Misunderstood
5
By TheMusicProphet
In a time where Dr. Luke and Kesha were writing the charts, one could almost be forgiven for admitting Christina Aguilera seemed like a thing of the past. The past isn’t where this album was bred, it’s from the future, and it was so ahead of its time.
Christina did something so interesting here, in my opinion. Coming off the success of her monumental ‘Stripped’ era, and the throwback brass of its successor, ‘Back to Basics’, the stakes were high in 2010. Christina had been M.I.A. during the rise of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Kesha.... the names that we’d become accustomed to seeing at the top of the charts, during the era of ‘Bionic’s release. X could have just hopped on the trends. She could’ve returned with a stompy Dr. Luke hit, or jumped the globe for a club-filling EDM smash, but she chose instead to look to the independent genres, drafting an album almost to complex for itself.
Her classic R&B / Urban roots and classic ballad work find home here, in songs like ‘Sex For Breakfast’, ‘Lift Me Up’ and ‘You Lost Me’, alongside the slinky/sultry fun of ‘Monday Morning’, ‘Vanity’, ‘My Girls’ and ‘Elastic Love’.
My only issue if I had to complain is there’s almost too much texture here, making the album at times feel like multiple albums crammed into one. That however, is a problem I’m willing to except.
