Search - Christina Aguilera :: BIONIC (Explicit)

Christina Aguilera 'Bionic' (Standard Edition) [REVIEW]

Antoine D. Reid | Durham, NC United States | 06/08/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"'Bionic', Christina Aguilera's follow-up to 2006's 'Back to Basics' is aptly titled; like any machine, there's a lot going on, a lot of pieces and work that goes into making things function normally, and there's always something in need of fine-tuning. 'Bionic' presents a different Christina Aguilera than we're accustomed to: one that is on the defensive, desperate to reaffirm her place amongst other music and pop stars. Unfortunately, `Bionic' is just the little album that couldn't. It's not firing on all cylinders, if it is indeed "bionic" then it is due for some heavy maintenance and servicing because this is (in my opinion) Christina Aguilera's worst album to date.



The Good: Sound wise, 'Bionic''s strength lies with Aguilera willing to delve into so many different new sounds. If you were bored or overwhelmed by Back to Basics, or miss the edgy material of Stripped, 'Bionic' attempts to find a middle ground to please old and new fans alike. The opening track, "Bionic", serves as a fair warning that what you're about to hear isn't typical Aguilera stuff. She raps, she lets her voice be processed, tweaked, twirked and made mechanical sounding and sets the tone that this is an album meant to make you move. Like the cover and art work suggests, the album could be said to be split into two distinct sections: there's the first half which is very electronic, dance and mechanical sounding with Aguilera's usual vocal stylings toned down if not completely eliminated in favor of raps, hyper beats and club-orientated sounds. The second half is far more organic and human sounding, favoring songs about motherhood and emotion. There are some very upbeat, pop, catchy songs such as "Not Myself Tonight", "Woohoo", "Prima Donna" and more tame, ballad-type tracks like "You Lost Me" and "Lift Me Up" that feel as if they were included to reassure fans that the old Christina Aguilera is still present underneath the layers of machines and processed vocals on other tracks. The attention given to the album art, from the cover to the inner notes and photos, is great. Christina channels a new persona, 'Madame X', with some very risque, provocative imagery. The artist responsible for the art this era, D*Face, found fun ways to play with the 'bionic' theme by manipulating some of the images to make Aguilera appear somewhat robotic.



The Bad: While it's easy to see and accept that 'Bionic' was meant to be different and less serious than 'Back to Basics', it feels like a complete step-down from all the work Aguilera has done over the years to set herself apart as being a unique artist. Up until this release, she's never felt too concerned and worried about standing out or not being taken seriously. This album feels like a desperate attempt to convince the listeners that she's still relevant and worthy of her fame after such a long departure from the scene. Her attempt to re-invent herself into the edgy, fun, provocative singer who's more provocative and attractive than mother-like seems entirely unnecessary. What made Christina Aguilera stand out in her previous work is in fact that she didn't rely on autotune or computers to manipulate her voice to make her music interesting. Yet, 'Bionic' relies heavily on beats, voice and pitch tuning and mimicking the producers of her tracks (Sia, M.I.A., Ladytron, Peaches) and in the end, the artist is really lost within layers of sounds and beats. The first half of the album feels poorly pieced together. While "Elastic Love", "Glam", "Desnudate" are average music tracks that anyone, and I mean anyone, could have pulled off. Lyrically, Aguilera spends much of her time describing how great she is, why she is famous, why she's glamorous, why she's better than anyone on the scene and in the appropriately final track "Vanity" she even goes so far to review all of these questions and asks the listener "Who owns the thrown?" to which her child answers "You do, Mommy." I found myself unintentionally amused by her vanity and preoccupation with herself (her vanity, her fantasies, pleasures are all addressed on 'Bionic'). Missing from this album is the Christina Aguilera we've come to know and like: where is the real singing? Where is the confidence and desire to make music that no one else is making? 'Bionic' is an average album that any singer could have put out with the same sound and success; a true Christina Aguilera production it is not.



In most of the press and interviews for this album, Aguilera and her label has described 'Bionic' as having a futuristic sound. They failed to mention that the tracks that really experimented with sound and felt a bit on the side of futuristic were saved for the deluxe edition's bonus tracks. If you want variety, definitely purchase BIONIC - DELUXE (Explicit).



In all, 'Bionic' is a disappointment in that it feels like Christina Aguilera and her label tried to dumb down her music and sound to make her fit with other pop star acts, which ultimately failed. 'Bionic' has a very clunky feel - unlike past albums where the music seamlessly fit together to tell an overall story, this album felt loose and all over the place as if Aguilera is unsure where she wants to go or where she fits in after taking so much time off in between releases. Too many of the tracks felt wasted by either being totally unnecessary (all of the intros) or sounding like Christina Aguilera putting aside her vocal skills and talents in favor of imitating other artists and their styles and sounds. The music and release sounds rushed and I have a hard time believing it took two years to piece this together but it sounds as if it were slapped together in two months or worse, two weeks. A lot of these tracks, after a listen or two, are skip-worthy, unfortunately. Hopefully, 'Bionic' gives Christina Aguilera her opportunity to vocally rest and try out club/dance music and she won't keep her fans waiting another four or five years for music and material that better fits her voice and talents.



Listen to These: "Lift Me Up", "I Hate Boys", "Bionic", "Woohoo", "Vanity", "Prima Donna""

Why, Christina?

XTina Fan | Blacksburg, VA | 06/09/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I purchased the album today because I have been a huge fan since day one and I have always thought of her to be my favorite artist. However, I am really disappointed with this it. I listened to it in full about a week ago online, and was not impressed, but I could not help but buy the CD because I am a fan. With another listen today of the actual album, nothing has changed. I am hoping that the songs grow on me, but unfortunately I don't think its likely.



Like others have said, she has a natural talent that is just completely covered with crap synthesizers. I don't want to listen to a machine, I want to listen to her!!! Also, I found myself laughing at times at some of the lyrics because they are just so ridiculous, stupid, and immature on some of the songs. (ex Vanity, Woo Hoo and I Hate Boys) The song "woo hoo" could be ok, but I really can't stand the lyrics like "licky licky yum yum". And on the Deluxe edition "Bobblehead" "wah wah wah wah wah"...I'm sorry is this a Kesha CD? (PS there's an example of no talent) I feel like she is SO much better than this album. Her lyrics are stupid and the songs are overproduced. Other than that, there is not much left. Her voice is great, I think she has established that by now, but you can't hear it except for on the ballads. Hopefully she pulls a Kelly Clarkson after whatever that December CD was and quickly comes out with something better, because this is very sub par :(



I want to still be a fan, but she is slowly losing me..."

A jumbled mess of an album with some good moments

W. E. Phillips | USA | 06/16/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"In all honesty, I have never been a huge fan of Christina Aguilera. I felt that she always took herself a little bit too seriously, especially when it came to her live performances and her 2006 album, Back To Basics. So when interviews began to surface revealing that her next album would be a fun, futuristic and experimental pop romp, I was intrigued. Now that I have actually listened to it, I am almost at a loss for words. This album is simply all over the place.



Some tracks truly do live up to her promise of a "bionic" album; however, the majority of the tracklisting is overwhelmingly occupied by very safe-- and even dated--song selections that immediately counteract any sort of advancement Aguilera achieved with the braver tracks. The aesthetic created collectively by the stellar and eclectic title track, the bouncy, M.I.A.-penned "Elastic Love," "My Girls," and--I suppose, if I'm being generous--the quirky, Sia-assisted ballad, "I Am," is rudely interrupted by the curiously trite lead single, the R&B slow jam sleaze-fest pairing of "Morning Dessert (Intro)" and "Sex For Breakfast," unnecessary, valueless interludes that should've been left on the cutting room floor, the obligatory Linda Perry ballad, "Lift Me Up," and so on.



Also, Aguilera claimed Bionic would be far more playful than her previous effort, but unfortunately there are many moments here where she either takes herself too seriously--or not anywhere near seriously enough--as an artist. While I cannot deny the fact that "Woohoo" is a guilty pleasure of mine, it is impossible to ignore the overtly trashy lyrics and the complete absence of any cleverness to mute the utter obscenity of it all. The same applies to the awkwardly short "I Hate Boys," which proclaims that the only thing men are good for are their "fruit, I mean, bananas," and the final egotistical track "Vanity," in which she claims herself as her "lawfully wedded b--ch" and closes with her young son deeming his mother "the queen of the throne," presumably claiming to be the neo-Madonna, even though her attempt to recreate the spirit of Madge's 1990 track, "Vogue" via "Glam" was an absolute failure. These songs may become fodder for upcoming comedy routines and the new anthems for drag queens everywhere, respectively, but it seems their potential does not go anywhere beyond novelty. (Not to mention that her newfound potty-mouth, which thoroughly litters the album and rightfully earned it a parental advisory label, is laughable and comes out at all the wrong times.)



It seems even Ms. Aguilera may be in on the joke, so near the end she chugs through a chunk of misplaced ballads, as to say, "Look! I can sing and be introspective, too!" Well, they feel forced and, as expected, she over-sings throughout. (As mentioned before, the least offensive is "I Am.")



And as if this compilation of songs wasn't enough of a mixed bag, some of my favorite moments are buried in some of the least impressive songs. Christina's ad-libs near the end of "Woohoo" are powerful and mimic the production beautifully enough to make me forget about the unacceptable lyrics. "Desnudate" has some top-notch instrumentation in the last minute, if one can get past the embarrassing repetition of the "get naked" refrain and the unnecessary use of Spanish. And "Prima Donna," with its boastful lyrics and grimy production, is standard pop & B fare, until the diva finally lays down some incredibly powerful vocals on the bridge. At the end of the day, Bionic is not a downright failure, but as a whole, it doesn't come close to an excellent--or even cohesive--effort."