Christina Aguilera has been everywhere in the last few weeks; Fuse Takeover, NBA Final, VH1 Storytellers, VH1 Behind the Music, the American Idol finale, press about her cancelled tour and so on and so on. She debuts at #3 with 110,000 copies sold of Bionic. Is this bad? Yes, very-very-very bad. Her previous album, a double album, sold 346,000 it's opening week. So what does this mean? I can rant and rave about it all, but it all comes down to the fact that few took the bait and felt the new music they have heard isn't quite her best. We can all whine about illegal downloading, but look at Lady Gaga, she's still selling tons of records. At the end of the day, you can be on as many television shows as you want, but it all comes down to the songs. Based on what I have heard of Bionic, it doesn't sound as if she has the goods this time.
This is disappointing for many reasons, notably her drive to steer herself into more mature waters with Stripped and Back To Basics. This new look and sound feel as if she's trying to keep up with what's popular instead of following her musical heart. In the past people would buy records on the artists reputation alone. These days with marketing campaigns weeks and months in advance, the public gets a taste of not just the lead single but often the entire album and in many cases, unless it's great, they look elsewhere. In the end, never spend more time marketing the music than making it.
This week's Top Ten is below. On a side note; Jewel still makes records? And people buy them?
The Top 10 of Billboard’s Top 200 Albums:
1. Glee Cast, Glee: The Music—Journey To Regionals *new*
2. Various Artists, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse *new*
3. Christina Aguilera, Bionic *new*
4. Jack Johnson, To The Sea
5. Plies, Goon Affiliated *new*
6. Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
7. Glee Cast, Glee: The Music—Vol. 3, Showstoppers
8. Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
9. Dierks Bentley, Up On The Ridge *new*
10. Jewel, Sweet And Wild *new*
