Blame Baz Luhrmann if you want. The update of the Patti Labelle classic 'Lady Marmalade' that featured in his film Moulin Rouge was performed by four singers, three of them being Pink, Lil' Kim and Mya. The fourth was pop princess Christina Aguilera who until then hadn't done much except suggest pseudo connotations in regards to Genies with bottles and the rubbing and the glaven!

Sorry I slipped into Professor Frink mode there for a sec.

What the superstar team-up did prove was that Aggy had a voice not only superior to the other three but superior to pretty much the rest of the pop world. A year later she released the mammoth selling Stripped and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now smart marketing would tell you that releasing a similar sounding follow up in the pop market is money in the bank, cream cheese if you will. Thankfully Xtina has decided to stretch herself and record the music she loves: Old school Jazz, Blues and Soul. Career suicide or a breath of fresh air in and otherwise stale genre? Back To Basics is clearly the latter.

Mind you this isn't a straight vintage record, rather the sounds of a classic era reworked for the iPod generation. The fine old samples dug out from the archives help bring gravitas to the music that backs Aguilera's belting vocal chops. Where else would you here a Traffic sample (the revival tent buster 'Makes Me Wanna Pray') along with a Betty Harris vocal nab ('Understand')?

Sprawled out over two discs (now unnecessarily back in vogue, but as stated below makes sense), the extra space allows her to not only immerse herself in the sounds of her childhood, like the brass/funk of lead single 'Ain't No Other Man', but to give props to those that mean so much to her. 'Back In The Day' is an ode to the legends that paved the way during the golden period of music while the simply titled 'Thank You' acknowledges her fans that have stuck by her. A nice touch comes in the form of vocal snippets from said fans incorporated into the song.

Sneaking under the radar is 'F.U.S.S.' which details her falling out with producer Scott Storch. Though it is no 'How Do You Sleep?', there are no prizes for guessing what the F.U. stands for in the title.

As good as the sample heavy first disc is it is the second set that Aguilera is at her most creative. The entire second half is a collaboration with songwriter Linda 'I forget better hits then you ever thought of' Perry and while it treads a similar path to the first album, it is that much better because the music is wholly original.

Starting off with a circus/carnival extravaganza interlude, 'Welcome' has her delivering her best vocal yet, reaching for stars as she ponders: "Is it all blue skies?" Elsewhere you have a cheeky nod to the Andrews Sisters with 'Candyman' and just plain cheeky on 'Nasty Naughty Boy'. The latter is THE new song of choice for strippers. You heard it here first.

At 22 tracks, Back To Basics may test the attention span of the kids out there (as will this lengthy review) but the double album rarely dips in quality and in pop that isn't a common thing. In a world where slutty hotel heiresses are given record deals, it is comforting to know there are artists like Aguilera to combat the fluff.