Christina Aguilera - 25th anniversary of the vocal bible

[Caviar]

Queen speaks

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Queen has always been for equality!

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#QueenSpeaks

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I’m so proud to be a fan.

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”10 years on, Christina Aguilera’s Bionic proves it really was ahead of its time.”

GAYTIMES.COM


When Christina Aguilera argued that her fourth English-language studio album Bionic – a comeback of sorts – was ‘too ahead of its time’ for people to truly understand, most pop music fans dismissed her comments as arrogance. But now, a decade later, the album stands firm as a cult favourite among fans, in particular the LGBTQ+ community, and has become part of Christina’s legacy.

Much like Britney Spears’ controversy-courting album Blackout – which was panned at the time but is now lauded as one of the pop star’s finest moments – Bionic saw Legend X dive into a darker soundspace swirling in gaudy synths, sexual innuendo and rumbling bass so dirty you’d give a priest a heart attack (and if that didn’t, we’re sure the latex-drenched Not Myself Tonight music video would). It was a total 180 from the jazz and soul influences found on her preceding release, Back To Basics, and should have marked a triumphant new era in the reign of a pop music icon. But it didn’t. Sure, it shot straight to number one in the UK (with an almost-equally impressive top five debut in the US), but its success was short-lived and reception from both critics and long-time fans was mixed.

While there are plenty of theories as to why the album didn’t get the love it deserved (copycat accusations and rumours of sabotage are common), we’d rather focus on what the album got right – because there really is so much to love with this record.

Lead single Not Myself Tonight was an empowering feminist anthem that blended a new electropop sound with the attitude of her Stripped era, boldly telling listeners, ‘The old me’s gone, and if you don’t like it, f**k you’. The music video, meanwhile, paid tribute to Madonna, the OG female pop icon who paved the way before her with Human Nature and Express Yourself, and saw Christina wear futuristic latex looks and fetish-wear. Unfortunately, the message was lost on critics, with many (like a then-relevant Perez Hilton) dragging her down rather than lifting her up. Follow-up single You Lost Me was a gorgeous, heartbreaking ballad about unfaithfulness that showed off the softer side of Christina’s legendary voice, and to this day sits proudly as one of the best songs of her career, despite not receiving love from the public. And then the era came to an abrupt end.

But the album’s best moments, as is often the case with cult favourites, sit in the deep cuts. Christina’s feminist message continues on tracks like I Hate Boys, a tongue-in-cheek post-breakup anthem, and the Peaches-featuring My Girls, a runway-ready electro-bop which called on women to “step it up and take control”, preluding the wave of ‘girl gang’ messages that appeared in the 2010s like Selena Gomez’s Me & My Girls and Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood music video. Even the album’s bonus tracks, like the effortlessly cool new wave/funk mashup Monday Morning and the experimental Cathy Dennis-penned Birds Of Prey, are top-tier pop.

In an attempt to fulfil her goal of making a more experimental record than the ones that came before, Christina collaborated with a number of critically-acclaimed artists like M.I.A. (Elastic Love), Ladytron (Little Dreamer) and Santigold (Monday Morning), who no-doubt contributed to the album’s electronic sound, and also worked with several up-and-coming stars before they became household names. On the electro-R&B, cunnilingus-themed WooHoo, she became one of the first pop stars to bag a verse from Nicki Minaj (which also happens to be one of her best), and co-wrote a number of soaring ballads including You Lost Me with Sia, years before she became the go-to hitmaker for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Rihanna, and eventually found mainstream success with her own career.


The album is also dripping in self-awareness, with tracks like Vanity really leaning into her ‘diva’ reputation which was arguably at its peak around the Bionic era. Kicking off with the declaration, “I’m not cocky, I just love myself bitch,” the track is four-and-a-half minutes of self-adoration pushed to the extreme, and is an expert lesson in camp as she boasts, “Hit up Prince Charming, tell him give me a call, never mind, screw him, ’cause I found somebody better, I make myself so much wetter” and calls out to her “queens who reign supreme” – it’s no wonder her gay fans hold the album to such high regard. Sitting alongside Vanity as queer favourites are Glam, a throwback to Madonna’s Vogue that comes accompanied by a spoken word intro about ‘living, loving and breathing’ fashion; and the multilingual Desnudate, all of which are perfect for the runway.

On her most recent tour, the simply-named X Tour (like fellow pop star Kylie, she’s earned that mononym), Christina honoured the love for Bionic with rare appearances from album deep cuts Vanity and Glam. She even opened the show with the record’s title track. They were live highlights, as signified by unified squeals of joy from gay boys in the crowd, and Christina seemed to be living for it. 10 years later, it’s clear that Bionic still has more to give, and will likely be re-discovered as a forgotten jewel by pop music fans for years to come.

www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/135734/10-years-on-christina-aguileras-bionic-proves-it-really-was-ahead-of-its-time/

[Caviar]

”Christina's Hot Underrated Album 'Bionic' and Why You Should Revisit”


As we move into the 2020s, although it is fair to say that it has probably not been the best start to the new decade, we are approaching various anniversaries of pop albums that not only spark nostalgia but provide a refreshing contrast to the music we currently hear on the radio. One particular album is facing its 10thanniversary this June: Xtina’s criminally underrated Bionic.

Following the release of her ultra-successful third album, Back to Basics, spawning the smash hits “Aint No Other Man” and “Candyman”, Xtina decided she wanted to explore a more futuristic and innovative sound, originally signified with the release of her “Keeps Gettin’ Better” alongside her greatest hits compilation of the same name.

The Bionic era was kicked off with the release of the album’s lead single - “Not Myself Tonight” - which saw Christina entirely depart from all her previous characterizations. The song itself, a powerful, exhilaratingly intense and completely electronic sex anthem, is accompanied by an even more provocatively raw and sensual music video, displaying Christina in an array of tight-fitting, figure-flaunting BDSM-inspired outfits. The aesthetics were a clear transition into a new hypersexualised era and signposted the upcoming album’s vibe.

Explicit sexuality and confidence exude in nearly every song on Bionic, with songs like “Sex For Breakfast” and “Desnudate” (‘get naked’ in Spanish) most impressively radiating the Pop Princess’ erotic reincarnation. With shockingly raunchy lyrics such as, “Whisper all your fetishes inside my ear”, it is impossible to refrain from seductively succumbing to the erotic allure/force of these neoteric electropop bops.

The album, unfortunately, faced an abundance of criticism upon its release, with some comparing Christina’s new sound to that of the newly-emerging electropop sensation Lady Gaga, and others blaming the album’s lack of commercial (but certainly not controversially brilliant) success on the fact that the “Dirrty” singer waited four years between album cycles, potentially losing momentum she had generated with Back to Basics.

Xtina herself infamously stated that she believed the album “was too ahead of its time for some people”, and I cannot help but wonder if had Christina decided to embrace her eroticism in this decade rather than the last, in a time of post-modern feminism, sexual liberation and destruction of outdated societal norms, would the album’s fate have been entirely different?

As Bionic turns 10 this June, we should take it as an opportunity to appreciate the artistic journey that led Christina to this accomplished, sensual and sassy set of sounds/tracks, as well as our own inevitable and entirely justifiable hair whips, struts and strides, even if they are only in our living rooms.

www.voirfashion.co.uk/post/christina-s-hot-underrated-album-bionic-and-why-you-should-revisit

[birdie]

bionic was a well deserved flop !! britney was always better than this fatty !!

[Caviar]

Jun 6, 2020 18:32:10 GMT -5 birdie said:

bionic was a well deserved flop !! britney was always better than this fatty !!

why are your 37 posts so problematic?

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

The artwork from that era STILL slays me 10 yrs later!

[George]

I remember being so excited to hear “WooHoo” at a club because radio wasn’t playing it here.

“Elastic Love” still remains one my Top 5 Christina songs!

[Caviar]

"Little Dreamer" will be on Spotify tonight

[Caviar]

”Little Dreamer” is on streaming. Also it’s on iTunes.

[Mike]

“Bionic” (album) and “Little Dreamer” are #1 in the Philippines. Hoping she can at least get a top 10 placement in the US!

[Caviar]

[Linnethia Monique]

Jun 7, 2020 14:10:02 GMT -5 George said:

I remember being so excited to hear “WooHoo” at a club because radio wasn’t playing it here.

“Elastic Love” still remains one my Top 5 Christina songs!

PERIODT!

[Caviar]

Bionic #3 on iTunes

[Linnethia Monique]

Jun 8, 2020 13:46:16 GMT -5 Caviar said:

Bionic #3 on iTunes

Now lets blast Monday Morning in celebration!

[Mike]

A few of her best performances from the Bionic era!

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

[Zinc.]

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

[Luckie Starchild]

Happy B-day, Bionic!!!

[Juanca]

Yes!
Bionic top 3!
And Not Myself Tonight top 10 video
And You Lost Me at #19 video

[Deleted]

Bionic was such a damn good album, probably my favorite from Xtina actually

Elastic Love, Woohoo, Not Myself Tonight, Monday Morning, Vanity, You Lost Me
So many good songs, so many experimental sounds, we got gorgeous ballads, we got hoe anthems, we got BOPS for days, we got art and concept, she delivered and the world shunned her

[Tea-why]

I revisited this album. It slays. I like every song on it with “You Lost Me” being my fave. I’m so happy gem “Little Dreamer” is available to stream!!!

[PGriffin]

This would have done better if it followed Stripped. Her career would have been in a better position as well, IMO. While I appreciate Back 2 Basics it was incredibly bloated and needed to be streamlined.

[Push The Button]

We need a vinyl release!

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Jun 9, 2020 11:57:24 GMT -5 PGriffin said:

This would have done better if it followed Stripped. Her career would have been in a better position as well, IMO. While I appreciate Back 2 Basics it was incredibly bloated and needed to be streamlined.

Maybe, but if she did, I think Bionic would have been a slightly different album. I don't think it would have any motherhood-inspired tracks like "Little Dreamer". When she did "Back to Basics", I think it suited more of what was going on in her life at that time. She was a newlywed and in a much happier place in her life. The overall theme of the album and the songs had clearly reflected that.

[schnetzka]

If released after Stripped, I don't know how the album would have sounded. The electronic elements on the album didn't become popular until the late 2000's so I'm feeling the album would have sounded different.

[frenchuser]

I have the impression that she paradoxically waited too long to release this while being ahead of her time. But pop music at the time was being monopolised by Lady Gaga. We are talking about a period when the media approached female artists only to confront and compare them. I'm not sure that the public really could / wanted to understand the artistic process behind this project. In the eyes of some, visually and artistically, Christina remained a caricature of herself, or at an old version of herself. She failed to capitalize on the success of "Back to basics".

In retrospect, it was bad timing.