It is impossible to speak to this album without going on a brief retrospective of the journey Christina has taken us on over the course of her career. This includes fans and those who aren't. In 1999, Christina Aguilera pranced onto the pop scene with her self titled debut album, which was home to light, flirty tunes full of staunch engineering and production and void of true artistic passion, lest we forget her voice! Among Britney Spears and Mandy Moore and other contemporaries, Christina renewed our faith in the idea that hey... a pop singer could actually sing; possessing a voice as big as she wasn't and with the soul of singers not her contemporaries such as Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige.
In 2002, there was "Stripped" a very exposing collection of soulful chants that spoke to women's empowerment and the unabashed and shameless flaunt of personal sexuality. "Stripped" gave us the song "Beautiful" which undoubtedly contributed to the albums commercial success as well as gave Christina a wider breadth of an audience.
Then, in 2006 this risen pop star, gave us "Back to Basics" a complete fusion of soul, jazz, boogie, pop and R&B. She brought styles of music to an audience that may never have been exposed to them. Who could've predicted the single "Ain't No Other Man" from a mainstream pop artist? But, this is what Christina does best. She takes elements of various styles and genres and pulls from the mainstream and the fringe to give her audience a new and different product on each album.
Fast forward to 2010 and we have {Bi-on-ic}. The disc begins with the titled single "Bionic" which appears to be sort of an introduction to the (theme) of the album, followed by "Not Myself Tonight". This song is genius, in two ways. The music is tricky, rapidly slow to start and quick to meet the climax and expostion with a bridge that leaves you simply wanting more.
The album is a collection of some genius ("Desnudate", "Not Myself Tonight") singles and some really tragic ones ("Bobblehead" on the bonus tracks deluxe edition). The true celebratory notches of the disc will undoubtedly be the ballads, primarily penned by Aguilera herself. Fans will embrace the production and engineering of tracks such as "I am" and "Stronger than Ever" (deluxe edition). These tunes are simply Christina. Stripped and void of huge accompaniments. Voice raw and strong and in front of all the fluff.
Ultimately, there are some misses, but the hits more than make up for them. The ballads alone on this collection would make the money spent for the disc worthwhile. Listeners will definitely appreciate through all the mixing of styles and almost schizophrenic wandering through electronica, hip hop, et. al. that everything yields to Aguilera's incomparable vocals and maturing writing style.
Speaking to the various styles present in this collection and with press buzzing about comparisons to Lady Gaga and other contemporary artists, Christina has been giving it to us for more than 10 years now! Having sold over 42 million albums worldwide, received 4 grammy awards, 1 latin grammy, having been ranked as the 53rd greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine (1), and served in numerous philanthropic roles, it is safe to say that not only is she one of the most original and talented artists that we've seen in some time... she has helped pave the way for future brazenly daring female artists!
Jason Christopher Johnson
("100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/24161972/page/102. Retrieved 2008-11-11.)
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