Just recently, I managed to catch Showgirls completely unedited for the first time. Quite an accomplishment, right? The infamous 1995 bomb-turned-cult-classic that obliterated Elizabeth Berkley's fledgling career is a nonstop barrage of sequins, genitals, and over the top cattiness, a full-on cavalcade of secondhand embarrassment that deserves regular viewing. I had only seen the edited cable version, so I really only got to experience the full on sonic boom of campiness through the full monty.
When I saw the previews for Burlesque, I was in heaven. You take a gay icon, a powerhouse diva, a coming-of-age story of small town girl (who ends up living in a lonely world), sparkly dance numbers, and some b!tchy side eyes, set everything in Vegas, and it's the second coming of Showgirls.
As ready as I was to ironically enjoy the heck out of the sure to be bomb, I listened to the soundtrack and was blown away. I loved it. First single Express, for instance, is an example of the type of savvy genre straddling that Aguilera herself accomplished on 2006's ambitious but bloated Back to Basics. Its seductive snaps-and-sax intro fades into a pretty ferocious little bump-and-grind, seemingly able to double as a song that describes Christina Aguilera the performer and her character's journey in the movie. It's confident and fluid, punched up by a rumbling bassline and explosive hook that practically demands to be screamed into a hairbrush. The Beautiful People has a similar structure to Express (flirty intro, burlesque-leaning verses, big beautiful pop hook with some edge to it), but at its heart, it's a glitzy, uber feminine tribute to the audience that just so happens to heavily sample the Marilyn Manson song of the same name. While this sounds like an absolute train wreck in the making, it works because of Aguilera's commitment to selling it and its glittery production that incorporates the sample enough to where it sounds natural. The enjoyment of the song will really be determined by how you enjoy the sample, to be perfectly honest; the song is more than just the sample, but its crunchy guitars take up enough of the song to where it's pretty unavoidable. Bound to You is the set's big ballad, so of course it works perfectly. Where most of the record is extremely busy, Bound prefers to go sleek and supple, sounding like a toned down version of The Right Man from Back to Basics. That's definitely a compliment of the highest regard, as I found Man to be pretty exquisite; Bound isn't the type of stunner that that album closer was, but it finds Aguilera in her comfort zone both lyrically and vocally. The times that I love Christina the most are when she drops all attempts to be a foxy sex kitten and just sings; her honest delivery and admirable passion that are in abundance here are much welcomed in the post-Bionic era.
I have mixed feelings about the inclusion of songs like But I Am a Good Girl. While it's another solid song on the album, it's well under 3:00, so it feels like you're just listening to a clip from the movie instead of an actual song. I don't mind the soundtrack including pieces like this, but if you're going to go that route, include enough to where the album actually has some meat to it. Nonetheless, this is the song that people who think Christina oversings should listen to; instead of bludgeoning you to death with growls, runs, and high notes, she becomes a cutesy coquette, materialistic and cooingly flirtatious but done with a wink to keep you in her good graces. Leaning more toward the big band style of music than most of the rest of the album, it's quite charming and a decent glimpse at the movie, but had it been fleshed out a bit more, it would have been a highlight of the set. One of the two tracks by co-star Cher (the other being the ominous Welcome to Burlesque), You Haven't Seen the Last of Me may be a little stale, but Cher puts everything she's got into the song and sounds as good as she has in years on this Diane Warren power ballad. Like Express, this could apply to Cher the performer as well as her character in the movie, so it adds that slight bit of complexity that makes it a more enjoyable listen than it would have otherwise. I only wish Cher had gotten a better track to show her stuff on, as this sounds like dated adult contemporary fluff that is honestly just beneath her level of artistry. These same lyrics applied to a better executed ballad (one with clearer production and a bit more subtlety) would have been a showstopper, but it ends up being one of the weaker songs on the soundtrack. Tough Lover joins Something's Got a Hold on Me as the two Etta James covers on the record and both are high quality stuff. Aguilera often performed At Last early in her career, so it's a nice touch to see her peek into James's catalog for whatever reason. Tough is another one of those mini-songs (it's less than 2:00), but it packs enough punch to make an impact. Aguilera breaks out her growl to the fullest extreme on this jangly bit of blues, really letting loose in a way that's less showoff-y and more comfortable than past vocal explosions. It's a little more intimate, though, than, say, The Beautiful People, which is a nice change of pace, but the fleet footed piano and enthusiastic background vocal given it enough dimension to really stick in your mind when the album draws to a close.
The soundtrack to Burlesque is loud, colorful, and full of energy, a veritable smorgasbord of bright horns, swagger, and classic material that is all too short at just around 30 minutes. Aguilera has recaptured her mojo on this familiar territory, exuding the sturdy confidence that she exhibited on the similarly themed Back to Basics. She may be guilty of chasing hits when the competition increases, but there's no denying that she's got an absolutely insane voice (the best of her generation, but that's not saying much) and when she uses it to the best of her ability, she has nothing to worry about. Burlesque may be a quickly forgotten film that further derails Aguilera's career, but its accompanying album is something to be proud of. Here's hoping it's given the chance to be heard based on its own merits, as it is a glamorous, vivacious collection that is for the star in us all.
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