Was Christina Aguilera trying out a new wave kind of sound for her Bionic album?

[Hawkee]

I found my copy of Christina Aguilera's Bionic album and when I listened to it I noticed that Christina adopted a new wave kind of style for this album and I wanted to know if Christina wanted this new sound to fit her new image? When this album came out I read that it was a slow starter and many people were unhappy with this new image that Christina Aguilera started to have. Another thing I can't figure out is why does the cover for Bionic look creepy? I never figured out why Christina's face looked so weird and it looked odd to me. The other thing I found about Bionic is that the version I have is the clean version and there was an explicit version with the swearing in tact. Is my version rare to find?
Bestie

[1990 UM fan]

I believe she was trying to keep up with the newest trend at that time, plus competing with the newer music stars (ex. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry), whose songs were climbing the charts and getting millions of YouTube views. Some saw the ploy as "experimental", while others saw her endeavors as "desperate". To a few, Christina was "washed up" at that point, plagued by ageism and burnout. The music industry has been cruel to older female singers this generation and tend to overlook anything new they contribute (ex. Mariah Carey).

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

I believe she was trying to keep up with the newest trend at that time, plus competing with the newer music stars (ex. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry), whose songs were climbing the charts and getting millions of YouTube views. Some saw the ploy as "experimental", while others saw her endeavors as "desperate". To a few, Christina was "washed up" at that point, plagued by ageism and burnout. The music industry has been cruel to older female singers this generation and tend to overlook anything new they contribute (ex. Mariah Carey).

Christina was only like 29 when Bionic was released. Hardly a "Washed up and burned out old Has been. For Heaven's Sake, Axl Rose was 29 when Use Your Illusions albums were released and no one was considering hmm a Washed Up and burned out old Has been at that time.

Mariah Carey was even older at 35 when she released The Emancipation Of Mariah/Mimi and that album was a HUGE hit and no one was calling her a "Washed Up and burned out old Has been," at that time either.

Hell, Cher was even older and was like 50 when Believe Album was released and Believe was a HUGE hit and no one was calling her a Washed Up and burned out old Has been at that time either..

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by Janice Johnson

Christina was only like 29 when Bionic was released. Hardly a "Washed up and burned out old Has been. For Heaven's Sake, Axl Rose was 29 when Use Your Illusions albums were released and no one was considering hmm a Washed Up and burned out old Has been at that time.

Mariah Carey was even older at 35 when she released The Emancipation Of Mariah/Mimi and that album was a HUGE hit and no one was calling her a "Washed Up and burned out old Has been," at that time either.

Hell, Cher was even older and was like 50 when Believe Album was released and Believe was a HUGE hit and no one was calling her a Washed Up and burned out old Has been at that time either..

Mind you, that's not how I feel about her, but others did.