It's been over two years since Christina Aguilera stepped into her Bionic heels and received a swift pummelling from critics and long time fans for her change of direction and 'copy cat' Lady GaGa sound. As disappointing as Bionic was/is, mainly because it's not cohesive as an album, it did have some pretty cool sounding songs on it, 'Elastic Love' and 'You Lost Me' for example. Still, it was an album that thrust Christina into pop obscurity, but thanks to an annoyingly addictive duet with Maroon 5 on 'Moves Like Jagger' she regained a lot of her fan's support.
Now she's back, with an album she promised would be closer to the style of her mega hit Stripped, an album so popconic it should have its own spot in the hall of fame for awesomeness. Lotus is far more cohesive than its predecessor and it's not ballad heavy, which is a relief following the brilliance of lead single 'Your Body'.
'Your Body' was a great way to kick things off, but this album has far more impressive songs just screaming for single release. 'Army Of Me', coined as Fighter 2.0 by the lady herself, is a heady electronic dance infused self empowerment anthem and it's just begging for a heavy club edit. 'Red Hot Kinda Love' is a catchy track, in the same vein as her Peaches collab in the past. It's not the strongest song, but it's so infectious it's hard not to toot toot along to the poppy production. Things get really good with 'Let There Be Love', an immense dance floor anthem waiting to happen and perhaps the album's best uptempo track.
There are no poor moments on Lotus, a feat that artists everywhere dream of achieving. There are, however, some slightly weaker songs. 'Cease Fire' is strong, but the lyrical repetitions do tire, making it a grower. 'Around the World' is more instantly addictive, but it still isn't as brilliant as some of the other songs on the album. 'Circles' is unexpected, and hard to pin down, and kind of annoying.
Christina didn't wait over two years to come back alone, oh no. 'Make the World Move' is the first of two duets and it is bloody epic. Sapping some of the retro influences that made Back to Basics such a success, this is a funky retro soul track and the combination of Christina and Cee Lo Green is so good it's just got to happen again. Blake Shelton pops in to sing on 'Just a Fool', an epic country/rock inspired ballad that shows just why Christina continues to be one of pop's most impressive vocalists.
The ballads aren't kept just for duets, there's some solo action too. 'Blank Page' is a gorgeous piano led ballad, cowritten by Australian lyrical mastermind Sia Furler who penned some of Bionic's best moments. Christina's vocals are stratospherically powerful and emotive and the song itself is one of her finest career milestones to date. 'Best of Me' continues her trend for great slow songs.
Lotus is more brilliant than anyone could have anticipated. The skeptic in me thought it could be disastrous, but only because I wanted so badly for it to be good. Thankfully I am left satisfied and eager to listen again. With some of her decade long career's strongest, most impressive moments, this is an album deserving of respect and success. To answer the question on all fan lips: Yes it is better than Stripped.
4/5
Download: Army of Me/Let There be Love/Blank Page
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