Bionic

Over the past year we have seen the pop music scene rejuvenated by the likes of Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas releasing a plethora of singles from their recent albums and therefore shipping millions worldwide for the sake of commerciality and popularity of the rise of electronic music. Prior to this we had the wonderful Britney Spears return with Blackout in 2007 after her muchly publicised meltdown with what was to become an underrated electronic pop gem with retro grooves and sexual/sensually insecure lyrics and uptempo sounds, it only shipped 3 million and has since become something of a cult status amongst fans, we've also seen many female pop artists rise from this side of the pond, with the sensational Florence & The Machine's Lungs album, La Roux's and Little Boots' very 80's inspired synth records and VV Brown's ode to the 60's period, finally we had the return of Barbadian superstar Rihanna with her daring and artistic Rated R album to round off a year of vibrant pop tunes. But what is the most anticipated return of 2010 must be that of the magnificent Christina Aguilera, it's taken 4 years since her Back To Basics double disc album hit the stores and my oh my has the wait been worth it...and then some! with a production list that includes long time collaborator Linda Perry,Focus,Tricky Stewart as well as Sia,MIA,Santigold,Polow De Don,Le Tigre,John Hill,Switch,Samuel Dixon and Ladytron! could this be the coolest pop album made in years? in a word...YES! this new era just screams in artistic production and three dimensional creativity, it's structured as something rather blockbuster in style and has to be her strongest body of work to date, let alone her most personal since Stripped in 2002. after all she has got married, had a baby boy and starred in a film(the upcoming Burlesque)since her last record, Bionic is nothing short of an intimate and explorative affair, and trust me when i say it's a rather rewarding experience to hear. Taking an influence by Queen Of Pop Madonna here by combining the ambitious takes on music and writing lyrics that engage the listener to participate is the most obvious here, also with Bionic's photography it has a very Blonde Ambition/Erotica period feel about it but Christina provides a very 60's Science Fiction and Pop Art feel about it which is rather beautiful and glorious to look at which reflects Christina's vulnerability and also her strength as a person with some rather defiant and strong poses and rather intimate postures. The sound of the album has a broad range of pop,electronica,trip hop, R&B,Dancehall and some acoustic ballads for good measure, they're quite possibly the greatest pop songs to be contained within an album and each surprisingly flow wonderously into the next almost naturally, Aguilera's vocals here are much more darker in their tone and much crisper to hear which is nice and not to worry, her belts are still here in fantastic top form proving more so that she is the Voice Of A Generation and the strongest vocalist of the past decade,she is an absolute gem. now for the albums tracklist- Bionic-a very thumpy introduction with some cutting synths and very edgy vocals, almost robotic in some areas which is interesting to hear. It is a strong song and very anthemic of sorts and certainly will get your hands up in the air and feet onto the dancefloor, and once and for all states that XTINA is back! it pulls you in and never lets go of it's grasp. it's a pop take over and a wonderous listen. 10/10 Not Myself Tonight-her lead single for the album which charted to a very mixed response but nevermind it, although this song may be the weaker link on the album it is very clubby and by itself is a bit of a charm and fits quite nicely on the record, and the video which accompanied the song is very Madonna inspired with Express Yourself,Like A Prayer,Erotica and Human Nature each getting a tribute in the video, sure it's not her best but it certainly brings out the song. 8/10 Woohoo(feturing Nicki Minaj)-by far my Summer anthem! this song is genius to many degrees, it's got some very sharp and clever innuendo but it's not explicit nor is it over the top to sell sex for success. it's catchy and very pulsating Dancehall inspired song and the best collaboration since Madonna and Justin's 4 Minutes. it's a very punchy record and will get you up and dancing. an R&B masterpiece and should be a future single.10/10 Elastic Love-produced by MIA, this song is a very basic lyric song but nevertheless very hard hitting an has very sharply crisp electronic production and in some ways rather sensual, it does have a very experimental vibe and is quite indie in some cases. it's a strong uptempo song with some more rap styles explored which is interesting for Aguilera and some very Madonna Mezzo-Soprano style vocals here too as well as a very distinctive MIA style. You'll be singing along in no time! 10/10 Desnudate-this is what i call a BIG melody and a very sensually produced electronic Spanish-style paying tribute to her heritage and her previous Mi Reflejo album from 2001, it's very seductive and thumpy and a wonderful production by Tricky Stewart with some big horns and tribal beats and some Spanish guitar strings in there too.It's very busy but nevertheless makes you want to get your groove on the dancefloor.10/10 Love & Glamour(Intro)Glam-a big Vogue inspired melody, and was for a while debated as to whether release this or Bionic as the lead single (why neither were chosen beats me!)this is very empowering and would have been a massive success worldwide and deserves to be released as a single from the album, it's very nicely paced and very breathy vocals. it's a grand recording and very retro to hear i can imagine this song doing wonders, it's fantastic and even contains a Daft Punk sample!10/10 Prima Donna(feat.Lil' Jon)-this is Aguilera's answer to MJ's Bad, it has a definite gravity to her vocals and a very thumpy bassline, it is almost a sequel to Dirrty and just as raw and urban, again a very empowering and punchy"pow,pow,pow!" as a whole the three Tricky Stewart productions here could be his greatest work yet actually in comparison to his work with Rihanna and Beyonce, what he has done with Christina is top class and by far very,very different and for that it gets top marks.10/10 Morning Dessert(intro)Sex For Breakfast-we are now given a change of pace with this wonderful Focus production, driven by a deep R&B groove and some piano melodies in the background, it's very sensual without being explicit and hs a very appealing gravity behind it. Aguilera's answer to Justify My Love?...most possibly. it's quite daring but the sex appeal is definitely reflected here in a true Donna Summer I Feel Love direction. it's a 5 minute bliss.10/10 Lift Me Up-Linda Perry's contribution to the record just may be her strongest recording with Aguilera alongside Beautiful and Hurt (and Candyman as a personal favourite!) and would make a wonderful release from the album. it has a very heavy 80's guitar glam rock vibe and it's beyond mesmerising on so many different levels and will have you with a lighter in you hand in the air swaying for sure (or just you hand will do!) it's very deep and nothing short of brilliant.10/10 My Heart(intro)All I Need-we are given the first of Sia's collaborations with Aguilera here, and it is a very different affair to previous ballads by Aguilera, it shows the more vulnerable side to Aguilera and it's absolutely wonderful to listen to.10/10 I Am-this is a fabulous recording for the album, it really moves you along and brings you directly into the melody of the song, it's really deep and must be released from the album that is all i am saying. it's vulnerable,sweet and also very personal to hear, almost like a film's soundtrack to a blockbuster! it's sheer epic beauty on so many levels. i can imagine a fabulous video to accompany it.10/10 You Lost Me- again,an absolutely incredible song and yet another ballad completely raw and different to anything else out there. it's punchier and was performed absolutely amazingly by Aguilera on the American Idol final which added to the song's power. another song you will have the words after a few listens. absolutely mesmerising! 10/10 I Hate Boys-we are them catapulted into a different direction entirely and while this may be the weaker Polow De Don production and weakest song of the album it still has a power and short but sweet feel about it so despite this it is an enjoyable stomper of a tune.7/10 My Girls(feat. Peaches)-this Le Tigre production is a very,very 80's style about it and also very synthy too and despite taking a couple of listens to get the vibe of the song it is rather fun,hip and wonderful.9/10 Vanity-continuing with the punky 80's vibe of the last two songs Vanity provides something very explicit and also very funny. you cannot help but feel the electricity pumping throughout the tune and actually sounds rather retro too. it's nonsensical fun and rather brilliant.10/10 BONUS- Monday Morning-the pace changes gear again for Monday morning which is very glam and very gorgeous in production and detail. this would actually make a wonderful release from the album as it's so vibrant and different and es very experimental.10/10 Bobblehead-just plain insane and hilarious from start to finish, you need to listen to it to understand just the levels of hilarity it has. 10/10 Birds Of Prey-the only Ladytron produced song for the record it's a wonderful and haunting synth song and very trance inspired and has a Bloodshy & Avant(Blackout/In The Zone's Toxic) and Stuart Price (Confessions On A Dance Floor) it's rather brilliant and should sounds amazing live. it catapults you to new dimensions and is a real sensual song on the ears.10/10 Stronger Than Ever-Sia's fourth collaboration with Christina and yes it is as beautiful and powerful as their previous songs on the album. it's just sheer bliss yet again and very hard hitting and emotional. i love it.10/10 as you can see there is a varied production for the Bionic record but is by far her strongest body of material yet and is her masterpiece,Beyonce wouldn't dare go to the lengths of this to make a quality record,Mariah Carey wouldn't be as experimental,and Gaga wouldn't puh the boundaries nor have the ambition to create something quite as blockbuster as BIONIC. The princess of pop is back and at the top of her game and this is by far THE album of 2010! and album not only that must be heard,but everyone MUST own pop gold. A*

The best cd created in our century ! Fantastic inspiration ! A great artist at her best, at her peak !

First of all alot say she is trying to be like "Lady Gaga" I wouldn't say so, I think that she has chosen this Style to be Erotica, Her Image Reminds me of Madonna mostly. I will admit that the Album takes quite abit of listening to, to grow on you, well it did me, i'm a huge fan of Xtina but this Album I needed to give a listen a few times. I think the sound is very strange for Xtina everybody has been use to the great Pop sounds from her, but this one is more different. If you are going to get the Album I reccomend the "Deluxe Edition" for the Extra 5 songs, plus the Cd cover is great, comes with a "Hologram picture" Showing Xtina with no Robot face, then if you turn to side abit the Robot side appears. If you are a Xtina fan you will deffinatly Buy this. I can say I actually like the Album now.

The styled and polished vocal gymnastics that the general public would normally expect from Christina Aguilera are, in my opinion missing from this album. That is not to say that i wouldn't recommend you purchase Bionic, however if you're expecting something sleek like Back to Basics - you will have a big shock. I would be lying if i said i wasn't a little disappointed when having a full listen to the tracks the first time round. This is simply because, some of the tracks seem to be lacking any emotion and could have been produced and performed by any girl who can hold a tune. 'Elastic Love' is a good example being one of the weaker tracks. 'Glam' again is not a great song for Christina to showcase her abilities, however it is quite a fun song for all those girls out there who identify with the glamorous lifestyle! Stand out tracks are 'Bionic' which packs quite a punch. It's different, but it's catchy. The single 'Not Myself Tonight' which as we already know is a good pop song. Slightly more on the dancey side of things. 'Woohoo' took a couple of listens before i could appriciate the song as a whole, but this is a definate grower. We won't go into the subject of the song though! 'Vanity' is a really fun - if explicit - song. I found myself listening to this half in shock and half in hysterics. I'm still not sure exacly how i feel about this song, but i do know that it's just a bit of fun. Christina goes back to her spanish roots with Desnudate. A good little dancey track with traces of spanish language throughout. I can't help but feel that 'Bobblehead' is a direct swipe at Britney Spears, simply because it sounds like 'Toy Soliders' and refers to girls acting dumb to get what they want.. remind you of anyone?? Maybe that's just my perception! The ballards on this album are good. 'You Lost Me' is the big ballard of the album and is a really emotional story of heartbreak and lose. 'Stronger Than Ever' is a little more gritty, but is just as punchy. 'Lift Me Up' was the first song to be heard from Bionic, as it was one of the songs for Haiti's chairty event. I think this is one of the ballards which least suits Christina's previous style. 'All I Need' is a song dedicated to Christina's son. Any fans of Zero 7 and Sia will recognise the musical arrangements of this song. Very Sia-esque! But very beautiful. As the title of this review states, i truly believe this album will not knock you out on the first listen, or even the second or third - but give it a chance and realise that Christina is a very talented creature. It would be too easy to stick to a tried and tested formula and by know we should know that with a new album comes a brand new Christina. This album has only been available for one day and already i like it much more that this morning. As i said - it's a grower

I had already the deluxe edition but to celebrate the 10 years of this masterpiece I decided to buy the standard ! It’s my favorite album by Christina Aguilera , she had a concept and a vision of what she was going for and it’s a piece of art that has every mood : it’s powerful , sexy , explosive, vulnerable and honest .

I've been a fan of Miss Aguilera since her beginnings and I feel I've grown up with her. I loved her debut and thought Stripped was incredible. Back To Basics was too long but had some fantastic tunes hidden in its super long play length. So then came Bionic and at first I was horrified. Where had this incredible artist gone? In the place of the mind-blowing ballads and clever catchy songs was a vacant, shallow mess. Not myself tonight led me into a false sense of security. I found the rest of the album sounded nothing like it. However I persisted, thinking something must eventually grab me. Took me 5 listens to get into it. In a similar set up to Back To Basics, this album is too long (20 tracks and 3 interludes!!!) and suffers a severe identity crisis. There are too many styles competing for attention. All the ballads are crammed in the middle instead of being spread out. There are some songs I love, the two singles, Not Myself Tonight and You Lost Me. The latter being a stunning ballad. The second disc adds some fantastic songs which should have replaced some of the junk on the first disc - Monday Morning, Birds of Prey and Stronger Than Ever. I Am and I Am (stripped) is an example of Aguilera at her best. There are some songs I cannot stand - Bobblehead on disc 2 being so dreadful I couldn't listen to more than 30 seconds of it along with Vanity, and Sex for Breakfast. I hated woohoo at first, the lyrics are awful, but I can listen to it. Bionic, Elastic Love, Desnudate, Prima Donna, All I Need and Lift Me Up are passable songs. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. The main put off for this album is the ridiculous song titles - I Hate Boys for example. Christina, you are a fully grown woman and mother, not a 14 year old girl. I Hate Boys has a quite a good hook when you get into it but it's another one to ignore the lyrics. If I were to cut it into a more chewable piece my play-list would look like this: Bionic Not Myself Tonight Monday Morning You Lost Me Woohoo Desnudate Lift Me Up Prima Donna Birds Of Prey Stronger Than Ever I Am 11 tracks, 45 minutes running time, and much easier on the ears and concentration span. This album is hit and miss. I agree with other reviewers, the only way to decide if its your thing is to listen yourself. You will probably find a few songs to your liking but it doesn't take away from the fact this is Aguilera's weakest album to date.

Xtina didn't have a good time while releasing this album and I still don't get why it flopped on the market. It's a wonderful experiment when she works with a more electric pop, never letting go of her voice-blended ballads. "Lift Me Up" and "I Am" just make me chill every single time I hear it.

Great album .

Llego muy rápido y bien empaquetado en su blíster y la caja sin raspones ni quebrada

Das Album ist wirklich super. Es zwar komplett neuer Sound, Aber trotzdem toll. Man trägt ja auch nicht immer die gleichen Klamotten. Das einzige was mich persönlich stört , dass Das Album nicht so gut aufgenommen wurde und die sagenhafte Stimme von Christina Aguilera nicht so gut hervor kommt. Trotzdem kein Stern weniger.

Christine never ceases to amaze would suit younger gen 22 great song s well choreographed

Je n'ai jamais pris le temps d'écouter cet album de la miss, que j'adore, et je me demande pourquoi car il est génial, il y a de tout, la voix est toujours aussi juste et superbe...et je me demande aussi pourquoi cet opus a fait un flop.

Ho trovato questo album molto bello!!! Per ora è il più bello che abbia ascoltato, manca Lotus....