Stripped

The one thing that I hate seeing through the reviews is when someone shows obvious bias (shown with some people's great disdain for pop, hip hop/rap, 80s, etc.) They'll say "I despise hip-hop", "all 80s music sounds the same" and never give the material a fair chance when majority of the time the music is strong. This website gives you an album a day to listen to and helps expose us to music that we otherwise would've never listened to, so we need to put out biases aside. Everyone's entitled to have their opinion, but every album's entitled to have a fair chance and just be judged it on source value only. That being said, this is an extremely solid pop album. The latin, jazz, and R&B influences on this album are strong, and Aguilera's vocals are stellar throughout. Each song is poignant, and while they're all not perfect, they send an important message. Some of these songs will be getting a relisten, and helps show that pop music could and should be enjoyed by those of all ages. (On the sour side, this album is a little too long.)

Yesterday it was Britney Spears, today its Christina Aguilera. Dammit 1,001 this is not what I signed up for.

Early 00s Christina Aguilera appeals to my male lizard brain. I remember she had a sweet lil' Disney pop princess type hit sometime in the late 90s, and that was cute, but then when I was about 18 her unapologetically basic slut phase happened. I hated the music then and I think it actually sucks even more now. It's bog "producer written" pop, her voice isn't very good and over an hour of it is a total punish... but the way she so overtly and consciously lowered the bar, then got as nude as MTV would allow, started rubbing herself all over rappers like a cat in heat and pretended it was all in the name of female empowerment? hahaha, fuck yeah. 3/5 you disgustingly hot, morally bankrupt, awesome skank.

Yeh straight 5 for me. Yes, I know Beautiful and Dirrty (or whatever), great pop songs, but the whole album was full of great music. Popped it on before a run, no it didn't inspire me to great speeds, but I didn't want to stick my running playlist on. Gonna go listen to Beautiful again now.

My wife told me that if I didn't give this 5 stars she would leave me. But I think I would have given it 5 anyway. Even as someone who didn't think they were an Xtina fan, and didn't know any of her songs, this album is full of iconic songs that were ubiquitous in the early 2000s. Her voice is undeniable, and she toes the line of R&B without being too grating on the ears like some R&B artists on this list. Soooo I think I would have given it 5 anyway. But we'll never know.

I’ve had this album since it came out (21 years ago, oh god why did I do the math) and I’ve always liked it. Before today, I hadn’t listened to it from start to finish in many years (maybe since 2003). It is excessively long and should have been made into two albums, but I do enjoy the vast majority of the album. I suspect many reviewers won’t give this a fair chance since Christina was a pop princess back in the day, but this is a solid, heartfelt album with varied influences and honest lyrics.

At the turn of the 21st century, “Stripped” became one of the seminal feminist self-empowerment pop albums. Heralded by the likes of Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande as a major influence on their work, we have this album to thank for many a starlet navigating a thorny post-Disney Channel career. It’s a simple enough premise: keen to reclaim her identity after being marketed as a squeaky clean teen-pop star, Christina Aguilera becomes a self-empowered, confident and sexual 22 year old (still written by mostly male songwriters and producers, to the delight of the male gaze… but your feelings on that come down to which wave of feminism you subscribe to.) The opening, “Stripped Intro”, expresses the concept reasonably well through a collage of news headlines and celebrity gossip, before Aguilera delivers a nutshell-fitting diatribe against her critics. It serves as a springboard for a whopping 78 minutes that just about hold together, though don’t feel hugely cohesive as an artistic statement. Concept aside, the album’s defining feature is Aguilera’s voice: melismatic, soaring, dramatic. Her vocals are rarely toned down and vulnerable, and won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it’s hard to argue that she isn’t a quintessential 2000’s diva after hearing this. She’s at her best in the big ballads: “Beautiful” and “The Voice Within” are both magnificent songs and she fills every corner of them with passion and precision. “Cruz” is an unexpected highlight, being a musical-theatre style rock ballad. Every note of it is a corn-beef-hash-full of corniness, but she sells it to the last. There are a lot of other tracks I enjoyed here: “Underappreciated” is a gritty and tight funk jam; “Fighter” is fierce, uncompromising and even boasts a guitar solo; it’s nice to hear the less belty, more subtle tones of Aguilera’s voice in the hyper-sensual “Loving Me 4 Me”, which floats by like a barely recalled dream. There are some nice segues and satisfying gapless sequencing, which bring more cohesion than perhaps is actually there. But with such a lengthy running time, and Aguilera’s determination to show off her musical and vocal range, there are plenty of missteps. “Make Over” has a completely flat production with an abrasive, irritating refrain (stolen from the Sugababes… a bit of a low bar if you ask me). “Walk Away” and “Impossible” are forgettable piano-driven jazz ballads, and “I’m OK” and “Keep on Singing My Song” at the end feel tacked on and inconsequential: two ballads too many, “The Voice Within” being a much more appropriate ending. Most crucial of all to Aguilera’s aesthetic reinvention are the “WAP”s of their day, “Dirrty” and “Get Mine, Get Yours”. These are decent celebrations of casual sex and expressions of sexuality, but feel remarkably tame by today’s standards. They’re not showstoppers, but I tend to find these kind of songs rarely are: instead they’re a litmus test for our society’s squeamishness, like dropping a naked pebble into a puddle of prudes to count the ripples of shock value. With that, she certainly succeeded, and “Stripped” remains potent twenty years later: something worth commending.

I’m too old to pretend I give a shit about pop music.

Already listened to the album, it's perfect no skips.

This takes me back

One of the better pop albums I've ever listened to. Versatile and bold. Some ballads, some stronger beats. You really can't ask for much more in this genre.

Is that her poosy?!?!?! Oh...

Twisted and evil album. A true glimpse into the wicked mind of Christina Aguilera, best known for being one of the voice actors in the 2017 hit classic "The Emoji Movie". Shit's fucked. No way to unfuck it.

An hour and a quarter of empowering soul and pop ballads with the occasional latin and rock flavour, belted out by Christina Aguilera's increadible voice. There are five monster singles on here, but it's the album tracks which are more interesting and give the album it's character. The lead single, Dirrty, sounds massively out of place both musically and thematically, and should have been left off the album. Despite that, this is still a surpringly mature and enjoyable record. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Beautiful Date listened: 13/03/23

i would literally marry her.

Stripped is the fourth album by American singer Christina Aguilera. The pop/R&B album has elements of soul, rock. hip hop and Latin music, with themes on self-respect, sex, and feminism. Christina produced this album as a transition from her teen pop style to a grown up attitude. At release, Stripped received mixed critical reviews - many about the album's lack of focus - but commercially the album performed amazingly. It almost topped the charts in most countries worldwide, is certified 5x platinum in the US, 6x platinum in the UK, triple platinum in all of Europe, was nominated for many and won a single Grammy, and is considered one of the most influential pop albums of all time. Despite the "lack of focus" and large amount of freedom that allowed Christina to record so many different types of songs - which critics took issue with - this album is extremely popular. It was a great album IMO and I loved hearing some of Christina Aguilera's older music that I haven't heard in a long time. She really did make a statement with Stripped that she wasn't going to be a cute, cookie-cutter pop icon, but instead try to make entertaining music with a broad vocal range. It's an important album for women, but appreciated by all types of people to this day. This is my favorite album of hers so far.

Pleasantly surprised by this solid album. Thoroughly enjoyed it musically and lyrically.

pretty good vocal performance, average production, and cringily simplistic lyrics 5/10

Better than I feared. Would have been better if it was half hour shorter

I’m not the target audience for this type of music but I listened and it’s actually pretty good. Slow numbers, upbeat stuff, actual poignant lyrics (at times, lol)…….. Probably won’t listen again and I’m not going to look up any more of her stuff but I was pleasantly surprised.

I remember Dirrty being considered "shocking" at it's time, for being overly sexual. I guess the times have changed... what didn't change is that I didn't care for the music as a kid and I don't care for it now. While I admit the songs show a wider musical variety with Aguilera staying true to her voice - she manages to make every song sound bland, soulless and mass-produced in every style she uses and her voice sounds trained but without personality, regardless of style. The music is never so terrible that it's painful, but I did start skipping parts on the second half. It's simply not interesting in any way and goes on for way too long. I do like the lyrical themes from what I've heard. So kudos on some of the messages. Now, if only the music were interesting...

Middle of the road pop-R&B. There’s better about. If she wasn’t a great singer this album wouldn’t be on this list. Great voice though. Sot Fighter Infatuation 2/5

I heard the singles from Stripped when the album came out. I've never been interested in Christina Aguilera's music. Portions of the album were okay, separated by tracks that I did not like. I'm not the audience that this music was intended for. After listening to a full album I'm not even sure I am any more able to recognize Aguilera, if I were to hear something new (or something from this album that I just listened to). I'm guessing that I will forget this soon enough. When "okay" is stretched out thin over such a long album, I will have to confess that I did not like the album.

Boring. Talented singer but this is way too long and many of the songs sound the same.

2.5/5. The music is not bad, but 1hr 17 minutes is very long for this type of music. I don't think there are bad songs on here, but this album being this long makes it kind of enjoyable to listen to.

I was ready to bitch about this album, but for the genre it's in, it really is not bad at all. The reason she wasn't taken seriously definitely had to do with the transformation from Micky Mouse Club Girl to her slutty image around this time. Which fully felt forced and fake. Even the title of 'stripped' did her no favours. And that's too bad, because she's an amazing vocalist with a voice that can do R&B as easy as soul, pop and even rocky. The album itself, with its 77 minutes, has some great songs on it, and some terrible filler. It could've done with some major cutting and demoting about 5 to 6 songs to B-sides. And like her voice, this album is all over the place, from jazzy funk ballads, to poppy piano ballads, to soulful powersongs, to rocky bangers. It feels very disjointed. All in all, I didn't mind it, but also won't listen to it again.

1.5 stars. This was rough. Like dollar store Destiny's Child and then at times trying to bring in rock? elements with whiny guitars. "Beautiful" being a decent pop song only thing that saves it from 1 star.

It's the most basic pop I've ever heard.

Stripped is a case in point for a book I might write in one incarnation or another. The subject would be “what happened to pop music over the years”, and it will discuss how the mighty have fallen: how the likes of The Beatles music deteriorated into commodities such as this here album.

So many standouts! I like the musical tension and overall mood of everything

love pop, obviously. christina's vocals are out of this world. faves: fighter (the guitars!!), impossible, beautiful

DAMN I WANTED THIS AS MY NEXT ONE SGAHIQOQLAKSNSHGTSGTS I have obviously heard the songs 'Dirrty' and 'Beautiful' before. I have the CD! I like the montage of 'celebrity gossip' (for want of a better term) in the intro. It definitely sets a tone and a scene for the rest of the album. The continuation of the intro later in the album is also an interesting technique I've never seen before. The second track instantly cements it as pop. I was not alive when Christina Aguilera was very famous, so I don't know whether this is really a 'new direction' as she claimed. I doubt it, to be frank. However, just because it's pop doesn't mean it's bad. I didn't think this album would really be amazing enough to be included in this guide, but it seems pretty good. Nice message of feminism in 'Can't Hold Us Down'. I can understand why people didn't (and don't) like this. But it's honestly very, very good! She has a great voice, and it's not just meaningless, producer-written, bubblegum drivel. I hear influence from Latin music. All very danceable -- not necessarily a bad thing! There is a time and a place for art rock, and a time and place for Christina Aguilera. 'Infatuation', 'Underappreciated' and 'Dirrty' all remind me of each other. Rina Sawayama definitely heard 'Loving Me 4 [sic] Me' before recording 'Love Me 4 [sic] Me'. Not only are the titles (obviously) very similar but the songs sound rather like each other. I LOVE 'BEAUTIFUL'. I like the violins that recur throughout. I presume they're synthesisers, however. :( 'Dirrty' does not belong on this album -- it sounds very different. I know she wanted to shed her image, but she could have done that and then left this overly sexualised song off the album... However, I suppose it signified that her old image had now been 'stripped'. I think 9/10. Nevertheless, it deserves 5/5, because I'll be listening again. I did debate giving it a 4, but that's not happening after listening through fully, mainly because ARGHHHH I LOVE 'BEAUTIFUL' SO MUCH. Not for the first time, I wish this website operated using a scale of 10, not 5.

She's got it all - amazing voice, meaningful lyrics, instruments.

There are so many bangers perfectly dispersed throughout this album that even though I initially shuddered at the 1hr 17min run time I ended up having a outrageously great time with it. Fighter, Beautiful, Dirrty (with two R's thank you very much) all fucking top top shelf pop songs. Beautiful in particular is an amazing song, would be a great Karaoke song if you can actually sing. Impossible is an excellent demonstration of her range too, big Amy Winehouse vibes.

Holding up a mirror to the world and screaming "SUCK MY DICK, HITLER", Aguilera manages to squeeze her smoky orange skin into some questionable chaps and remind us all who we really are. A timeless classic that stands the test of time.

Fantastic album

What has always exhausted me about Xtina was her incessant use of vocal runs, and her general oversinging. I had expected to hear all of that with this record, but instead I got layers. She exhibits control over her voice - only belting when she needs to and when it's most impactful. On the upbeat tracks she's energetic and feisty, on her slower songs she's subtle but dynamic. Her voice aside, these are great pop songs. They're radio-friendly but not bubblegum; the influences from R&B, latin pop, soul, and rock are obvious, and they elevate the album. This is a showcase of what pop music can be when it's trendy but not overly manufactured. And the themes she sings about are important for the general public to hear, aren't they? Simplistic maybe, but still relevant nonetheless. I legit remember hearing Beautiful at the tiny age of 8 and being awoken to the value of self-respect! Lastly, what a perfect source of nostalgia. Nearly everything about this is so reminiscent of my childhood music in the early '00s, from the sudden shift to sexual pop music to the inclusion of Spanish phrases in any song's chorus or bridge. The only problem is that it's long. Albums rarely need to be over an hour long. But fine, that's forgivable in this case. Standout tracks (besides the very familiar singles) are Walk Away, Loving Me 4 Me, Impossible, and Get Mine, Get Yours.

ok

Very good

Amazing, love this

Stripped Intro - okay get it. 5/5 Can't Hold Us Down - this era of clap-back albums is kinda sad. like i think most femme fronted groups or artists, all got the same criticism that Nikki and Cardi and Cupcakke got today. nothing changed for hip hop :/ (4/5 good not my vibe) Walk Away - (all you gotta do is Walk AwAaaAayyeyey vine) this is the RnB version of Before He Cheats. (4/5 okay good album pacing) Fighter - jesus she has a lot to say okay go off sis 5/5 i didn't know i knew this song. Infatuation - this is that early 00s sound i grew up on. (3/5@me i didn't get into this kind of music and i wish i had had better taste) Loving Me 4 Me - AUGH yes we love numbers gimme that y2k baby. this is a good breather (4/5 it fucks i'm sorry) Impossible - mmm we're in the slow RnB again. i feel like i've heard this song before (2/5 she is talented though) Underappreciated - i feel so bad, i feel like i've heard this on a Sims radio station before (4/5 in my head it sounds like Simlish i really don't know why) Beautiful - oh my god this song (i don't know what to give this because it is one of many songs ruined for me from service jobs) Make Over - okay damn go off (5/5) Cruz - it's giving a country song (3/5 eh) Soar - this is a movie song for sure (3/5 not a great movie but a cult classic type) Get Mine, Get Yours - oh 90s funk hip hop. (4/5 it fucks but it's not quite there yet) Dirrty - okay this is the kind of party jams i remember (5/5 this fucks) The Voice Within - this is just a slow song. it's just a ballad (2/5 a little boring for me) I'm OK - this is a very sad song. (5/5 ouch) Keep On Singin' My Song - a good pick-me-up song for the end of this album. (4/5 it works but a little long for me) overall this album was very good. i enjoyed listening to this more than i thought i would. so i think i have to give it a 5/5. even the interludes flowed.

4.5/5 Pop Abum almost perfect!!!! The only song that didnt fit was drrty. Xtina's voice carries and she shows a really great range here :)

Pretty damn good. Not really my jam but she has an amazing voice. 5 stars.

talented vocalist

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

klasyka popu, hit za hitem, nikomu nie trzeba przedstawiac

Honestly?…….. good album

Alot of the songs sound the same

I really liked this album the first time I heard it and some of these songs are still in my gym mix

Two principal facts about this album - one - it's far too long, and two - if it hadn't been so long it would have easily been a five star album. Both sides - the Dirty/Fighter hard anthems and the Beautiful/Voice Within gorgeous ballads are blimmin ace - it's just that with the length, you end up getting less good stuff. Some of the other bits are great too - one track sounds so Sugababes I believe they sued, there's another Latin infused track that J Lo would have killed for.

Definitely too long with some interesting choices as far as song order goes, but damn she can belt. The singles (mostly) crush it and the majority of the other tracks are still really good and mix the sound up. You can definitely see how this influences the sound of artists going forward, Ariana Grande for example shares a very similar vibe.

Wat een stem! De tedere nummers zijn even goed als de stevige.

Not bad

Surpringsly banging! Her voice really is amazing and the album does have a strong melodic focus. 20 tracks is too long and songs like Dirrty and Make Over detract from the overall experience. But Walk Away, Fighter, Beautiful, Cruz, Keep on Singing... and more. Really enjoyed this.

This surprised me. I knew she was good but this is better than I expected

Historically I haven't been a bit Christina Aguilera fan but wow this album pows doesn't it?! Whilst it's not something I'd necessarily go back to I really appreciated it. Full of energy

Legendary album, she has such an amazing voice and so inspirational/affirming! I couldn't bring myself to save any songs for everyday listening though because so many of these songs are so nostalgic. For me, Aguilera is such classic 2000's music that she is to be enjoyed only on special occassions.

Really enjoyed this! Loved listening to some old classics, Beautiful, Fighter, Can't Hold Us Down, Dirrty, I'm OK, and also some I hadn't heard before, Infatuation was a highlight of these. Some of these songs really spoke to me when I was growing up, she covered some heavy themes in her lyrics and was a real icon speaking up for the struggles and rights of women and girls. One of the first voices I heard highlighting these issues growing up in an extremely conservative family and I'm so pleased she made it mainstream with this message. Also really appreciate the R&B vibes and Spanish influences throughout the album. A really nice throw-back listen.

Yeah it’s pretty good if too long.I don’t have much to say.It’s a really varied for a pop record which is good and bad.

Gotta say, this one surprised me. Sure, it’s way too long at 77 minutes, but they threw everything including the kitchen sink at this one and fuck me, most of it stuck, with a surprising amount of depth to most of the songs. Aguilera kills it vocally whilst keeping the wailing and vocal gymnastics to a minimum. The result is one of the better pop/rnb albums.

The 00s was a crazy decade. Sex was omnipresent in pop music. Here in "Stripped", sexuality is also clearly visible, yet, the album raises topics such as self-respect and feminism. Respect to Christina! Incredible energy, beautiful voice, wow

Reading the other reviews you would think this album is terrible, people on this are seriously deluded so maybe I shouldn’t concern my self with their opinions and try to be as unbiased to my own tastes as possible. Christina has extreme talent. Her voice has that grit that many female vocalists wish they could imitate. She makes solid pop songs. This album is very complete, the only oddness about it is how stylistically distinct each song is. We’re talking rock, hip hop, soul, power ballad. The work that went into creating this is very evident. Personally I enjoyed it. My main critique is the length. I think if this were a 10 song album, a 4 would be likely.

This was just a bit too long for me… so I’m not sure it’s something I will listen to from beginning to end again. Still, lots of great songs on here and I mostly enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t complain about a shorter version.

I was frankly put off by the 78 minute running time of this album that came to us on my birthday. And the first half of the album (ten tracks if you're counting) had me dreading the rest. While I was impressed by Aguilera's powerful and agile voice, I found no hooks, nothing that made me want to hear anything again. Luckily, the second half, starting with the lovely Beautiful, made up for it and then some. (I actually knew Beautiful from the NBC show Smash. Remember Smash? But I didn't know who had originally done it. Ah, Smash.) From then on, every song got to me in some way or another and completely stuck the landing, leaving me wanting more. That half of the album gets 5 stars.

I really liked most of what I was hearing on this album, but how was that 1 hour and 18 minutes? I could have sworn that I was listening half the day.

I didn't expect a long, epic album from Christinia Aguilera, but I suppose that her being underestimated is what led to this expressive and varied manifesto. I was surprised and delighted at how much I enjoyed it.

Beautiful but bloated. Very obvious how she got a stranglehold for a while in the 2000s.

Well this was absolutely excellent. If the dud "Cruz" was cut, this would be straight up a 5 star album for me. Catchy songs, great variety without teetering into feeling too dispersed and unfocused, extremely well performed on the part of Xtina and the studio musicians. This is just good fucking pop.

Although I found many songs on the album just too similar sounding and the album itself was way too long, the 3-4 hits/classics are enough to objectively push it to 4

Raw and bold for pop music then and even more so now

What the heck? I guess it shows that I shouldn't assume lame pop artists never grow up. First I discovered that Kesha grew up, and now I see that Christina did as well.

Such a great album, lots of different musical vibes, plus great singles.

Great! Soar was my favourite track.

J'ai le 4 sur 5 très facile quand Robert nous balance autre chose que ses groupes de rock et d'indie à la con. Sans parler des groupes de punk et de métal à vomir.

4.5

A bit long, but full of iconic songs.

2nd Listen Christina Aguilera from USA Genre: Pop, R&B Standouts: Beautiful, Fighter, Can't Hold Us Down, Dirrty, The Voice Within. Other: Walk Away, Impossible, Underappreciated, Easy to listen to. Every song is fantastic. Best song on the album: Beautiful. 4/5

3.5/5

I absolutely didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did.

Only knew a few; quite enjoyed. 4/5

Awesome voice! Great album

Ironically, for an album called ‘Stripped’, it could easily have lost half the songs on here and been a 5 star album. Some great tunes on here but it’s too long. Decent pop album that didn’t need to be over 75 minutes long. Wanked myself raw to the Dirrty video back in the day, too. 👍🏾

I mean it slaps at times I see why she was such an icon

enjoyed it more than I expected - a lot of nostalgia from this era

Though I admit that Christina has a powerful voice, her style is not typically my favorite. There are, however, four songs on here that I really enjoyed. The last half of the album is rich with jewels. I’ll probably listen to it again.

Say what you will, there is no denying this woman has some GOAT pipes. Is this particular album the best showcase of her prodigious talent? Not quite, but still lots to love in here. Beautiful, in particular, is perfection. Dirrty is just good fun. But it does go on a bit.

I was expecting another really poorly aged early 2000s pop album but this is closer to survivor by destiny’s child than some Mary j blige album in more ways than one. Not only because it’s aged well but also because it once again makes me feel like a bad bitch when I listen to some of these songs, mainly walk away and fighter. There are a couple songs in the second half that all sound the same, slow, and Amy winehouse esque and make it feel a bit overlong but overall it was a really solid listen. Christina has an excellent singing voice and I also really liked beautiful.

Oh I know this album well. I listened plenty in those way too low jeans, on my discman. Such a great bit of pop music and a nice bit of defiant art in response to the mudslinging she had to endure from the media as a woman in the public eye in that decade.

Solid pop-record, but way too many fillers

I'd only heard a few of her songs before I listened to this album today. For the few songs I'd heard before, I always thought she had an incredible voice. This album solidifies that, and the songs are all quite good. Even though I don't listen to a lot of this style of music, I am glad I finally got around to listening to one of her albums.

Ah yes Xtina I memba this. Christina was trying to prove she was more than the other manufactured pop stars & I think she did it. I love her voice, could use a few less ohh ahh ohahs tho. Also GIRL POWER!

My heart sank when I saw 20 songs to listen to (Apple Music) and I can be a bit of a music snob when the catogory is pop as I never listen to chart shows. However this was a revelation, some great soul, jazz and even the regular pop songs I enjoyed. Would not necessarily buy this but would be happy to add some of the songs on rotation.

3.5 rounded up due to bops

7/10

I think her voice is great. Much prefer it to Mariah or Britney. There are some great songs on this. Hats off to Linda Perry!

ONe of the most underrated voices. She is so soulful. Love her. And "Beautiful" is an amazing song that lifts so many people up!

A solid early 2000s pop album!

A very good pop album, full of good, listenable songs. 5/5: Beautiful, Fighter, Can't Hold us Down, Walk Away, Dirrty. The Voice Within 4/5: Infatuation, Loving Me 4 Me, Impossible, Soar, 4.5

You know I loved this. Incredible voice, some jams I forgot about. Big fan!

Better than an average post-pop princess performance. Some intelligent, thoughtful songs.