performed by The Soul Seven.
• “Understand” contains a sample from “Nearer to You” performed by Betty Harris .
• Slow Down Baby contains samples from Window Raisin 'Granny, performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips , and So Seductive, performed by Tony Yayo .
• Oh Mother contains a sample from Vois Sur Ton Chemin, written by Bruno Coulais and Christophe Barratier.
• “On Our Way” contains a sample from “Sentimentale” performed by Claude Bolling .
• “Here to Stay” contains a sample from “The Best Thing You Ever Had” performed by Candi Staton .
• Thank You (Dedication to Fans ...) contains samples from Can't Hold Us Down and Genie in a Bottle by Aguilera and Think Big by Pudgie the Fat Bastard with The Notorious BIG . The track also featured Shane Burrows, Jessica Cavanaugh, She-Tara Franklin, Michael Holmin, Warren Keller, Antoinette Litte, Gustavo Medina, Sarah Anne Moore, Joshua Pospisil, Cory Steale, Durant Searcy, Samantha Silver, Tammy Simpson and Shanna Nicole Wiles.
• “Candyman” contains a sample from “Tarzan & Jane Swingin 'on a Vine” from Run To Cadence With US Marines.