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Christina Aguilera is the debut self-titled album by American recording artists Christina Aguilera. After being notified of the closure of The New Mickey Mouse Club which Aguilera was part of she started proceedings to release her debut album. Demo sessions later led to the album release Just Be Free with a partnership with Roberts Alleca and Michael Brown who gained her a collaboration with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi which ultimately was a disappointment but after finding representation with manager Steve Kurtz she attained the deal to record the theme to Mulan titled "Reflection" the success of which led label RCA to fund one million dollars into her debut album.

Ron Fair crafted her image to make Aguilera a teen-diol and enlisted the help of writers such as Diane Warren. Aguilera failed to have much impact into the album's development something which she ultimately struggled with and something which spurred her on to take more control in later projects. After a delay the self-titled project was released on August 24, 1999 featuring a range of; Pop, R&B and teen-pop influences she garnered comparisons to acts Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson. Critically the album's response was mixed, her vocals were well received with many critics noting the contrast between that and the vocals of others in the same market, comparing her to performers; Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. However generally the content garnered negative responses.

Commercially the album was a great success debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of over 250,000 copies outselling major competition. The album eventually sold over eight million copies and was certified 8 x Platinum in the US, and the success reached elsewhere as the album peaked inside the top twenty in the; United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany and Switzerland. "Genie in a Bottle" the album's first single was released in early 1999 and received positive critical responses, although the sexual references within the track garnered controversy. The track topped charts worldwide including the US and the UK. A follow-up single "What a Girl Wants" became her second consecutive US number one single, and the track was re-recorded for the single release something which ultimately garnered positive responses. However "I Turn to You" the third single received negative critical responses, originally recorded by band All-4-One and was written by Diane Warren. The fourth single though "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" became her third US number one single and received positive reviews.

Background and development

"Unfortunately pop, is often about eye-candy. It can be hard to be eighteen and to be in this business, your album is huge, and these people twenty years your senior are seeing you as a product. That can be scary. I just wanted to make music, and all of a sudden it was all about this package-what your look is going to be. All these decision are being made for you."

Aguilera discussing the development of her teen-pop image.

After news that the television show The New Mickey Mouse Club would be airing its final season, Aguilera a regular decided to start pursuing a solo music career. She eventually started communications with record producers Robert Alleca and Michael Brown which led to her developing 11 demo tracks which went onto become the album Just Be Free which was released after her success with her debut album, at the dismay of Aguilera. The slow pace of her career was dissatisfying for Aguilera who then spent time in Tokyo and found herself collaborating with one of Japan's "most famous pop stars" Keizo Nakanishi]]. Her career was slowly improving and saw her perform to the likes of Sheryl Crow and Diana Ross, but her glimpse of success spurred her onto wish to release an album before she had finished high school. Her moderate fame became increasingly successful and soon garnered the attention of manager Steve Kurtz, however before Aguilera and Kurtz started communications she had began negotiations with manager Ruth Inniss, which saw her agree to hire Inniss. Relations then fell apart between Aguilera and Inniss and she soon found herself pairing with Kurtz, who eventually became the sole manager credited in her debut album booklet. Kurtz started to present Aguilera to various companies unsuccessfully, and after delivering a demo package to RCA's Ron Fair he expressed interest in her and eventually offered her a demo deal, which Aguilera was unhappy with, after spending the majority of her music career recording demos.

The financial state of RCA at the time saw them lose out to the major record labels at the time, the album deal that Aguilera wished for did not take long to progress because of this, and after auditioning to perform the theme to the film Mulan titled "Reflection" she landed the song, and simultaneously landed the album deal with RCA, she explained "I landed a record deal simultaneously as I landed the Mulan soundtrack. I had just turned seventeen years old, and during the same week, I just landed both. I recorded the Mulan soundtrack first and then a few months later I was out in L.A. recording the record for about six months". "Reflection" became a moderate success, and in an effort to maintain the hype surrounding her at the time, RCA pushed for an album release in January 1999 the same month as the Britney Spears debut album release. But complications in the development of the album meant that the scheduled date fell through as Aguilera was unaware of what she wanted to create as an artist. The night before the release of the album Eric Foster who helped produce the album recalled that Aguilera was determined to be a success after he heard her say "I can't wait to be part of that" referring to the highly successful pop market at that time. During the development of the album and her image, the label spent time and money training her conceiving her debut album to be an introduction to a successful music career like that of Barbara Streisand. By the time the launch of the album was in progress, Aguilera's image had been carefully crafted by her management and Ron Fair, something she found difficult recalling as the label had even requested she remove her last name in an effort to conceal her ethnicity, something which she refused finding the industry increasingly "fake" and difficult to handle as she was beginning to lose communications with friends and family.

Writing and composition

"I was held back a lot from doing more R&B ad-libbing. They clearly wanted to make a fresh sounding young pop record and that's not always the direction I wanted to go in. Sometimes they didn't get it, didn't want to hear me out because of my age, and that was a little bit frustrating. But I want to write more about experiences I've gone through. I've gone through bad situations. I come from a divorced home. I've been around abuse. I've lived a different life, been on the outside.

Aguilera expressing her dismay with her lack of involvement in the records production.

Production on the album involved little input from Aguilera, her creative input into the record was also minor, her label RCA had decided to produce a pop album for her, something which was to do with the marketing and sales rather than her producing great music. Originally the album was scheduled for a January 1999 release but the record label and Aguilera found it difficult to compile the album, at this time Aguilera had not yet evolved as an artist and was unsure as to which direction she wanted to take musically. Ron Fair of RCA was a large part of the creative input for the album and was in control of what she would record, writers and producers would present him demo tracks and concepts and he would decide if they were appropriate or worthwhile for her to record. Her lack of involvement in the record spurred her on to take more control on her follow-up albums, she found it difficult to be in a position where she was not crafting the album but she also understood that the record label had funded her album and knew that she would have to "play it safe" with her debut album. Ron Fair and RCA records started communications with music-writer Diane Warren someone who had seen her performing first single "Reflection" on national television leaving a lasting impression on Warren. The record label and Fair were producing the album at a fast pace in an attempt to rush the release to maintain the "buzz" surrounding Aguilera which gave Warren little time to write a ballad, something they had requested. Instead Warren penned the track "Somebody's Somebody" a mid-tempo track that made little impression with critics, however the label then asked for permission for Aguilera to cover a track Warren had written for boy-band All 4 One which she agreed to. The track "I Turn to You" which came third in the album was described by Beth Johnson from Entertainment Weekly as "a near identical rip-off of her own Celine Dion smash, "Because You Loved Me" whilst the fourth track titled "So Emotional" was described by Johnson as "giddily delicious radio pop". Songwriting was something that came naturally to Aguilera who took minor credits in the revised versions of; "What a Girl Wants" and "Come on Over Baby (All I Want is You)", she explained "Everything inspires me to write songs from the railing I'm leaning on to the clouds in the sky, people in my life, dust on the ground. Everything inspires me".

"What a Girl Wants" was one of the first tracks written for the album, Ron Fair chose the track and it was produced by Guy Roche a prominent producer in the R&B industry, something which Aguilera was "thrilled" with. "What a Girl Wants", then became the second track on the record, and is an R&B themed Pop track written in the key of A-major. The track begins with the lyrics "What a girl wants, what a girl needs, whatever makes me happy sets you free" and it set against 120 beats per minute. Her vocals in the track garnered comparisons to Mariah Carey and saw her perform in a lower register scaling notes until she reaches the top of her upper register. The track "Blessed" was penned band produced by Travon Potts who had previously written for R&B artists also, whilst Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, writers behind several prominent boy-bands contributed two tracks to the record, being; "Love For All Seasons" and "Love Will Find a Way". Aguilera was particularly proud of the ballad-tracks on the record, especially the song "Obvious" which was written by an up-and-coming writer Heather Holly. "Genie in a Bottle", the album's first track is a "pulsating" pop song, with lyricism featuring sexual references. Her vocal performance described as "blue-eyed-soul" sees her perform dance influenced vocals where she describes herself as a trapped Genie, one that can only be released when rubbed "the right way". Talking of the record, Aguilera explained "If you listen to the words "My body's saying let's go but my heart is saying no". My heart is saying no. So it's really a song about self-respect and treating me the way I want to be treated before I just give my love away to anybody". The album was conceived by the record label to be a teen-pop record, something which was a highly successful genre of music at the time with artists such as; Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore releasing records with this theme. Barry Walters of Rolling Stone described the album as "A mid-tempo argument for soulful affection weaves rolling Hip-Hop rhythms, hypnotic keyboard counter melodies and sensually sensible poetry". Beth Johnson from Entertainment Weekly described the album as "radio pop", but explained "she plays intergenerational Ping-Pong, zinging from lightweight anthems and who-am-I musings to maudlin ballads suited to thirty-something divas".

Critical reception

"Well I don't pay much attention to all that. There are a lot of opinions out there. I do want longevity with my career, and it is nice to hear people say flattering things about my voice... I look at performers like Madonna and Janet Jackson, and I know that someday I'd also want to be accomplished on the screen, the studio and the stage. But I guess whatever happens happens."

Aguilera discussing her reaction to the critical responses of the record.

Aguilera performing the fourth single from the album "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" on the Back to Basics Tour.

Critically the album received mixed reviews from critics, most criticized the lyrics, however Aguilera's vocals were well received. Barry Walters from Rolling Stone compared Aguilera to other teen-pop artists at the time; Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore, but stated "When the results are as sophisticatedly saucy as Christina Aguilera's 'Genie in a Bottle', pedigree isn't even an issue", and called her performance "underplayed" whilst stating "an eighteen year old bombshell whose greatest assets are her powerhouse pipes". A writer from newspaper, The Plain Dealer noted "Unlike [Britney] Spears or that champion belly-button flasher, Shania Twain, Aguilera can really sing", the newspaper positively received her "rangy R&B voice" calling her "mature in a good way" and branding her "emotionally knowledgeable". A writer from the newspaper The Boston Globe gave a mixed response whilst claiming "the tunes are a times painfully familiar and overtly skewed toward the teen market, Aguilera's singing soars above the fray".

Beth Johnson from Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B- rating noted the commercial aspect of the album had taken over the quality aspect and further comparisons to teen-pop artists, this time to Brandy as well as others, branding her a "preternaturally piped ex-Mouseketeer" but expressing her dismay at another singer from The New Mickey Mouse Club. Johnson went onto describe the album as "A frustratingly erratic album -- She's Tiffany! She's Whitney! -- Christina still makes a credible bid to be the late-summer soundtrack to romantic rebound". Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ rating and explained that unlike Britney Spears "Christina already has "adult" grit and phrasing down pat, and so threatens to join Gloria, Mariah, Celine, and LeAnn herself in the endless parade of Diane Warren-fueled divas-by-fiat hitting high notes and signifying less than nothing." Newsday labelled Aguilera "a true talent" but criticized the music, the newspaper criticized writer Diane Warren, writer of the ballad "I Turn To You" finding that Warren had given a difficult job to Aguilera to perform the track well. A writer from The Washington Post agreed that Warren was at fault for some of the records problems, stating "It's a measure of Aguilera's perceived potential that she gets not one, but two songs from hitmaker Diane Warren. The first, 'I Turn to You'... is an inspirational ballad in the tradition of 'How Can I Live Without You' that works despite being built on an astounding accumulation of cliches". Newspaper Newsday gave the album two stars out of five and compared her to Tiffany negatively but responded well to her vocals.

Promotion

"It's a fun show, I got my band out here with me... and also I'm doing something a little unexpected and introducing the kids to Etta James. Doing a cover called "At Last". What is cool is that I've done this song as an encore sometimes before, and I was like, 'Your parents might know this, you guys might'. Younger fans don't. But what's cool is that they all really seem to get into it whenever I do it, and they appreciate the realness of it, I think. You know, that I'm just naked out there without anything. No dancers, no band. It's just me and a mic, and it's about being a vocalist."

Aguilera discussing her time supporting band TLC, and her excitement at performing the Etta James track "At Last".

Unlike that of other teen-performers such as Britney Spears, Aguilera did not spend time touring the US in shopping center appearances, instead RCA hired internet service company Electric Artists to help promote her this involved advertising banners and postings on message boards that would target her market in a way that the readers would not know it was a promotional tool, just "buzz" concerning an up-and-coming artist. The viral marketing scheme also saw the company offer concert tickets and other prizes to those who would help in the promotion of Aguilera and her own website was aimed at young adults and featured a highly successful question and answer section which was conducted by her mother. In June 1999 RCA showcased Aguilera in; New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, |Las Vegas and Minneapolis with the performances aimed at retail representatives, local radio staff and staff of BMG. Her performances featured only her and her piano and caught the attention of Ananda Lewis who was working for MTV at the time was "quite taken aback" with her talent, this reaction was common and continued during her performances on the Lilith Fair tour. Aguilera found a passion for live performances, originating from her time with The New Mickey Mouse Club, she found performing with a live band especially enjoyable and felt it showed another side to her teen-pop image. In 2000 it was confirmed that Aguilera would take part in a tour by band TLC in an effort to prepare herself before her own headlining tour, the tour had already started by the time that she had taken on the role of supporting artist and the tour saw her perform in; Canada and major US cities including; Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Aguilera reflected on the performances saying "At times, it really is overwhelming, I mean the schedule alone, and the loneliness of it too. You're living out of suitcases, hotel rooms, you know? Different city every day, and it's tough".

Legacy

At the time of the release, Aguilera was in direct competition with other artists from the teen-pop market, with most comparisons drawing Aguilera and singer Britney Spears. Writers such as Barry Walters from Rolling Stone labelled Aguilera vocally more talented and developed than the majority of these artists, calling her a "bombshell whose greatest assets are her powerhouse pipes", this became a prominent theme in the album responses, with writers such as that from newspaper The Plain Dealer called her performance an improvement on prominent artists at the time; Shania Twain and Spears. A writer from The Boston Globe analyzed her success once again comparing her to Spears, noting "Where Spears comes off as a quick study who can mimic serviceable licks and carry a tune, Aguilera is a real singer. Mariah, Whitney, and Celine all come to mind; Aguilera is similarly blessed with the sort of breathtaking elasticity, golden tones and sheer power that seperate the diva's from the dabblers". A writer from The New York Times found that the album was just a showcase for Aguilera's vocal talent and found that "this album hints at a real singer's emergence. She has a striking vocal power and range, if not a clue expressing individuality. Once she has fulfilled the requirements of a teen-age pinup, she may enlist her bold talent to make music personally nuanced as 'Genie in a Bottle' is serendipitous".