Album Review – Christina Aguilera “Bionic” Deluxe
Christina's "Bionic"
The 24 track long return to music from Christina Aguilera is a curious one, that starts out with a fantastic optimistic flair, that unfortunately trips and stumbles a few too many times on the way.
The album begins with the stellar track “Bionic” which really encapsulates the direction Christina seemed to be going for with this project, and one of the best parts of the song is that unlike in other songs where she simply sings over the music doing vocal back flips and somersaults, she really just melts into the production and the end result is a really great song.
Then we suddenly hear “Not Myself Tonight” which really does not feel very “Bionic”, more like “SexyBack” (or any other Timbaland song since then). “Not Myself Tonight” is a really nice dance song, lots of fun, she has some really nice vocals in it as well, except some of the lyrics are quite forgettable and unfortunately the whole premise of the song seems a little desperate when it’s in the context of a “futuristic” album.
However, this pattern of great, but ill fitting songs continues with “WooHoo” which I personally really like. The lyrics are somewhat... of a hit and miss, but the production of the song really shines. As with the many other collaborations on the album, her voice doesn’t sound as distinctive here. Nevertheless it’s a decent song, just badly timed.
“Elastic Love” is fantastic, the only criticism of this song is that she is practically imitating M.I.A’s vocal style completely. Otherwise this song is just pure genius, the production flows a little bit better than M.I.A’s music but it still holds that quirky confidence that she’s known for.
I would really like to stop here, but alas we still have 18 tracks to go, “Desunudate” is really where we begin to understand the reality of the album. It’s really not that interesting or original, you can’t help but hear the looped beats in the background. Then we are put through the “Love and Glamour” intro, what a joke, it’s the most embarrassing attempt at sounding intelligent I’ve heard lately, just a bunch of clichés mashed into an interlude. To be honest, interludes rarely work, so why bother doing one if you don’t have anything worth saying? “Glam” is possibly one of the worst attempts to sing about fashion in a song. It’s simply absurd to even thing this compares in any way to Madonna’s “Vogue”, and the fact that she chants “Now Snap!” and then “Don’t let the clothes wear you” is practically laughable. This is where I’m starting to lose my faith in the album, and we still have 13 tracks to go!
“Prima Donna” is fairly nice, it sounds like a continuation of “Bionic” the track almost, her vocals are a little shoutier on this one, but I guess the song really demands that. The musical interlude “Morning Dessert” is really nice, as is the beginning of “Sex for Breakfast”, unfortunately the song really doesn’t go anywhere from there, very bland, especially considering it’s the longest track on the album.
“Lift Me Up” is definitely one of the stand-out tracks on the album, but perhaps the production really doesn’t compliment the sheer emotion that Christina puts into the vocals on this track. The “My Heart” intro is completely unnecessary, and it is really just using her child for all the wrong reasons, I’m definitely not criticising her as a parent, but the only reason they put this in was so some listeners would go “Oh she’s a mother! I suddenly have more respect for her, sisterhood etc etc.”
“All I Need” has a beautiful melody, it’s another track worth noting, and this really shows how her vocal technique has vastly improved since her debut. The album follows on nicely with “I Am”, this is the kind of sound that she really thrives on! “You Lost Me” can be compared to work from artists like Fiona Apple and much like the previous song, really benefits from Sia Furler’s brilliant song writing.
God help us! Not again, now we’ve unwittingly stumbled into a pitfall, “I Hate Boys” really destroys the brilliant song writing and production that we witnessed before with a cheap immature re-hash of “Keeps Getting Better”. But wait, it gets worse, Christina follows this off with “Vanity” an absolute shocker of a song, even if you put aside the off-putting lyrics. This is the kind of stuff people expected of her after her debut album.
Then we get into the Deluxe Tracks, and thank god for that, if you purchased the standard edition and were left with “Vanity” ringing in your frightened cochleas, you would not be very satisfied. “Monday Morning, the Santigold track is a massive stand out on the album, in the same vein as “Elastic Love”, it shows that she is still capable of making interesting music. “Bobblehead” is disgusting, and nothing else, such a hypocritical song. “Birds Of Prey”, much like the title track, is a smooth song where her voice relaxes into the music around it, fantastic.
The Deluxe edition ends with “Stronger than Ever”, which is the right way to leave the listener, inspired by the beautiful lyrics and soothing vocals. Overall this album does not come out as a winner. If it were a 12 track album, it would be a simply breathtaking piece of work, but with its bloated track list we are left feeling unsatisfied and pushed around.
I hope you enjoyed this review, leave your comments below!
Performance – MTV Movie Awards Christina Aguilera “Bionic Medley”
So, Christina performed at this years MTV movie awards, and did a medley of three songs from her upcoming album. I was expecting another horrible mess like her performance on Oprah, and judging by the fact that almost everything in her album campaign has failed miserably so far, I wasn't far off the public sentiment. To add to this, I personally listened to "Bionic" Christina new album, and whilst I really enjoyed a few songs, however it did not need to be so long, and certainly good have done without her talking it up so much.
BUT, I watched this performance and must say I really enjoyed it, she had a good stage presence, seemed really fired up and energised by what she was doing. I also though she looked great for once, no clown makeup, no massive frizzy hair, she was definetly making all the right moves. So basically, things are starting to look up for Christina's latest album campaign, it has since been #1 in the UK midweeks, which is a great sign considering she hasn't really promoted there as of yet. I think what is most important, is that she stops taking long breaks in between albums, as expectations can become too high. Anyway, checkout the performance and let me know what you thought in the comments section!
New Single – Christina Aguilera “Woohoo” Ft. Nicki Minaj (D/L)
So, the second single from Aguilera's "Futuristic" LP (And when I say Long Play I fucking mean it, the album is 24 tracks long) called "Bionic". The story behind "Not Myself Tonight" and "Woohoo" is basically that they were written after the albums completion in the last two months, ie. because her label wasn't happy with the material she had produced.
"Woohoo" is a fun song, it's not very tightly structured, similarly to "Not Myself Tonight" which could indicate to it's possible floppage. Many people believe a woman singing about Vagina's is disgusting, and many people believe that perspective is sexist, 'because men sing about sex explicitly all the time. Both points are true! But what it comes down to is, that sometimes, regardless of gender, people aren't always going to 'lap up' (haha get it...) an expression of sexuality in a song.
However, this is a nice song, lot's of interesting layering and beats, great attitude, and it does sound great. If Aguilera was marketing her album as an album that explores sexuality from a feminist perspective, well , this song would be really appropriate. But no, unfortunetly she delayed her album countless times and bragged about how she has spent time with "deep" artists and songwriters, and that she has come up with a defining album of incredible iconic material. So basically she has been digging her own grave here, never set the standards impossibly high or everyone will just drag you back down and your face will flop hard on the ground just like the single you're trying to spruik.
So, to anyone that wants to enjoy the song for what it is, just ignore all the context behind the albums creation, and the direction she claimed she was taking, just judge it on it's own, as a quirky fun song about sexuality. You may enjoy it then! Download the song below and check it out for yourself!
(Natasha Bedingfield "Touch")
New Video – Christina Aguilera “Not Myself Tonight”
Oh, where to start! This video is... well it's certainly something. I have to say I really enjoyed it, but I almost choked at all the similarities that Christina obviously couldn't help but show to every other iconic pop artist of the last decade. Yet this is forgiven, because she looks good, perhaps a tad on the desperate side, but yes she looks great and the video is just teeming with energy (No, I won't use the word "Fierce").
I hate drawing comparisons between artists, but I have to say, the whole "Gwen Stefani" look, was horrid, it was too obviously Gwen's style and she looked like a cheap parody of the wonderful "Just A Girl" singer. However, in other scenes, where Christina embraces what people know her for, she looks fantastic and definetly sexy. For example when she sets her closet on fire and has the trademark huge white lady afro. It may not be conventionally sexy, but it will bring people back to "Lady Marmalade" and that is most definetly a good thing.
Despite all this, the song will flop, mainly because it's recieving fairly overwhelming negative response. You can market something as much as you want but if it realy is just a generic product that offers no advantages over the competitor, then it's just not going to be flying off the shelves. But really? Why should anybody really base their enjoyment of a song on its chart position? This is a trashy fun pop song, and the video is well produced, and definetly doesn't look cheap, it just doesn't feel cohesive. One thing I will mention is that the way they used the imagery from the album art in the video will do wonders for the album campaign.
PS. Please let me know if the video doesn't work! Sony are taking their usual neaderthal approach to promoting (ie. restricting) music.
New Single – Christina Aguilera
Yes, this is certainly nothing new, and almost everybody seems to have an opinion on the song, yes it's pandered towards the commercial music market in vain, and the lyrics don't offer much to be desired, but why, for one second, can we not just appreciate the song for what it is? A stupidly fun, completely unintelligent tune of the dancey variety.
I'm going to completely put aside the horrific oversinging, forgettable dated production, and immarture lyrics, and reccomend this song to people (gasp?!). Yes, I do reccomend this song, not that anybody... 'reaally' takes any interest in this, but seriously, get in your car, put this song on, and I challenge you to avoid not enjoying it as a fun pop song!
Yes, the song is flopping, and this is no surprise, but it doesn't mean the song is particularly terrible, it's just moreso the fact that if you haven't released a song for two years, and you hype up your lead single as a comeback to the music scene, you really wouldn't be very smart to literally vomit up a vapid, generic, and unecessarily sexual bargain bin song, in order to reignite the embers of your career.
Either way, just download the song, and enjoy it, pretend it was released four years ago if you need to, and that it was a bonus track on a collection of b-sides. I guaruntee you'll be singing (or humming) along to the lyrics which you will inevitably forget after the mandatory 4 minutes is up.
Updated – New Britney Spears Single “3″ (29th September)
After an initial pushback from the originally rumoured release date of 21st of September, as reported on Jaw Music over two weeks ago, there will be a worldwide simultaneous radio release of Britney Spears' new single titled "3".
This single will be lifted from her upcoming release, titled 'The Singles Collection" which will be released in two formats. The standard format will be a 18 track collection, including her biggest singles, and the new song titled "3", but there will also be a deluxe edition, which instead of the conventional extra track or two, it will be a completely different kind of release.
The deluxe edition will be a box set, created especially for her devoted fans, with copies of all 29 of her singles, individually packaged with additional b-sides and remixes for each disc, including a dvd of all her music videos from Gimme More to Lucky.
However, back to the single, it will premiere on Tuesday in the United States, and worldwide within the hour. This release has been handled very well, no leaking of any details has taken place, which will ensure that this single will chart extremely highly and possibly get Britney her "3rd" number 1 hit in the United States. The track was recently recorded by Britney in Europe and produced by Max Martin. Britney is likely to be adding this song with a dance that corresponds to the upcoming music video by her show in Las Vegas on the 26th of September.
Stay tuned!