BIONIC (Explicit)

Christina Aguilera | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B003FMTZOM
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,153 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Triple vinyl LP pressing. 2010 release, the fourth studio album from the Pop/R&B diva. With 30 million albums sold worldwide and the prestigious honor of being the only artist under the age of 30 included in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time, five time Grammy Award winner Christina Aguilera has already achieved an unprecedented level of success. Bionic features songs co-written by Aguilera along with her much buzzed about collaborations including Sia, Tricky Stewart, Polow Da Don, Le Tigre, Hill & Switch, and Ladytron among others. The album also features a ballad produced and written by Linda Perry titled ;Lift Me Up'. The title Bionic reflects Aguilera's ability to take her range to new levels and use her voice in various ways never heard before. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Christina Aguilera 'Bionic' (Standard Edition) [REVIEW], June 8, 2010

By 

Antoine D. Reid "80sforever" (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BIONIC (Explicit) (Audio CD)

'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"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes a while to get used to..., September 25, 2010

By 

Doll-ar "Huge Bratz and MyScene Fan" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: BIONIC (Edited) (Audio CD)

When I originally heard this CD, I was going to rate it 3 stars, but I decided to hold off on reviewing it for a few weeks.

You see, this isn't one of those CD's that you like instantly (especially by Christina standards), but if you keep listening to it, you'll like it more.

Anyway...

Christina starts us off with the title track "Bionic" saying that she's going to take over our minds and we'll shout her name "X-X-X-T-T-T-I-I-I-N-N-N-A".

The next song is "Not Myself Tonight", where Christina pretty much admits this album isn't who she is normally. In this Edited version, the F word is censored.

Then comes "Woohoo", a duet with new artist Nicki Minaj, where Christina and Nicki are flirting with guys, asking if they want to see their *woohoo*'s.

In "Elastic Love", Christina sings about loving a person whose love for her is like a rubber band 'cause it comes and goes over and over again.

"Desnudate" - if you speak Spanish, the title pretty much says it all. Christina wants a boy to take his clothes for her.

"Love and Glamor" + "Glam" is where Christina talks about fashion being a lifestyle and getting glam.

I haven't listened to "Breakfast" because of the title, but don't let that stop you from giving it a try.

The next part of the album is all about the ballads.

Starting with the song "Lift Me Up" where Christina wants her love to just lift her up and get her through this night.

"My Heart" is the best Intro on the album in my opinion. Christina's little boy says "mama" in the cutest way. :)

"All I Need" is then Christina's dedication to her son, Max, about him being all she needs. So sweet. :)

The second single on the CD, "You Lost Me", is about Christina's date turning out to be a cheater. Very sad. :/

"I H ate Boys" - well, not much more to say there. The title says it all. Christina doesn't like boys, at all. Which is kind of ironic considering she's married to one. ;P

"My G irls" is a duet with Peaches, about Christina and her g irls doing their thing, making music.

And the grand finale, "Vanity", is about Christina "not being c ocky, but LOOOVVVINNGGG herself" - not really the best song in my opinion, but you can decide that for yourself.

So, in the end, this album is very underated; don't let all the negative reviews stop you from buying it. Again, you probably won't like it after just one listen, but it just keeps gettin' better. ;)

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Why, Christina?, June 8, 2010

By 

XTina Fan (Blacksburg, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BIONIC (Explicit) (Audio CD)

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...