The Back to Basics Singles

theOpinionatedOne With a track list of 22 songs, this album needed more than 3 international singles. And of the two that were released regionally, "Oh Mother" should have been released as a single worldwide. Here's how I think the album's singles should have gone:

1st Single: "Ain't No Other Man"
-This is an obvious choice. They definitely made the right decision by making this the lead single. It best represents the first disc of the record and it's extremely catchy. One decision that was done right.

2nd Single: "Understand"
Though I don't place this among my top ten from the record, this is the most logical choice for second single. Christina and RCA had the right idea releasing a ballad as the follow up to ANOM but "Hurt" does not scream high chart position or radio airplay. "Understand" has a much more radio-ready appeal to listeners (those who hadn't heard the album) in my opinion and would have probably charted higher.

3rd Single: "Candyman"
If the singles were done this way, "Candyman" and its music video should have been released about one month after "Understand" hit the radio. "Understand" would serve more or less a promotional tool to get more of the record out to listeners while "Candyman" would have served as the next full-body single in order to keep Back to Basics and its songs in the charts.

4th Single: "Hurt"
After three feel-good singles, now is when I would have released "Hurt." Supplemented by the masterpiece video and the remixes, this is when I feel like "Hurt" could have best served its parent album. And it would have been just as appreciated if not more.

5th Single: "Back in the Day"
After "Hurt" finished its chart run, I would have put this one out next. Not sure about a music video, but definitely would have commissioned remixes for this one. I heard this and I immediately thought this is a perfect song for the radio and the club.

6th Single: "Slow Down Baby"
Not sure what all I would have done differently with this. I like it but I think I'd leave it as a regional only single in Oceania.

7th Single: "Oh Mother"
My idea would have been for this to be the last Back to Basics single. The sixth worldwide single and seventh overall. What was done right was using the live performance as the song's official music video.

8th Single: "Save Me from Myself"
Using the music video made after her son was born, "Save Me from Myself" should have later been serviced to radio stations for airplay as the final single from Back to Basics.





This is just a little something I thought about and figured I'd put out there to see if anybody agreed or disagreed.

Comments