Customer Reviews

Just Be Free

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Poor Christina Aguilera. This album was only released so some jerks can make a buck. I can understand why she tried everything in her power to make this album disappear. It is filled with generic dance tracks and awful ballads. All credit for the bad album goes to the writers of these awful songs. These guys obviously have no talent and it is clear why Christina chose a different record label and producers. The reason I give this album 3 stars is because of Christina herself. Despite the material she does what she can with it, singing her heart out. The only listenable tracks would be Just Be Free, Move It, and the dance mix of Believe Me. Not good songs but she sings the hell out of them making them powerful dance tracks. If you are a Christina fan then get this album, it is a must have, but don't expect great things. You'll probably listen to it once, put it away, and then pop in her debut or Mi Reflejo, 2 albums that truly show how wonderfully talented this woman is. *Check out the liner notes from Christina, she even thinks this album is terrrible.

I am a big fan of Christina. She is truly a gifted vocalist and has a great future ahead of her.I bought this CD thinking it was the follow-up to her first album. then I read the inlay of the CD and learned that this was actually a compiling of demo recordings of Christina, when she was only 14 and 15 years old. I listened to the CD, and you can notice in it the great potential she had as a singer at that young age. But this isn't a recording to be commercially released in my opinion.The recordings are just a demonstration of Christina's vocal abilities, but it has not the quality, as she herself says, to be commercially released. I agree with her as she writes in the inlay: "I hope this will be just a footnote in what i expect to be a long career in music". If you buy this CD don't expect to get great songs, beautiful lyrics, and Christina's actual voice, for you'll be dissappointed. This CD is only for people who want to know just how much of Christina's voice is just pure talent, and how much of it is the product of voice training. if you're not interested in knowing this, then this CD isn't for you

I keep hearing people saying that they got her 'new cd' and it's horrible. This is not her new cd. She recorded these songs when she was 14 and she didn't want it released. I agree some of the songs are repetitive and a bit boring, but some of these are great. I really like Just Be Free; it's a nice dance song with a good beat and i like the way she sings on it. I also really like Believe Me. It is a meaningful song and i can see people relating to it. you can tell she contributed to the writing of that one cause it talks about being excluded cause you are different, and that's what kids did to her when she was younger. Listen to the words and you can tell. Move It is a good song, both the dance mix and the regular one. I like Running Out Of Time and By Your Side also. The spanish version of Just Be Free is good; you can hear her rapping in spanish in the background and it sounds really cool. Even though these aren't the best songs, her voice is good. She was only 14 and you can hear how mature her voice is. She sounds like she does now only a teeny bit different and not as powerful. But the talent is there.

This isn't NEARLY as horrifically awful as so many reviewers seem to be making it out to be-in fact, the first two tracks could have easily been club and/or radio hits if the sound/backing tracks were a tad stronger. This album's biggest problem is that the music wasn't well-produced and the sound and backing tracks are weak. This album could have been beautiful and a huge success if a little more effort were put into it. Christina's voice is gorgeous, as usual. But the production is what causes the album's true downfall. Christina's voice is oh-so-slightly off-key at times, but that's more understandable because this was before she had any vocal training-and for someone with no training, she really rocked!! I have to admit, some of the later tracks kinda just plain suck but the early songs could have been huge hits if they were better produced. "Just Be Free" is the album's gem, and it, interestingly, also has the best sound. "By Your Side" is a tad Janet Jackson-esque, and could have been a hit, but the sound is fuzzy and downright awful with this one-the "Move It" dance mix is also quite good-another hard-hitting club track. A lot of filler here, yes, but an interesting look at Christina's earlier days. A must-have for the major hardcore fans, and a slightly unique listen for the rest of us.

I dont understand why everyone thinks this album is awful. In her other albums, she has backup with atleast 3 other voices. This album is raw, the real deal, unmanufactured. I can understand why Christina sued to have this album not released. Poeple want to hear clear, crisp, edited songs so they're "just right". But this album is uniquely interesting because it takes you right into the recording studio, and you can almost picture the young, hard-working, struggling singer. Christina has amazing talent and I will not pay for this album because it supports poeple who are selling the album without her consent. The songs are more than fine, the only thing thats scum here is whoever released this.

When I saw Christina Aguilera's new CD advertised, I knew I wanted to get it right away. Following her great debut effort, how could I lose? Even a little slide down couldn't be too bad...right? I suspected something right away when I picked it up. She looks a little young on the cover, the artwork's a little limited, and where did it show the major record label on the back? Anyway, I went ahead and got it. I wasn't too happy when I opened it up and saw Christina's linear notes, emphasizing how she tried to stop its release. Maybe I shouldn't have looked at those until I listened to it.... The CD starts out great, with a very danceable "Just Be Free", followed with "By Your Side". From there, however, it's spotty. "Dream a Dream" has a soothing, easy feeling and there's fairly good dance mixes throughout. Where the CD falls behind, however, is with weaker songwriting (such as the limited lyrics in "Our Day Will Come") and the witnessing to the vocal development of Christina herself (as she acknowledges in her notes). View it as she requests- part of her development to get into the music business. It works from that standpoint and (again) the dance mix feel has its moments. I do wish, however, that they had titled this as "Christina Aguilera- Just Be Free- The Early Years".

This album is from the time before Christina Aguilera hit it big with 'Reflection' and 'Genie in a Bottle.' The reason this album wasn't released until now though, is that Christina herself did not feel it was up to par with her latest works. I completely and fully agree. Also, the songs 'Just Be Free,' 'Move It,' and 'Believe Me' are all on the album in two different forms, so although there are twelve songs listed, there are only nine original songs with the others as dance mixes (or in the case of 'Just Be Free,' a Spanish version). Although these songs are changed enough to not take away from the album, the quality of all of the tracks is low by any standards. As I listened to Christina's first CD, I could really appreciate the varrying pitches and originality of each track. With this one, none of the tracks really stand out, and most of them are just plain bad. If you want to hear the voice that made Christina a star, buy "Christina Aguilera." This CD will spoil the perception you have of her abilities and will disappoint fans who have heard her other work.

Before she signed a record deal with RCA, Christina recorded this demo with a few producers when she was 14 years old and when she became famous, these people built music around it and released it to the public. Christina tried to stop them but they still released it. Most of these songs are dance and don't really show Christina's talent but it's still impressive to hear what this girl could do at 14 years old. I love this album/demo because it shows that Christina is not a fake singer, she could hit all those high notes when she was just a child, I'm glad those producers released this demo. This is the proof that Christina Aguilera is really one of a kind!

This is a horrible album, if you can CALL it an album. Don't get me wrong; Christina's voice isn't horrible in it. It definitley isn't as good as on her two following albums, but it's not bad. It's just untrained. What makes this 'album' horrible and repulsive is the style of the music: CHEEZY! It's horribly repetitive in its tackiness...each song is pure torture.

But the crown jewel of this sad excuse for an album is the Spanish version of "Just Be Free." We all know that Christina has Latin roots. Hey, her last name is AGUILERA for pity sakes! But this song proves that she hadn't had ANY coaching on pronunciation or rythym for Spanish words...it's laughable at best.

Please don't buy this.

Christina's Letter to Her Fans Dear Friends:
'Just Be Free' was recorded when I was only 14 and 15 years old. At that young age, I made the recordings as a possible stepping stone to a career in music, which is my ultimate passion.
They were made just so that I could get my foot in the door of the music business. I did not intend that the recordings would be widely released, especially after I signed with a major record label.
I have not updated or finished the versions recorded in my childhood and they are being released 'as is,' although I tried to prevent the release for several years.
The recordings do not in any way reflect my current musical taste and where I am as an artist. The growth and vocal development I experienced as I matured into young adulthood is not reflected in the recordings.
The album of new recordings that I intend to release this fall will be the album that truly reflects my artistry, my vision and my passion. The 'Just Be Free' recordings will hopefully be a footnote in a musical career that I dream will last for many years to come.
- Christina Aguilera