Home Read Classic Album Review: Christina Aguilera | Christina Aguilera

Classic Album Review: Christina Aguilera | Christina Aguilera

A talented new teen sensation makes a predictably poppy debut.

This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


New teen-pop sensation Christina Aguilera went from a gig on the Mickey Mouse Club — where she co-starred with, yes, Britney Spears — to recording a song for the soundtrack to Disney’s Mulan.

Her predictably poppy debut disc strikes a similar balance between bubblegum perkiness and sickly sweet, overwrought balladry. To be sure, Aguilera has the voice of a teenage Whitney Houston. But these by-the-numbers hip-pop tunes — you can practically envision the dance routines as you listen — seldom do them justice. Doubtless, some of them will be massive hits. But make no mistake; on an artistic level, this is mostly a Mickey Mouse effort.