Bionic (Explicit Version)

A leader in the parade of Mickey Mouse Club veterans who stormed pop at the turn of the millennium, Christina Aguilera was the sexy, brassy diva of the bunch -- the Rolling Stones to Britney Spears? Beatles, as it were. Initially, it was difficult to see Christina outside of the prism of Britney, whose 1999 success launched the new millennium's teen pop boom, but Christina?s big hits of 1999 -- ?Genie in a Bottle,? ?What a Girl Wants,? ?Come on Over? -- more than held their own with ?Baby One More Time,? while revealing a vocalist with considerably more power and range than her erstwhile rival. Soon, Aguilera distanced herself from the rest of the teen pop pack beginning with her carnal sophomore set, Stripped, a heavy R&B album from 2002 that found its greatest success with the ballad ?Beautiful.? Christina may have overemphasized her sexual side with singles like ?Dirrtty,? but by the time of 2006?s Back to Basics, it was clear that Aguilera was the most musically ambitious, and reliable, pop diva of the boom.The title suggested something simple but the album was anything but, spilling out over two discs and running the gamut from brassy swing to modern dance. Its lead single, ?Ain?t No Other Man,? was another blockbuster and Grammy winner for Christina, and the tour was her most ambitious to date. In 2008, Aguilera released her first hits collection, Keeps Gettin' Better, which was available exclusively via Target in the U.S. After a four-year break, Aguilera returned with her fourth album, Bionic, in the spring of 2010.-Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide