Liberation
| Christina Aguilera
Liberation
Liberation is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera. It was released on June 15, 2018, through RCA Records. It is Aguilera's first album in six years, following Lotus (2012). The singer started recording the album in late 2014, and throughout 2015 and 2017, Aguilera collaborated with a handful of producers and songwriters to reach her desired sound; Pharrell Williams and Linda Perry were in the studio in early stages and ended up not being on the album, while new collaborators such as Anderson Paak, Kanye West, Che Pope, Mike Dean and Tayla Parx were confirmed to be on the album. It features collaborations with Demi Lovato, Keida, Shenseea, GoldLink, Ty Dolla Sign, 2 Chainz, and XNDA.- Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
The pop survivor shows off her powerhouse voice, dabbles in try-hard slang, and takes tentative steps toward creative rebirth on her first album since 2012.
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Consequences of Sound
While it isn’t without a few bumps along the way, Liberation really is a welcome return to form for one of this era’s greatest vocalists.
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RollingStone
Christina Aguilera Flexes Her Diva Power on the Excellent ‘Liberation’.
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SPIN
On Liberation Christina Aguilera Sounds as Powerful as Ever.
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NME
It lacks the dazzling ambition of her glory days, but album eight makes Aguilera feel relevant again.
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Variety
On her first release in six years, it's clear the singer wants to move toward hip-hop... and that she isn't missing "The Voice," at all.
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The New York Times
Christina Aguilera Exults in Her Voice on ‘Liberation’.
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The Telegraph
But the sheer busy quality of her singing and overactive variety of the production ensures that Liberation never settles into a coherent listening experience.
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The Guardian
Pop diva grasps creative freedom.
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Stereogum
An abundance of potential hits, and a truly phenomenal singer with charisma to spare.
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The Young Folks
The positive moments on here were fantastic for sure, but ultimately, Aguilera fails to understand today’s culture fully.
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The Muse
Its grandiose title clashes with its content, like an Instagram caption used to justify the posting of a thirst trap pic.
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Slant
Liberation is largely freed from the bombast that has marred Christina Aguilera’s past releases.
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USA Today
Christina Aguilera's 'Liberation' is a mostly satisfying comeback album.
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The Irish Times
She might be 20 years a pop star but with Liberation, she’s finally found her voice.
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Metro Weekly
Christina Aguilera's eighth album brings artistic clarity and powerful themes in an underwhelming package
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I Do Lator
From the larger-than-life vocals to the soulful balladry, defiant anthems and raunchy bangers, this is undeniably a Christina Aguilera album.
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Independent
New album is everything diehard fans could want, but there are misses among the hits.
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Fansided
Intentional or not, Liberation shares a few thematic crossovers with Aguilera’s 2002 seminal classic Stripped — and it works.
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HipHopDX
It’s a well-calculated offering from a living legend whose abilities are still very much intact.
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music OMH
Conceptually the album has a loose theme of self-discovery, as expressed by the spoken word introduction .
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US Weekly
The shining moments on Liberation are the ballads, many of which fall on the second half of the tracklist.
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Pretty Much Amazing
Liberation never reaches the heights fans likely wanted from Xtina, it serves as a pleasant refresher for a voice that has earned its place in the annals of pop history.
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The Inquirer
Many of Liberation’s production tricks are lame and its lyrics unliberated. Still, this is album manages to be a good (not great) reboot for one of R&B’s greatest voices.
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Refinery29
On Liberation, Aguilera finally embraces that she is at her most powerful when she is at her most raw.
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Pop Crush
The Album is a comfortable clip of songs, not overly challenging or needle-moving, but exceedingly listenable when compared to its most recent predecessors.
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Sputnik
Less like a comeback album for 'the Voice of a Generation' and more like just another mid-career album conceived in the wrong generation.
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Cryptic Rock
Liberation is a journey fraught with highs and lows, one whose schizophrenic stylings might appeal to Millennial’s ADHD, sure, but overall, it just feels like a bit of a misfire.
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The Musical Hype
Although imperfect, it has some great moments.
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All Music
Aguilera didn't take an easy route with Liberation: she instead found a hybrid between the personal and commercial, which makes the record resonate emotionally no matter what success it may or may not have.
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Reading Eagle
"Liberation" has a wide range of styles and sounds, but it's also masterfully cohesive.
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Diandra Reviews it All
Liberation, does not fail. Yet, what it does is turn this pop queen, who has transformed her image multiple times, into what feels like her most authentic voice.
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Financial Times
Although the album subsides into a run of slower numbers, it serves as a reminder of the singer’s glory days.
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NZ Herald
Christina Aguilera's Liberation is an empowering return to form.
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Herald Sun
Xtina is on FIRE vocally.
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Newsday
Ex-"Voice" judge sings powerfully on intermittently great comeback.
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The Times
This is earnest adult-orientated pop, clearly constructed with the top of the charts in mind.
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Entertainment Focus
The album is a grower but I do wish Aguilera would smoothen out that stretched and raspy belt she’s in the bad habit of over-using.
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The Stingray Blob
Liberation reaches the impactful heights fans likely wanted from Xtina, it serves as a pleasant refresher for a voice that has earned its place in the annals of pop history.
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Daily Brun
“Liberation” aims to paint a picture of female empowerment, but leaves listeners with a muddled image instead.
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Renowned for Sound
Liberation lacks the sincerity and instead comes off a little bit gung ho.
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Kelly Alexander Show
The Aguilera on Liberation reminds listeners of the kind of artist she told us she wanted to be all those years ago—even if the road to maintaining success became messy thereafter.
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Plugged In
An album that's pretty provocative—in some surprisingly good ways and some that are anything but.
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Metro
Liberation runs out of energy, ideas and edge about three weak ballads from the end.
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Time
Christina Aguilera Is Hitting the Reset Button on Her New Album Liberation.
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The Urban Twist
Christina offers strength, hope and motivation – basically liberation – and directs them towards other women and young girls.
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Sound Digest
Christina Aguilera is Back and Better Than Ever with New Liberation Album.
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Random J Pop
I can't help but feel underwhelmed, because I know that Christina can give us so much better.
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Mix 92.9
Christina Aguilera scores top 10 album with "Liberation".
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Immortal Reviews
Christina Aguilera gets intimate in Liberation, her new record that is perhaps one of her most honest.
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setlist.fm
Liberation is a collection of various styles that are working together to demonstrate the range of her immense skills.
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LA Times
After a six-year hiatus, Christina Aguilera finds her 'Liberation'.
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Crystal Eve
‘Liberation‘ is nothing like I expected, but everything that I didn’t know I wanted.
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Media Hype
Christina Aguilera finds herself during her six year hiatus and delivers a cohesive, emotional and beautiful LP.
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Established in 1977
With a puzzling title, lack of direction, and over-the-top production, it notches her third miss in a row.
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Evening Standard
Christina Aguilera's back with a big bonkers bang.
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Spectrum Pulse
Delivering a record that feels her most mature as a performer with a fair few genuinely great songs.
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Star 2
Individually, they sound great. As a collective though, it does seem as if Aguilera is clutching at straws to return to her former pop glory.
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Thomas Bleach
At the end of the day whilst this album isn’t great and is by far her weakest record yet, she is still an icon.
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New York Post
It’s great to hear Aguilera rediscovering her voice and getting back to doing what she does best. “Liberation” frees up the diva to showcase her dynamic delivery over a range of styles.
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pressplayok
Liberation doesn’t do Christina Aguilera justice, that much is certain.
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Album Analysis
For tried and true fans of Aguilera, go crazy, because she nails this basic one-dimensional atmosphere with some nice style.
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Hollywood Life
Christina Aguilera is back and better than she’s ever sounded.
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A Bit of Pop Music
Christina Aguilera sounds liberated on long awaited sixth album.
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aus pop
Generally speaking, Christina sounds better than ever. She’s written some incredibly powerful and honest lyrics and created some great moments throughout ‘Liberation’.
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Culled Culture
Christina Aguilera Is At Her Best When She’s At Her Least Sonically Cohesive: Liberation.
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411 Mania
Christina presents an album that falls well short of greatness, but is worthy because it tries (and sporadically manages) to achieve.
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The Top Tens
Christina Aguilera’s Liberation feels fresher, more thought out and simply better than whatever is on the charts.
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Republican American
On ‘Liberation,’ Christina Aguilera is resilient.
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The Sydney Morning Herald
Christina Aguilera is more empowered than ever, and her liberation makes for the perfect pop album.
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Lonely Dark World
This is probably one of the best albums that came out this year so far.
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Remo News
Raw and moving, it is Xtina at its peak, expanding the remarkable talent that has made it stand out in the middle of a sea of bubblegummer as a teenager and has made her the main voice in the class of 21st century pop divas.
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The Columbus Dispatch
Many of “Liberation”’s production tricks are lame and its lyrics unliberated. Still, this is album manages to be a good (not great) reboot for one of R&B’s greatest voices.
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That Grape Juice
The album is exquisite and deserves the applause it’s receiving.
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Meni Musings
Liberation is a beautiful album, diving into the soul of music and exploring with different sounds to create an interesting narrative and tell a moving story.
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Flood
Nearly two decades into her career, Christina still hasn’t figured out how to get out of her own way.
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The World News
New album is everything die-hard fans could want, but there are misses among the hits.
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Monika Weatherly
Liberation represents and reflects creative freedom and artistic mastery.
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Album Confessions
That creative freedom pours out of every track, creates a comfortable space where the artist finds it okay to be vulnerable, edgy, explicit and aggressive.
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knox news
Ultimately, it’s satisfying to hear Aguilera’s indomitable voice again, though it’s bittersweet to consider what could have been truly liberating.
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