Critical Reception
"Hurt" was generally very well received by contemporary pop music critics. Billboard commented that Aguilera's " relate the pain of moving past a relationship in ruins is daunting", and that "this potential Grammy Award contender" has "a melody and lush production that carries into the clouds. Blogcritics claims that the song's "slow opening to a soft piano all the way to the spine-tingling bridge" is "one weeper of a ballad", and that Aguilera's "power-belting" vocals were "better than ever". Jody Rosen of Entertainment Weekly said that the song's "self-help bromides Aguilera delivers with melodrama that would make Barbra Streisand shudder; fewer still could make it so compelling."
Top 40 reviewer Bill Lamb gave the song five stars, saying "a single piano with the backing of strings gives way to one of the most technically stunning voices in pop music singing words of pain, guilt, and grief in the loss of a loved one." He continues on, "'Hurt' is the type of big production that does not always fit easily into the typical pop radio playlist, but the song is already taking off in airplay. It is a song that is very likely to generate significant listener requests. Don't be surprised if 'Hurt' is near the type of the pop singles chart by Christmas 2006." Some reviews, however, were less positive. In the Rolling Stone magazine review for Back to Basics, the reviewer, Jenny Eliscu, called "Hurt" an "incongruous schmaltzfest".
Read more about this topic: Hurt (Christina Aguilera Song)
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