Finally I'm moving it here! Here's my first ever entry for the #TamaReviews series. Check it out!

REVAMPED!

“Bionic” is the title of Christina Aguilera’s sixth studio album—fifth counting only English language releases, fourth excluding the Spanish language and the holiday albums—which was released on June 4th-11th 2010, depended on your country. It is the follow-up to Aguilera’s previous album, “Back to Basics.” “Bionic” served as a reinvention of Aguilera’s music, pop persona, and overall career trajectory moving forward in time. Aguilera, known as one of the leading ladies of big-voiced pop singing since the early Noughts, has been famously recognized as the artsy student of pop music compared to her peers. Rather than Britney Spears’s safe but energetic dance pop songs, Aguilera would make concoction of different sounds and genres as she seemed to be unafraid of neither imperfections nor errors—despite being a self-proclaimed “perfectionist.” Compared to Jessica Simpson’s similar big-voiced brand, Aguilera always seemed to make exciting innovations in her music that Simpson could never dare to try. Aguilera had started with a half-pop, half r&b/soul-inspired eponymous debut album which then followed by a similar sounding Spanish language release, a Christmas album, a mixture of both the era-appropriate favorite sounds as well as retro soul moments on “Stripped,” and later blossomed to the previously mentioned “Back to Basics,” which was an album filled with even more rhythm, blues and soul music alongside sophisticated jazz arrangements that took inspirations from American popular music from 30+ years ago.

However, it was not enough for Aguilera as she sat and pondered inside the recording studio. “I wonder what should I do next? What is next? Next is...the future!” she thought. She prepared a rocket ship and launched herself to an unknown future to get inspired by it. Later, as she entered the Earth's atmosphere, a fiery meteor trailed behind her, Aguilera deadpanned, “I am the future.”

Opened by a bombastic track, aptly titled “Bionic,” Aguilera promised to take every listeners headfirst into the future as she proclaimed, “Bionic, take ya supersonic, eh!” You might get migraines or became insane, got hit by her rocket ship or lost your senses, she definitely would not care about you. She didn’t care about your thoughts or your screams, she would take you through this journey until the very end.

As she revealed to you that she’s not herself tonight, you would get the sense of danger as much as arousal. Aguilera took notice of that and followed with “Woohoo,” a flirty song that featured then-rookie Nicki Minaj to co-pilot for a few minutes. It was a call for celebration of lust, love, and fire as it basked in the glorious fab of an elite club’s neon lights. During the song Aguilera repeatedly told you “boys” a direct command; to get on your knees and taste her “woohoo!” Similar to this is a song titled “My Girls” which featured a band named Le Tigre in production and a rapper named Peaches. Aguilera let listeners know that she’s having fun with her girls and that they are not afraid of anything as they stick together to take control.

Despite the sexual nature of the album’s content, there was also a sense of doom and gloom on the horizon. Particularly on a song titled “Lift Me Up,” which was written by longtime collaborator Linda Perry, you could hear the eagerness to express herself without judgment because something had troubled her.

A specific part of the album which Aguilera herself had stated as “the heart of Bionic” proceeded to tell listeners about her thoughts aside from sex. Co-penned with Sia and Sam Dixon, the sadness was real and present. “All I Need” and “I Am” explained the joy and the expectation, accumulating to a brief moment of hope until “You Lost Me” hit you—or rather, her—hard on the face. Aguilera sang in so much anguish as she lamented loss; like a forlorn protagonist who had to suffer the most in order to get her finale.

The album resembled a riddle that Aguilera demanded us to solve. “There must be a cause to all of this, have you noticed?” she spoke in your mind. She might not be around you, but through all of these songs she has never made her presence any clearer. Listeners would take their time to analyze the tragedy that she told, or maybe feel some sarcasm as she scolded, but for every songs like “Glam”—a nice song about the joy of fashion as a freedom of expression—or “Not Myself Tonight”—a feelgood tell-all about something that’s gonna happen “tonight”—there is also an “Elastic Love,” which gave us a clue about the behind-the-scene with the cheekiness of a mad woman. As Aguilera also stated on "Prima Donna," she had worked hard in a long week and needed a couple drinks to ease herself. The chorus told you repeatedly that she is a primadonna, and you truly did believe her.

Perhaps the most thrilling moments of the record could be found on the deluxe side. There are five other songs that didn’t make the standard version tracklisting. “Monday Morning” opened the deluxe disc with an effervescent quality that nobody could avoid, while “Bobblehead” would make you giggle and wondered about the identity of the song’s subject as you vogued. There is also a piece of Matrix-inspired goodie titled “Birds of Prey”—unrelated to DC’s infamous fictional villains group—that would strike listeners with its electrifying electronica arrangement as well as the untypical lyrics which might be about the perils of fame. There are also a stripped version of “I Am” which sounded gorgeous and an overwrought ballad titled “Stronger Than Ever.” However, the album would not necessarily end there. The last track, the iTunes bonus track “Little Dreamer,” gave you the finale which closed the story bittersweetly. There was a familiar feeling of happiness that would make you cry as the music was going to an end, and you couldn’t stop yourself from saying, “Yes, thank you so much!” to an imaginary Aguilera in your mind who smiled at you. “It is done, I have accomplished!” she told you before walking away, tears of joy were also streaming down her beautiful face.

Overall, “Bionic” is a highly recommended record for those who wanted to listen to the kind of pop music that didn’t sound bland or formless, but it would not necessarily abandon the fans of the chanteuse either. It might have been a product that had made a lot of people scratch their heads in 2010, but not ten years later. “Bionic” has never felt more at home in month June, year 2020.

----FIN----

That's it everyone. Hope you can spare a bit of your time to read this review. Love, Tama.