CD/Music Review: Christina Aguilera: Bionic

 

Bionic, released in 2010, is the sixth studio album from Christina Aguilera. The album features 18 tracks in total, some of which are brief "intro" tracks lasting under a minute. Like her prior albums, especially Stripped and Back to Basics, it mixes genres. The first half of the album includes upbeat club/dance songs that employ an electronica sound, and the second half has the ballads (which tend to be Aguilera's better songs). As has been the case since Aguilera started taking more control of her music and sound, this album features songs with more adult-oriented themes, particularly those related to sex and feminism.  For example, the song Woohoo is about oral sex, and Desnudate is Spanish for "get naked." The album also features songs about marriage and motherhood. The biggest hit from the album is the song "Not Myself Tonight," which peaked at number 23 on the US Top 100 chart.

The CD liner contains pictures of Aguilera (mostly scantily clad or nude), lyrics, production notes, and a thank-you note on the final page. While the album was not as big a hit as some of her prior albums and did not have as many hit singles, it is still good, especially the second half, which features more of the ballads. The easy comparison to make for the sound and feel of this album is to Madonna's Erotica and Janet Jackson's Janet albums. While I don't think this album is as good as those two, it shares some parallels with them. It is definitely not an album that is kid-friendly, like her first couple of albums, which were more bubblegum pop albums. While some of the songs are okay for younger kids to listen to, along with the sexual content of some songs, she does drop a couple of f-bombs that are not edited out. Ultimately, if you are a fan of Aguilera, this one is worth listening to, and many of the tracks are worthy of inclusion in a playlist.