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I say this as someone who is not a Christina fan: I bought this album on a whim because I thought the single Your Body was catchy, and I love it. I have been playing it over and over. This is one of those albums that was made to be played LOUD and it's a blast. I have discovered my car's actually got sub-woofers! I suspect Christina Aquillera might be able to sing over top of taiko drums, live.
The record is very, very powerful. The Lotus Intro uses imagery more typically associated with the phoenix to declare a fresh start (and let's be serious: she had some personal issues in the last couple years and this album is a major bounce-back). There's a little autotune sfx in that song's background vocals, but it's just used to create an etheral feeling and doesn't detract. Autotune is not used much elsewhere. Army of Me is a self-empowerment rocker that Kelly Clarkson probably would have liked to record.
Once the war is won the party is started with Red Hot Kind of Love, and then Cee-Lo Green drops in for Make the World Move (though his part doesn't stand out too much, it's more of a cameo backing vocal really). Those two songs have what I call a baroque bombastic party feel with drums and horns that make me think of Mardi gras revelry. I guess when you have as big a voice as Christina you have to find material that you don't overpower and these are good examples of that. After that we're up to the single Your Body and then the celebratory Let There Be Love which continues the party vibe.
The album shifts downtempo with power ballad Sing for Me and Blank Page. Those are about the only 2 songs on the album that don't leave a strong impression on me, but more standout material quickly eclipse them. The tempo shifts up with a bit of Rihanna-esque dancey funk with Cease Fire and Around the World. Circles picks up a harder, more rock edge with a little autotuning that gives some of the backing vocals an "over the loudspeaker" quality. The album moves toward a climax with the building Best of Me which extols the virtue of remaining strong. Finally Lotus finishes with a duet with Blake Shelton, Just a Fool. Blake's vocals really stand out and we end up with a classic and very effective "he says/she says" power duet.
Overall, the album is simply amazing. Christina has her signature power vocal style but the material suits her voice and supports her. The style is overall pretty dancey - as in she's going to make you get up and move, not necessarily club style, though there is some of that. There are some great rock influences too. It took a while to move past listening to the first songs over and over and it was great when I found the whole album to be so consistent. Final thought: I should probably have bought the deluxe edition because I want some more of this.
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Lotus QA 1
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