How refreshing to see someone as young as Christina paying respect and tribute to the soul/jazz/blues legends of yesteryear (even though she appears to be confused about the eras. Most of the songs has influences from the 50s, 60s, and 70s and not just the 20s, 30s, and 40s as she claimed). This confusion does not hurt the beauty of this cd. In fact, it allows Christina to offer something to everyone.

On Disc One, Christina joins forces with DJ Premier, Rich Harrison, Kwame, Mark Ronson, Charles Roane, Big Tank and Tony Reyes & Ben H. Allen for an exciting world of R&B, Soul, Hip Hop and some Blues. The songs are either uptempo or midtempo, but Christina commands every lyric and melody. From the churchy "Makes Me Wanna Pray" to the edgy "Here To Stay", Christina holds your attention. Even when she is all about "me" like on interludes F.U.S.S and Intro (Back to Basic), Christina comes across as being true with her emotions. The only song that suffers is "Thank You" which I find rather pointless.

On Disc Two, the show is all about Christina and Linda Perry (who is becoming one of the most important female writers/producers of all time). Songs like the Andrew Sisters-inspired "Candyman", the sexy "Nasty Naughty Boy, and the bluesy "I Got Trouble" are all throwbacks to another era of time. While songs like the pop ballad "Hurt" and the churchy "Mercy On Me" has a modern day twist. Christina really sells these songs but the biggest surprise is the sweet folky "Save Me From Myself" and the 50s pop style "The Right Man". In both songs, you can tell Christina is singing from the heart and to her new husband.

Disc One and Disc Two are actually two seperate albums because they are both very different in styles, but the quality of both cds are high level. The growth from the last cd is clear because the one thing I also noticed is while 'Stripped' concentrated on sound and structure, 'B2B' focus on songs and structures (two totally different concepts). This is also the cd in which Christina leaves behind Britney, Jessica, Lindsey and that crew and join Alicia and Beyonce as the most talented pop female artists of their generation. Wow! She has come a long way from her "Genie" days, let's hope she can continue to grow.

Highlights from the cd:

Back In the Day

Slow Down Baby

Without You

Still Dirrty

Candyman

Hurt

Mercy On Me

Save me From Myself

The Right Man

"Lady Marmelade" was re-made by Christina Aguilera, Pink, Mya & Lil Kim for the 2001 movie release of "Moulin Rouge". The original version was produced my Missy Elliot, which gives this classic a modern hip-hop feel to it. This is the version that opens the single. Track 2 through 4 are all Thunderpuss Remixes. And did they do an amazing job!!! These remixes are pure tribal, tribal, tribal (they have somewhat of a different sound than other Thunderpuss remixes, I feel, but not in a bad way). Great drums. Great re-production. Track 2 is the Thunderpuss Radio Mix, which is followed respectively by the Thunderpuss Club Mix & Mixshow Edit. It would have been nice if a Thunderdub and/or Thunderpuss Tribapella were also available on this cd/commercially (they can be found on a promo single). But still, this single is so worth the money. The track listing is:

1. Lady Marmelade [Edit] 4:14

2. Lady Marmelade [Thunderpuss Radio Mix] 4:09

3. Lady Marmelade [Thunderpuss Club Mix] 9:48

4. Lady Marmelade [Thunderpuss Mixshow Mix] 6:21

Awesome!