Christina Aguilera's 'Bionic' Disappoints, But Why?

Early in its run, Aguilera's second album, 2002's 'Stripped,' in many ways mirrored the performance of 'Bionic.' In an attempt to revamp her squeaky-clean image, the onetime Mouseketeer moved in a very different direction with 'Dirrty,' the first single off 'Stripped.' The song's lyrics described a lecherous night out, and the video was downright raunchy. The song was not embraced by Aguilera's fans and reached only No. 48 on the U.S. singles chart.

'Bionic's' first single, 'Not Myself Tonight,' has suffered a similar backlash, peaking at No. 23 and quickly falling off the chart entirely.



Without a hit lead single, 'Stripped' debuted with 330,000 albums sold in its first week. That number may seem impressive today, but the music industry simply isn't what it once was. Album sales have been decreasing for years, so what is now considered stellar wouldn't have been just a few years ago. To compare, Britney Spears's third album, 'Britney,' debuted less than a year before 'Stripped' to sales in excess of 750,000, and only a year or so before that was a boom time in music, during which Britney, *NSYNC and Eminem all saw debut frames in excess of a million copies sold.

However, things turned around quickly for 'Stripped' when it sprouted legs courtesy of its second single, 'Beautiful.' That song reached No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart, won Aguilera a Grammy and helped propel the album to over 4 million in sales in the U.S.

The thing about Aguilera, where she differs from so many other pop stars, is that she has always been about the music. Her supporters, and there are many, are often disappointed when she picks theatrics over letting a good tune speak for itself, as many claim she has done in the promotion of 'Bionic.' But when one of her songs really takes off, it has a tendency to bring the album on which it appears along with it. Once she gives her fans a reason to support her, they do so wholeheartedly.

Both 'Stripped' and 'Back to Basics' also benefited from Aguilera touring behind them. She has gained a reputation as a stellar live act, with music legend Patti Smith telling Rolling Stone that Aguilera's stirring 2007 Grammy performance of James Brown's 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' was "one of the best performances that I've ever seen ... I sat and watched it, and at the end, I just involuntarily leapt to my feet. It was amazing" (via Open Salon).

In support of 'Stripped,' Aguilera co-headlined the 'Justified/Stripped Tour' with Justin Timberlake. In just two months, the tour pulled in over $45 million in North America, and Aguilera's international continuation of it, 'The Stripped World Tour,' without Timberlake, grossed $75 million. Her 2007 'Back to Basics Tour' was yet another smash. It pulled in over $90 million, making it the most successful tour by a female artist that year.

It cannot be merely coincidental that Aguilera's albums tend to do better in the longer-term and that she has toured, with incredible success, behind each. So hearing that she has delayed her 'Bionic' tour from summer 2010 to sometime in 2011 is disconcerting to fans looking forward to seeing her live yet again. When a performer's strongest asset is their one-of-a-kind voice, it doesn't take a MBA to know its good business to get them out on stage as often as possible.

No one is begrudging Aguilera the right to express herself as she chooses, and she has obviously decided that sexy is best, but it's hard for fans to understand why she'd choose Auto Tuned sexbot over mature vocalist when she has at her disposal what so many lesser artists only dream about: that voice. It's her signature, whether live and in person or over the radio, crooning a tune that tugs heartstrings. And fans have obviously chosen not to support her choice. That's just business. Hit songs and big tours sell records, and right now Christina Aguilera doesn't have either -- it's as simple as that.

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