Christina Aguilera Christmas Album

My Kind of Christmas

THREE AND A HALF STARS

Ok, so Christina Aguilera may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer. And yes, her vinyl outfits and body jewelry frequently fall into the tacky range.

But no one can argue that the girl has one helluva voice.

That voice is in full effect on Aguilera’s latest release, My Kind of Christmas.

While it would have been easy to simply record traditional carols, slap some pretty pictures on the cover and crank the CD out in time for thousands of teenagers to blast the tunes from October through January, Aguilera takes a more inventive approach by combining holiday favorites with a sampling of new releases.

The CD opens with the definitive R&B feel of "Christmas Time," which combines traditional holiday-esque lyrics about bonding with family and friends. This first track sets the tone for the remainder of the CD, which has more soul than one would expect from the girl who brought us "Genie in a Bottle."

In fact, the entire collection displays the vocal skills that won Aguilera a Grammy. Without question, her mature vocals can be appreciated by more than just the teenybopper set.

The highlight of the album is the seventh track, "These Are the Special Times." The song, written by Diane Warren, actually contains no mention of Christmas, holidays or reindeer. Rather it is a ballad that features Aguilera and her background vocalists singing a powerful love song about the memorable moments during a couple’s relationship.

Aguilera shines consistently throughout the traditional Christmas tunes. In "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," Aguilera is accompanied by a miniature orchestra as she allows her voice to waft through the lyrics and background harmonies.

"Merry Christmas, Baby" is another welcome favorite on the album. Aguilera initially surprises listeners by opening the song with a chorus of "Auld Lang Sine" before jumping straight into the jazzy melody. During the latter part of the song, Aguilera is joined by vocalist Dr. John to add a new bit of flavor to the CD.

But some songs aren’t meant to be altered — at least not as drastically as Aguilera changes them. "Oh Holy Night" is an example of a song that had the potential of being a magnificent piece. The beginning starts out well, but then she begins reciting the "Our Father" over a background of her own wailing arias. And one could almost forget the random introduction of the prayer as she returns to the traditional melody, but then out of nowhere she brings in a gospel choir for another chorus.

The original songs also contain a mixture of positive and negative qualities.

The second track, "This Year," continues to show great vocal power, but the lyrics themselves are typical of what many expect from Aguilera: "You’ll be my spring ahead, my fall behind/The shimmy in my hips, oh when I bump and grind."

Other songs, such as "Xtina’s Xmas," should have hit the cutting room floor without question. The song has no lyrics listed in the booklet and one soon discovers why: There are none. The entire song consists of Aguilera singing some variation of the phrase "It’s Christmas time" over various synthesized sounds. If this is Christina’s Christmas, perhaps she made it onto Santa’s personal hit list.

Overall, the CD is brimming with raw talent. Many of the songs will be appreciated by adults and teens alike, but unfortunately it appears that Aguilera was trying too hard to overcome her cheesy Teen Queen image. In addition to frequent over-synthesizing of tracks, Aguilera would benefit from spending a little more time on singing the lyrics and less time on displaying her ability to hit the high notes and trying to become more soulful.

-Nicole Jomantas