Stripped

From the album cover, you think it'd be a provocative, no holds-barred record. But the themes and messages in "Stripped" seem to go in different directions. I was in whiplash hearing "Can't Hold Us Down" transition to "Walk Away", a piano ballad. And this happens a few times, that the album becomes indulgent and overdone in its mood and runtime.
There were some gems that I love though: "Loving Me 4 Me" was so beautiful and reminded me of "4th of July". "Underappreciated" was also pretty groovy. I can hear her influences pretty clearly from both Mariah (vocally) and Janet (aesthetically). She seems to wear them on her sleeve (3-3.5)

Back in the 70s, Sony's vice president, Norio Ohga, requested that a CD be large enough to hold the entirety of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on a single disc. The benchmark was set using the longest known recording of the symphony, which clocked in at 74 minutes, some go to 78 minutes, and ever since then artists have strived to fill *every* second of that time, and sometimes it's been against their better judgment. Stripped is exactly one of those albums. There is a remarkably solid 35-to-40-minute pop record buried in here, but it's surrounded by way too much filler. As much as I respect her ambition to break free from her squeaky clean Disney image to deliver a bold, hyper-sexualized, and fiercely feminist statement, dragging the concept out with pointless interludes and a staggering 77 minute runtime makes the overall experience feel exhausting and disjointed.

That said, you can't ignore the woman's voice. When she actually nails it on tracks like "Beautiful" or "Fighter", she’s incredible. Yeah, she goes a little overboard with the vocal gymnastics, and some of the "edgy" stuff feels kind of forced, but if you look past the bloat, it’s still a pretty impressive showcase of talent that defined a whole era of pop.

3.5

She obviously has an amazing voice and there are some hits on this album but did it really need to be 80 mins long?

Not my jam, but impressive production and contributors.

My guilty pleasure.

Stripped is a really solid pop album, and Christina Aguilera is felt across it as a strong personality. There are a lot of fun, bouncy, infectious songs here, and some really great performances. There's really enjoyable Latin and Hip-Hop influence, and some good features too. In short, it's a great pop album, but I do have a glaring problem with it. It's really just much too long. 77 minutes is closing in on feature length film territory. I personally struggle a bit with pop ballads, so I'd advocate for cutting a lot of them. But I'm OK is an exception. It's kind of a vital moment here, and carries a lot of real pathos. I'd also single out Keep On Singin' My Song, which closes the album out in a kind of soulful way. That being said, the heart of Stripped is full of great pop songs, and I can float along to this album pretty happily.

Favorite track(s): If you're gonna write an album this boring, make sure it's well below a duration of 80 minutes.

Very much not my thing - the vocals are too showy for my taste. However, I was surprised that, in places, this is basically a neo-soul album. All nice and groovy. This was a pleasant surprise. The song about her abusive father is quite affecting. There are some moments that are too cheesy for me, but this wasn't the chore that I dreaded.

This sounds good but inauthentic

Hmm 2 for Christina 1 for Beyoncé. It's OK but it's way too long. Good singles tedious filler.

Way to long.. Fucking Christina...

Vele malen beter dan de vorige (Back to Basics). Nog steeds bloated en inconsistent.

so don't you bring me down

Christina Aguileras Album Stripped (2002) ist ein kraftvolles Statement weiblicher Selbstbestimmung. Mit Songs wie „Beautiful“ und „Fighter“ zeigt sie stimmliche Stärke und emotionale Tiefe. Zwar ist das Album mit über 70 Minuten etwas lang geraten, doch die stilistische Vielfalt zwischen Pop, R&B und Rock überzeugt.

I have never liked her voice. And 77 minutes of her whining just gets draining. I did quite like Dirrty because the Redman feature was entertaining.

-Xtina has more in common with Fred Durst than she'd like to admit. This album fits nicely with the "neo-eclectic" style of early 2000s MTV fodder. Limp Bizkit hybridized rap and rock for suburban white adolescents and this is basically market-tested r&b for the same audience's sisters.

-Sure, she can sing. But the nonstop vocal backflips drive me nuts. They are tasteless and aesthetically unpleasant in the same way a Yngwie Malmsteen guitar solo is technically virtuosic but musically unsatisfying. People whose musical diet is 90% contestants from singing competitions are likely to tell you "she's actually a really talented singer!"

-The ballads are pure schmaltz. Whitney she is not.

-I can appreciate the W Bush-era resilience feminism (sex positivity, body positivity, "strength," etc). But it's a bit ironic the themes of the album are all about finding inner beauty, stripping away the makeup and designer clothes, not needing a makeover, loving your curves, appreciating your imperfections, etc when you take one look at the album cover.

Someone said "I'm too old to pretend I give a shit about pop music."
I have this same feeling. Anyway, giving it a 3 for her vocals, she definitely has a great voice ;-)
But all wrapped up, this ain't my genre :-(

It's a little boring and lame but it's really not bad. I could see how popheads would like this. It's honestly perfectly fine for its genre.

I like her voice without the overly churched affectations. I prefer the jazz club portions of her music. She doesn't offend me in the way that many of her ilk did. I will never listen to this again but it didn't hurt my feelings excepting one regard...it was over an hour. That's a lot.