CHRISTINA AGUILERA
It's not the release of
Bionic that I think was a huge mistake... but releasing
that Bionic. I don't know how hard she fought with the album re: her original vision for the album. Christina does not strike me as a pushover, and I have no inside scoop on how the conversations between Christina, her management, and RCA transpired. Regardless, I really wish she didn't end up in the studio with Ester and Polow at the label's request. The result was one of the most disjointed albums ever, and I truthfully believe that if the album were delivered to us as Christina truly intended, it would have been stellar and truly groundbreaking record (or at least appreciated as ahead of its time). I would love to se an alternate universe where Christina got to release
her Bionic.
BEYONCÉ
I feel like Beyoncé has done a pretty stellar job with everything so far. The only slight bump in the road (for me) was bits of how
4 was handled. I truly feel like it holds some of the best musical moments of the past decade, and it's a shame it didn't get the love it deserved. I would remove "Run The World", "I Was Here" and "Best Thing I Never Had" from the tracklist. I feel Beyoncé could have achieved a perfect album with
4 if those were removed in lieu of tracks like "Schoolin' Life", "Dance For You", or some of the other stellar tracks she must have recorded. Hardly a huge misstep though. Just a small thing I would have done differently if I were in charge. Definitely would have led off with "Love On Top" and "End Of Time" as the first two singles.
ALICIA KEYS
Like Beyoncé, I feel Alicia has done a great job maintaining herself. I think one glaring mistake I see with her was the release of "Doesn't Mean Anything" as the lead single from
The Element Of Freedom. I feel like she had such momentum with "Empire State of Mind" that had she hit us with a solid first single ("Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart", "Un-Thinkable"), the album would have done much better. I do wish the album overall was a bit stronger (in my opinion, it was her weakest despite the inclusion of TSWABH and Unthinkable, two of the best R&B songs of the 2000s), but she absolutely redeemed herself with the next album,
Girl On Fire.