Album Reviews

Christina Aguilera

`Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits'

(SonyBMG)

Hard to believe but it is only 10 years ago when a young Christina Aguilera made her debut with ``Genie in a Bottle.'' Now, the pop princess has grown up, gotten married and had a baby. This new compilation album keeps track of Aguilera's memorable hits like ``Beautiful,'' ``I Turn to You'' and ``Fighter.''

Also included are new songs ``Keeps Getting' Better,'' which she performed at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, and ``Genie 2.0,'' an almost unrecognizable electronica version of ``Genie in a Bottle.'' Overall, it's a good compilation of Aguilera's hits, but fans who already have all of her albums can afford to give this a pass.

-Cathy Rose A. Garcia

Boyzone

`Back Again … No Matter What'

(Universal)

Irish pop group Boyzone have released a greatest hits compilation album, nearly eight years after they broke up. Boyzone members pursued solo projects, but perhaps only lead singer Ronan Keating had a measure of success.

The album is a walk down memory lane for fans of Boyzone. Their remakes of songs like ``Words,'' ``Baby Can I Hold You,'' and ``Father and Son'' are passable, although the original versions are always better. Some of their original songs sound a bit dated. To entice fans to buy the album, Boyzone included new songs like ``Better,'' ``Can't Stop Thinking About You,'' and ``Love You Anyway.''

Ludacris

‘Theater of the Mind’

(DISTURBING THA PEACE)

With recent roles in movies including “Max Payne,” “RocknRolla”and, of course, best picture Oscar winner “Crash,” Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris, has an enviable film career by any standard but especially among typecast- prone rappers.

“Theater of the Mind,” his sixth album, proves that the rapper-actor-restaurateur has mastered Hollywood’s most abiding lesson: Stick to formula. Each song plays like a scene in a movie, a motif that makes for richly visual storytelling but many a familiar situation.

While Bridges the actor hasn’t suffered from undue typecasting, the album’s marquee cast sometimes pays that price.

-(LATIMES)