Fair to suggest some of us may perhaps have a couple of issues with this lass?…

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[4.91]

Kat Stevens: The last time Nicole attempted a solo career she sounded like Taylor Hanson. Now she denies all knowledge of sounding like Taylor Hanson and instead sounds like the leader of the Ant Hill Mob chewing a cigar. Intriguing! I was always pretty certain that no-one had ever seen Taylor Hanson and the leader of the Ant Hill Mob in the same room at the same time, but I had no idea that Nicole was the intermediate pupae stage.
[8]

Martin Skidmore: If you imagine “Toxic” but with less imagination, then pump it up as if it wants to RAWK as well as dance, it might end up something like this. She’s a less strong singer than Britney, and this does sometimes feel as if they have thrown everything at the production to compensate for that. This means it feels a mess in places, and Nicole at the front is kind of uninteresting, but it does sometimes feel like a potent banger too.
[7]

Josh Langhoff: Far be it from me to gloat over ‘Zinger’s elusive solo chart success, especially since I loved the way she sang “Buttons”, but this just sounds desperate, like she’s casting about for whichever lascivious cliches and obnoxious beat’ll give her a hit. Even the title has a proven track record, but BBD and Alice Cooper’s “Poison”s actually sounded poisonous. At least the hook seems to hit a comfortable spot in her throat, a good thing since she sings it OVER AND OVER.
[3]

Anthony Easton: Is this the third or fourth attempt to make her happen? Proof that the pop machinery that we assume to be so Machiavellian occasionally fails spectacularly, for all of our graces.
[0]

Zach Lyon: In which a mediocre “Toxic” beat becomes sentient, quickly accepts that it must save the world, and finally overpowers Nicole Scherzinger, who now does all singing and recording from an FHM photo shoot. Nicole learns a valuable lesson: if you don’t have a personality, beginning a song by shouting your name doesn’t, in fact, sound like you’re making a statement of purpose, but rather an impression of a Pokemon. She gives up singing, realizing that supernatural blandness should only be used for good. “Just doing my job,” mediocre “Toxic” beat responds.
[3]

Tom Ewing: Starts off with such a brutal, anti-naturalist RedOne riff that the mere presence of a chorus – let alone such a jolly one – feels like an unnecessary compromise. Well, unless you’re Nicole Scherzinger and going all-out for a hit, I guess, so bring it on, woeful trance breakdown and all!
[5]

Jonathan Bogart: The opening riff just makes me wish this was actually a metal song, instead of a super-generic dance-pop song with, for some reason, a metal riff.
[4]

Katherine St Asaph: Who the hell upgraded RedOne? OK, the chorus is a slightly inflated version of what he’s done for years, but that’s not what you hear first. His verses are practically weaponized, and Nicole roars through them like she’s got something to prove — and at this stage in her career she basically does. The lyrics are silly, but “bad girl power” is at least as galvanizing as unmodified girl-power, of which it was always the subtext. And besides, lyrics aren’t the point; the point is to stand back and be stunned and wonder why you suddenly miss RedOne’s chart dominance.
[8]

Alex Macpherson: RedOne’s still a hack – Lady Gaga must literally have to whip decent productions out of him – but if he’s got to work with anyone else, it may as well be Nicole Scherzinger: unlike most, she has more than enough power to dominate even his relentless pound. And lest those accusing her of copying Gaga forget, Gaga herself emerged as someone who’d essentially replicated the Scherzinger aesthetic and dressed it up as “art” or “pants” or whatever BS she’s thankfully ceased babbling about. Wisely, the original Scherzinger is continuing to mine the slightly evil femme fatale territory that she’s so naturally adept at, all cruel, glittering eyes and sharpened claws. It goes without saying that “Poison” is no “Whatever You Like” or “Supervillain”, but it’ll do.
[8]

Alfred Soto: Katy Perry’s been around long enough to boast followers. Not that Scherzinger is one of those unrepentant belters. Instead she shows Perry’s talent for shouting over a programmed backbeat and power chords and the reified misogyny with which Perry has seduced a considerable portion of listeners into believing she speaks to the alienated. I don’t doubt Scherzinger believes that a woman belting — sorry, shouting — the title metaphor absolves her of exploitation. We’ll soon see.
[3]

Jer Fairall: A Gaga chorus and a set of Britney verses exposes Scherzinger as overreaching when striving for the former and pandering when stooping for the latter, which probably locates her position within the current pop diva pantheon quite succinctly. Extra points for that manic and genuinely unsettling NIN-style synth riff, but demerits for mixing the whole thing at such a level that is at times actually uncomfortable to listen to: there is no volume at which I can set this without it either being an indecipherable murk or an overbearingly noisy headache.
[5]