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After a four year hiatus having babies and the like, Christina Aguilera released her eagerly anticipated fourth full-length English studio album on Monday 7th June. Following on from the moderate worldwide success of the lead single; "Not Myself Tonight", Xtina let us in gently with that as first single choice as the rest of the record is slightly more obscure, creative and futuristic sounding. This record takes a clear move away from the previous album, Back to Basics, which can only be a good thing!

On with the tracks...

1. Bionic - Almost sounding like merely an intro track for the album in the first minute, this title track then kicks off into a full blown chorus and turns into a "proper" track. The verses continue to sound a little like album breaks, but the chorus and chorus buildups propel the track straight into the 22nd century, or at least what I can imagine the 22nd century may sound like...? A hard, constant beat ensures the track doesn't lose its direction and overall this works as a great album opener! 8/10

2. Not Myself Tonight - Previously mentioned as this campaigns lead single, Not Myself Tonight marked a return to form for Xtina in my opinion, although the track only received moderate success worldwide. This is one of the higher tempo tracks on the album and is an instant club stomper. The urban beats, catchy chorus and memorable "Christina" style middle eight makes this a classic. 10/10

3. Woohoo - This is the next (second) single from the Bionic campaign and i'm not sure how it is going to be received. The suggestive lyrics are a little cliche and feel a bit dated. I can imagine remixes sounding immense in clubs though, so this should lend itself to a good few of those. Production is a little lacking in this track and a lot of the time you are listening to just a beat and vocals. Also the phone in "featuring artist"; Nicki Minaj, manages to deliver a rap break down which is almost incomprehensible at times (more so than most rap breaks!). Might want to re-think the second single choice Xtina and co. 5/10

4. Elastic Love - The future sounding, robotic sound of Elastic Love doesn't lend itself to Christina's vocals all that well, and sounds quite similar to the re-produced or extra tracks off of her Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits compilation. Saying that, the lyrics a quite clever and well written and the production values are high here, even if they are a little bland. The catchy chorus redeems the track a bit and ensures this track doesn't get too "future electro" for it's own good. 6/10

5. Desnudate - A return to the higher tempto sounds here, this track plays with the theme of nudity and is a little racey - which works here. Latin ad-libs, a little brass and sensual moans add that sassy feel to the track and Christina's vocals often belt out to remind us of what she is capable of. A fast drum line keeps the track dancable and overall creates quite a feel good sound. More of this please! 9/10

6. Love & Glamour (Intro) - Vocal album interlude. Christina...where did you pull this little speach from as it sounds very familiar(!)

7. Glam - Following the theme of high fashion and glamour from the previous interlude, this track is all about superficial glamour and love of clothes. Unfortunately, the track isn't overly glamourous and just feels boring. It is also a break from the overly futuristic sounding tracks so far. A boring beat, unmemorable lyrics and pretentious sounding attitude of the track just add to the dislike. A bit of a skipper for me! 3/10

8. Prima Donna -  Turn your subwoofers up, the bass in this track is a little immense! A distinctly hip-hop sounding beat, this almost sounds like it was taken from Rihanna's "Rated R". That isn't a bad thing though, and works well with the theme of the track and aggression in Xtina's vocals. What propels this track from quite good to amazing is the synth sample of the Jackson 5's "Can You Feel It", a nod at the late king of pop I'd imagine. Nice one Christina! 10/10

9. Morning Desert (Intro) - Another album interlude. This sounds less fake than the previous one though, and marks another switch of theme for the coming tracks...

10. Sex For Breakfast - The pace is slowed down here, for a bit of soul and chilled beats. Christina's voice sounds raw and top form here. The lyrics are a play on food and sex and follow on from the previous interlude. Production is minimal here and the slow beat, piano backing track and whispered lines make this good ambient background music material, especially if you're looking to get some Sex for Breakfast yourself. If not, maybe look elsewhere for your mood creating music as the lyrics get a little explicit even if it isn't glaringlu obvious. 6/10

 11. Lift Me Up - Another slow tempo ballad-like track, this doesn't really fit with the sound of the album even if there is an interlude to break this section up. The lyrics are inspiring and well performed by Xtina, although this doesn't really excuse the track from breaking the coherrent sound offered here so far. If this was on her 2002 album Stripped then this would have worked as the track itself is nice. But it doesn't belong here! 4/10

12. My Heart (Intro) - Yet another album interlude performed by Christina's bundle of joy, her son Max. This also sounds very out of place after Xtina just spent the first half of this album performing tracks about sex, nudity, glamour and other adult material.

13. All I Need - Yaaaawn. Another ballad this time all about Christina's feelings towards her son. This is very similar to Britneys' "My Baby", although Britney pulls it off better (only slightly though!). Again this track DOES NOT WORK in this album. It is distracting, breaks the flow, the themes and the sound. Typical slow drum beat, piano backing and vocals make this track up. Skip skip skip please. 1/10

14. I Am - More sentimental, self indulgent ballad material can found here. If you've not given up on the album at this point, well done to you and there's just one more to endure before getting back to the good stuff! There isn't much else to say about this that wasn't said for the previous track. Nice vocals from Christina though, now put them to a nice track and we'll be getting somwhere! 2/10

15. You Lost Me - The title of this track is almost what can be explained for the amount of people maybe pressing the stop buttons on their music players by now. You lost them! Who ever decided to put this vast amount of ballads together needs firing immediately! I don't care if it's a "section" or "theme" for this part of the album. It's not nesessary and definitely not enjoyable. SKIP. 1/10

16. I Hate Boys - No interlude to mark the end of the last five tracks of dull listening, I Hate Boys brings that futuristic pop sound back. This sounds a little like Christina's 2008 track; "Keeps Gettin' Better". The lyrics are fun and the high production values make a welcome re-appearence. The track is a little short at just over two minutes and feels like it's over too quickly, but lukily things are not slowed down again for a while now. Thank you Christina and co! 8/10

17.  My Girls - The track starts off a little funky and almost Goldfrapp sounding, then breaks into a catchy, chanty chorus. This is a song about power to Christina's girls, running the show apparently. The lyrics feel a little over-used but the funky beats and fun nature of the track make this an enjoyable listen. No futuristic sounding production here though, just typical pop sounds. 7/10

18. Vanity - Christina opens this song with a teasy one liner, then the synthy beats kick in and playful verses start. The track is themed around self loving, vain, pretentious thoughts about yourself but works to its advantage as listening to it almost makes you believe the lyrics. Or is that just me...? Anyway, the chorus is a little weak and the production sounds unfinished and lacking in any "oomph" but then Christina belts out with her signature yell which I know i've missed, and all feels right in the world. 7/10

19. Monday Morning - This track manages to sound extremely vintage yet incredibly current at the same time. Funky disco beats, futuristic synths and retro claps create a very interesting sound, and a track that doesn't sound like a Christina track at all, which may have something to do with her weak vocal perfomance here! Still, this is definitely one of the albums highlights and brings the records coherrent sound back in place. 8/10

20. Bobblehead - As much as the "Wah Wah's" in this track may annoy you, Bobblehead is borderline amazing! Clever lyrics (although slightly Ke$ha!), anthemic production, various dance breakdowns and vocal chants, this is a track you can go crazy to! It reminds me of a Basement Jaxx track, which is totally a good thing. I look forward to hearing this in a club and letting loose! 9/10

21. Birds Of Prey - Drawing the album to a close slowly, the track opens with synthetic sounds and vocal chanting. The feel of this track returns to the chilled sound of "Sex for Breakfast", just without the sex, or a morning meal for that matter. Whilst this one isn't single material at all, it makes for a good album track and if interludes or slower tempo tracks had to be used earlier to to break things up, this could have been one of them and worked a lot better. The lyrics are very creative and imaginative and the production screams of Ladytron, who did in fact produce this track. Pleasent, but nothing exciting. 6/10

22. Stronger Than Ever - Another ballad just had to be plonked in here didn't it. At least with this one the production values are a bit better, and Christina gives a very strong vocal delivery. It manages to still sound quite futristic with its heavier drum beat, spacey breaks and echoing guitar riffs. I'll let this one off...just this one. 4/10

23. I Am (Stripped) - This is a stripped down version of the previous, same titled track "I Am". The same comments apply, but the track works a little better in this stripped form and is quite a nice listen. If this track just HAD to be used, this version should have made it alone instead. 3/10

 24. Little Dreamer - The final track on this slightly over-lenghty album, Little Dreamer sounds like another snooze fest but is actually an electro gem hidden away at the end of a long road. Sentimental lyrics, electro pop beats and a strong vocal performance make this a very good way to end the album, reminding us of its prime sounds and Christina's awesome voice. Had this album been 8 tracks or so shorter, this would have rounded things off nicely. 6/10

Overall rating: 6.5/10

What should have marked an epic return to form in Christuna Aguilera's carrer actually felt a little too crafted, too long lived and actually lacking a lot of punch when it mattered. The four year break clearly built up a lot of material in Xtina's catalogue to use and a lot of it is awesome, but a lot of it is definitely not so awesome and it seems, for some reason, like the powers that be selected one too many not so awesome tracks to make up this record. When the concise theme and sound hit the mark, it worked really well but unfortunately there are too many breaks from this sound and into ballad territory. Maybe the regular edition doesn't drag as much, but also lacks some great bonus tracks that the deluxe edition (reviewed here) offers. Still, if you are a fan of Christina's voice itself, you may be able to overlook the ballad heavy second section of the album and appreciate the record more. I tried, I really did, and I'm no ballad hater, but only the crazy uptempo tracks seemed to be worth a listen here. It will be interesting to see which tracks are selected as singles in the future as I can't see that many featured here prime for a single release...