Considering that Beyonce and the meteoric Lady Gaga currently dominate the pop music star-scape, the news that now-antiquated Christina Aguilera has released a new album, her first since 2006’s Back to Basics, may seem no cause for commotion. After all, hasn’t her ship already sailed? However, just a few years ago, almost everyone thought that Britney Spears was washed up, never to regain her former glory…but oops, she did it again with Circus. So is Bionic Christina’s comeback record? Unfortunately, not at all. While it’s hardly embarrassing, risible or offensive, Bionic fails to impress on any level.
Based on just the first few tracks, it’s very clear that Aguilera and her producers have caught the Gaga bug. The cuts feel like inferior carbon copies of some of the dance tracks on The Fame Monster. While Gaga’s songs always showcase her pipes, the half-assed and repetitive beats on Bionic tend to waste Christina’s lovely voice or bury it behind a wall of noise. “Not Myself Tonight” is the exception to this rule, and not surprisingly one of the few good tracks on the album. While these songs would probably be easy enough to dance to in a club, they are difficult to appreciate for a solo listener. For me, they eventually became white noise and nothing more.
Bionic doesn’t just have electronic music, of course. Something bionic has both natural and mechanical parts … which is why the album takes an abrupt but much needed detour halfway through into acoustic ballad territory. This begins with the truly bizarre “Sex For Breakfast,” a ridiculous R&B jam that actually ends up being as much about breakfast as it is about sex. However, these softer ballads are generally more successful than the dance beats, especially “All I Need” and “I Am.” Here Aguilera’s vocals are allowed to take center stage, much to my delight. Unfortunately, what she’s singing isn’t usually interesting: the lyrics are mainly to give Christina some words to sing. For some reason, Bionic ends with a three-song coda then ventures back to electro-pop. This does nothing for the artistic structure of the album, except perhaps give the listener the cheap illusion that there is artistic structure beyond grouping similar songs together. Though it touts itself as a concept album, Bionic fails where others have already succeeded. Just take a gander at Janelle Monae’s Archandroid.
Aguilera has said that she likes to let years pass between albums because it facilitates a fresh and meaningful song-writing process. If this is truly the result of four years of work, she should get a new team of producers and take eight next time.
