I think GIAB is out next.

 

Or Ain't No Other Man.

Do your thang honey!

#08. Ain't No Other Man | 8.086



Highest Scores: 10: (Liam, Nina West, ready for it, Lukuzz, #VoteGarden.keh), 9/9.5: (Nightcrawler, Davidson, Riser, Slick), Lowest Scores: 3.5: (Nick F1)


At #8 is Christina's foray into the throwback sound with Ain't No Other Man, released in June 2006 as the lead single from her Back To Basics album. This would mark yet another re-invention of styles & sound for Xtina as she stated that after her last album, she wanted to incorporate elements of 1930s and 1940s musical styles for her next project. Lyrically the song was inspired by her marriage to Jordan Bratman in 2005. Upon release the song received generally favorable reviews & became a commercial smash hit by reaching #6 in the USA (her first top 10 hit since 'Beautiful' there) & a #2 peak in the UK, becoming her 13th overall top 10 hit & last solo release to reach that summit. Elsewhere it would manage top 5 peaks in Norway, Hungary, Ireland, Canada, Slovakia, Germany, Finland, Italy, New Zealand & Switzerland, along with top 10 peaks in Australia, Austria & Belgium. Afterwards the song would go onto win a Grammy Award for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', as well as many other nominations & awards.

I bet nobody was expecting Xtina to comeback with this kinda sound, especially coming off the back of the massive 'Stripped' era, & many of us thought that she'd stick to that sound, but instead do a complete U-Turn & strike back with this up-tempo, funky 1940's styled track, that somehow still manages to not only have a modern feel but remain timeless also. Featuring minimal beats m a load of brass samples, and continuing plenty of record samples and scratches. This of course sounded nothing at all like the rest of the charts at the time, which was somewhat of a gamble, but thankfully Christina's vocal power & confidence helped it become a well earned smash hit. On the whole this is just a great track & a refreshing change of pace for its time.

I love Ain’t No Other Man. She looks gorgeous in the video and so different as well like the total opposite as a comeback track to Dirrty! A versatile queen.

 

Omg so 5 of the top 7 are Stripped era :lol:

I'm shocked but pleased Can't Hold Us Down is so high!

 

Dirrty, Hurt, The Voice Within top 3 please. :wub:

I’m hoping Can’t Hold Us Down is next out tbh!

 

Idk how I’d rank the other four Stripped era tracks as they’re like career best tracks but Can’t Hold Us Down has always been my least favourite of the singles from that album although it does sound better in 2020 than it did in 03.

CHUD is one of her best!

Words can't bring me down

#07. Beautiful | 8.413



Highest Scores: 11: (Bjork, Jordan Lee), 10: (vibe, Liam, Nina West, dandy, ready for it, Nightcrawler, Davidson, Andrew, #VoteGarden.keh), Lowest Scores: 0: (Nick F1)


At #7 we FINALLY! lose a Stripped era single & it's the most famous one; Beautiful, released in November 2002 as the album's 2nd single. Written & produced by Linda Perry, who originally wanted to keep the song for herself, after initially previewing the song for Pink for her 2nd album 'Misundaztood' , however after hearing Christina sing it at her house, she was very impressed & decided to let her include it on her album. This choice resulted in a feud between Xtina & Pink. Upon release the song received universal acclaim by music critics & became a huge commericial success by topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Romania & UK. In the USA the track was quickly released after the underperformance of its lead single & became the album's highest charting single there with a #2 peak. Elsewhere it also managed top 5 peaks in Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Austria & Norway. Making this the album's most successful single. The track would go onto be widely embraced as an anthem by the LGBT community for its message of self-empowerment and inner beauty.

Only on Buzzjack would this be ranked as the lowest single from the iconic ;Stripped' album, WTF! this deserves to be higher than 'CHUD' & 'TVW' at the very least. Not only is this arguably the most famous song from the album, but her career as-well, with its assurance of inner beauty in the face of a world that preys on insecurities. Along with her vulnerable vocals & breath-taking production surely makes this a song for the ages, as it builds momentum throughout that further delivers its powerful yet universal message. So as a whole its just a fantastic song, one of Xtina's finest in her back catalogue & a true testament to her legacy in music.

'Ain't No Other Man' has grown on me over time - I now regard it as an absolute classic particularly that intro.

 

Whereas 'Beautiful' has gone the other way, and I don't find myself listening to it much anymore. The video/message of 'Beautiful' was so important when I was a wee teen though. I remember being OBSESSED that two men were kissing in the video, and there was a man wearing women's clothes.

'Ain't No Other Man' has grown on me over time - I now regard it as an absolute classic particularly that intro.

 

Whereas 'Beautiful' has gone the other way, and I don't find myself listening to it much anymore. The video/message of 'Beautiful' was so important when I was a wee teen though. I remember being OBSESSED that two men were kissing in the video, and there was a man wearing women's clothes.

agreed- Beautiful has aged a bit really, a bit corny now

Shocked by that, Beautiful is there in my top 40 of all time not that I've ever complied that lmao but it's Xtina (and BALLADS in general) at her very best

Ain't No Other Man is absolutely amazing should have been a huge hit.

 

Beautiful was lovely at the time and message is great but I agree it's not aged amazingly, definitely prefer all the other Stripped singles

Ooh! Excellent. It's pretty MOR to me. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I just never really go back to it and it's a bit boring, despite the important and gorgeous message of the song.

 

This opens the field up so much more though. I can't call a winner tbh!

 

ANOM is a fun song. It grates if you listen to it too much, but it's fun enough for a few times!

Beautiful is her best song, people in here are crazy

I feel like whatever wins is going to be a shocker. :lol: 'Genie' is a great pop song but very teen-bop and nowhere near her best. 'Dirrty' just has a sound to it that screams "divisive" which doesn't work in its favour in a rate. The 3 other Stripped singles are great but I would be shocked to see any of them top this rate over the album's first two singles. Then there is 'Hurt' which is STUNNING but I wouldn't expect it to outperform everything else in the rate. :lol:

 

I think I was expecting a 'Beautiful' win tbh. :lol:

I expected Beautiful to win so this is a bit of a shock.

 

Would love Hurt to win but I think Fighter will be the winner.

I had Hurt vs Fighter down as the top 2

'Fighter' is her best song, hands down.

Beautiful not winning as I hoped isn’t a shock but it being the first Stripped era track to leave is!

Fighter winning would be amazing! Ik it's popular but I feel like it's not popular enough half the time, but now Beautiful is out the way... maybe that's gonna win!

 

Fighter vs The Voice Within as the top 2 would be my ideal scenario rn!

Dirrty is the dark horse here. It’s a club staple hit and has a massive cult following. It guess it depends where the majority of voters on this are from. It was huge in Europe wasn’t it but so much the US. But I’d not rule out a Dirrty win! I definitely think it’s possible.