@True Blue

Yes, but these are different times. When she took her break before there weren't many artists in between the previous album and the next one. Now you have new artists that can overshadow her, those with and without talent. (No need to name them because we all know who they are). You can't take a break from 2006 to 2010 because of the plethora of other artists/fads that have taken over. Her fanbase has dwindled tremendously because of it.

And artists like Sade CAN take long breaks like that. Even artists like Maxwell, included (7 year break). These artists have a CONSISTENT music style. There is no difference in what they put out when they last were on the scene to what they have released recently. Unlike Christina, who has constantly changed her musical style to fit what's in currently (electro/euro-pop), and unfortunately it backfired, BADLY!

So I'm not saying that the break was solely the reason of her flop, but you can't say it had NOTHING to do with it because it did!