Aguilera impresses in return to form

Full disclosure: I've been saying Christina should do the whole 1940s-Betty Boop-swing thing for years. She's got the perfect voice for this kind of stuff and she's the one who should be releasing albums of American standards, not Rod Stewart.\nAguilera starts out by thanking all the musicians of that era who have inspired and influenced her, yet she does it more literally than musically. While she sings "I've waited some time/to get inside the minds/of every legend I've wanted to stand beside," she doesn't quite get "back to basics." Instead, the first part of the album has more of a contemporary R&B sound.\nWhen she does the jazz-era sound, the songs sound more like covers of older songs from the time period than new, updated songs with a swing feeling, which was done so well on the album's first single, "Ain't No Other Man".\nAnd one needs only to take a peek in the cover booklet to see that nearly all the album's tracks are sampled from others. However, because the vamp style suits her vocals so well, it's still enjoyable, even if the songs aren't as original. "Candyman" is a fun little ditty reminiscent of "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". I hope a music video gets made for "Nasty Naughty Boy". While listening to it, you can imagine Christina sprawled across a piano in a bright red, sequined dress, Jessica Rabbit-ing it up.\nAs that song's title shows, Aguilera's new sound isn't as innocent as it sounds. X-tina is still front and center on the track when she belts out "I'm gonna give you a little taste/of the sugar below my waist". On "Still Dirrty," she lets us know "I still got that nasty in me/still got that dirty degree" while at the same time getting some good points about gender roles across. Plus, the song has a really cool trumpet thing going on in the background.\nOn "Hurt" and "Save Me From Myself" she does the whole overblown, hold-notes-for-as-long-and-high-as-possible thing that we've come to know from Christina's ballads. But since she can pull it off that well, would we really want her any other way?\nOther highlights include "Slow Down Baby" and "Welcome," but steer clear of the self-indulgent "Thank You," where voicetracks from fans portray Aguilera as a saint on earth. With Jessica, Beyonce, Fergie, Justin and a slew of other divas releasing albums in the upcoming weeks, Christina's got a good early lead.