Stripped

Soul. Not my genre.

It grew on me. It has a focused concept and great vocals, but it drags in a lot of places.

'Can't Hold Us Down' and 'Dirty' are pretty good songs, but this album has 20 tracks and 77 minutes of music, so my mind inevitably started to wander. 'Stripped' is no longer in my edition of 1001 Albums (which ends with David Bowie's The Next Day), so I started thinking which relatively recent releases could replace the albums cut from the next edition. Here are my suggestions: - Big Thief: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2022) - Aldous Harding: Warm Chris (2022) - Alvvays: Blue Rev (2022) - Wednesday: Rat Saw God (2023) - Jessica Pratt: Here in the Pitch (2023) - Nala Sinephro: Endlessness (2024) - MJ Lenderman: Planning Fireworks (2024) Since the latest edition was from 2021, I only listed albums released after that.

"Fighter" is one of the best pop songs of all time. That's all

Omg all these bangers on one album who knew ????

Can't deny she's got a great set of pipes on her, but I didn't enjoy the tone. Giving 2 stars just because when Fighter came on it triggered me like a sleeper agent into dancing.

HUNG LOW LIKE BERNIE MAC

Das hät so banged

Christina overbelts her voice sometimes but I guess that’s testament to her vocal prowess. This was a misunderstood album when it came out with people focusing on the slutty image. But over time the lyrics of empowerment redeemed the album eventually. The sexy imagery I guess is a heavy handed reaction to rebuild her brand from a cookie cutter teen pop star but there was a message that Christina wanted to impart in spite of it all. I like the Latin influences in songs like Infatuation.

I did not expect an X-tina album! Never been a fan, I appreciate this is kind of her “taking back her narrative” album and controlling her sound but I don’t think it’s great. Maybe she should’ve gone halfway and took control of her songwriting but teamed up with some better producers, it all sounds like Pharrell and Timbaland knock offs.

2.6 Of the 2000's divas, I can stand Xtina the most. I didn't find the vocals too much or anything like that; she's a great singer, but obviously, a little restraint could go a long way. A bit disappointed with how generic the whole thing there we a couple neo soul offerings that I actully kinda liked but not overly original. I was going to write a thought about the themes (feminism, emopowerment, being yourself etc, etc,) and how it was all a bit much, but realized it wouldnt be that valid of a argument after I knocked one out to the Dirty video , for ole time sake.

It’s not bad, but it’s not great either

Second Christina Aguilera album, and I don’t think we even needed one

Wish this weren't as long but the good songs here are pretty damn good, very nice production and vocals

really nice

surprised at the hate on this. i don't particularly care that it's all over the place; all 77 minutes feel earnest, earned, sexy. can't say i know much about miss x and i won't pretend her voice is wildly technically impressive, but the appeal is absolutely present

белая девка думает что она черная

Honestly it was pretty good. Lots of bops. A few boring songs and it did run long, but definitely better than the lion's share of other albums on here.

Can't hate on this. Some of the songs toward the end dragged on but I've always loved xtina and that voice!

Very long album (couldn't listen on one sitting), with a nice variety of pop centric sounds and a few fun hits I remember hearing on the radio when I was a kid. 2.5/5

I'm more of a Britney man myself, but this is a decent pop album albeit quite lengthy

She's an amazing singer that's a fact🥹So talented. I'm just not very fond of the sad songs... "Dirrty" the best "Fighter" my favorite "Loving Me 4 Me", "The Voice Within" and "Beautiful" OK👍 Some deeply personal songs... Thx Christina for pouring your heart out ❤️

"But she can really sing" This album is complete trash, another what the fuck moment for this list.

Not really my thing, but I can respect the craft.

Listened driving to slo to move in

She is technically great singer but this is completely generic pop-RnB with the worst of that early 00s, smooth production. Way too long, should be half the length, could easily cut 10 songs out of the 20, bloated beyond belief, you'd weep at the money this album probably cost to make, I was losing the will to live way before the end. Soar is some pile of self empowerment shite. Nothing interesting, no melodic surprises, no risks, completely forgettable songs. Genie in a Bottle is a million times better than anything here. Beautiful is saccharine but catchy enough tune in fairness, Impossible was ok, that's it really, Dirrty has aged like milk. 2/10

It’s fine for what it is, which is that version of samey pop music that was ubiquitous in the early 2000s. Christina has pipes, but it also sounds like she’s trying too hard a lot of the time. 2.5/5

08/20 Meh. Too long

This is perfectly fine - it’s not my thing, but her voice is extraordinary, and while it may be a bit too safe and over-produced for the majority of the run time there are some good tracks her (ok, principally the big singles, but Cruz is a great track). It does go a bit Disneyfied in places - the girl may try and break out of The House of Mouse, but it’s gonna leave its nibble marks.

I can already tell you that this is going to be too long but she has a helluva voice

Хороший поп альбом, вокал красивый, интересное сочетание стилей

Day 372 Cracking voice but definitely an overlong album and she doesn’t half over sing sometimes Highlights Infatuation Under appreciated Keep on singing my song

7/10

Honestly, a good deal better than I expected. Slick pop production built around star power. A landmark of music? No, but decent for what it is. -.5 for being waaaaay too long.

Meh

Se ero Christinlla on Britney Spearsin että hän sai kunnon R&B tuottajat. Hänen laulu oikein hyvin sopivat. Siksi muutan nykypäivänä mieleni että Christina on parempi

While there are some songs I recognize from my younger years this isn’t the type of music that resonates with me. My wife on the other hand would give it a 10/5.

I was prepared to hate this, but it really wasn’t bad. Totally fine R&B-flavored pop. Despite not being the sort of thing I normally listen to, I thought it was pleasant for the most part, and it gets a boost from nostalgia.

Showed her range but didn’t love the slow ones, of which there were many. New to me, liked Infatuation best.

This album was fine, but this style of music isn't my cup of tea.

It's not bad. It's good pop music but it comes during that weird time in the CD era where the idea was to fill up every minute. This would be a better 45 minute album -- most records would be.

Only complaint is that it's too long, otherwise a great pop album.

Timeless classic - opens with a dramatic montage about her feud with Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst. I hate it? Her voice is very good I know, but I hate it. Nothing is lazy or ugly exactly all the backing instrumentation is pretty good, but it does nothing for me. I think it’s the pop-R&B thing that’s off-putting to me and I don’t think I can get over it. Just a little too sappy and all the edges are sanded down. Let this not be taken as a rebuke against girl power. I am a staunch lifelong supporter of girl power. Though I am not a girl myself, I consider myself an ally. And therefore I do support the messages held within the songs and I also support that the lady from Four Non-Blondes wrote most of them. But overall the album really brings me back to being in the backseat of a car in 4th grade wishing I had the power to change the radio station. Now I am 32 wishing I had the power to stop listening to this album. Thank you 1001albumsgenerator for letting me relive the horrors of childhood.

perfectly fine early 00's ringtone pop ft. a bunch of female empowerment, a dash of horniness, and a good mix of r&b hiphop beats. a bit bloated but like... I didn't mind listening to this at all? 3.5/5

Fighter er stadig fed. Et bedre gensyn end først forventet. Det svinger ret godt i stil, og gør det ret nemt at komme igennem et ellers ret langt album.

Det er musikhistorisk et sjovt album, der peger både bagud og fremad. Den fræsende guitar på Fighter viser hvor meget rockmusikken fyldte for 25 år siden, selv i massive popprinsessers musik. Samtidig peger interludes og rapper-featurings frem til den dominans som Hip-Hop har fået i populærkulturen de seneste årtier. Det var lige her omkring årtusindsskiftet at det startede. Walk Away er en saucy lille sang på næsten 6 minutter. Det er Jazzy-Soul i bedste Mary J. Blige skabelon. Det er faktisk en rigtig fin sang. Man kan vel ikke sige Christina Aguilera uden også at sige Britney. Og hvis man sammenligner dette album med det Britney Spears har på listen, så er der mere kvalitet at finde hos Miss Aguilera. Ikke mindst når det kommer til vokalpræstationen.

Of the big pop artists from the late ‘90s/early aughts, Christina Aguilera is the most talented, and it’s not close. The only thing keeping this from a 5 is CD-era bloat. I was today years old when I learned that Damien is quoting the actual song when he says “don’t look at me”.

actually insanely good and goes harder than i ever expected.

High 3, just think it drags too much.

I hated other albums more

This is another long one, but as with the other album I had from her, I'm impressed by her as an artist. There's plenty on display here to admire. The songs are generally pretty good, and there's lots of different styles. I think she has a ton of talent, even if it's not enormously my thing. 3.5 rounded down.

Another vocal gymnast who can certainly sing, but uses every trick in the book to sing ALL the notes. At times (You're Beautiful, Can't Hold Us Down, The Voice Within) her songs seem torn from the gritty pages of a new age self help book. And at nearly 80 minutes it really does go on too long and seems unfocussed. I do like some decent pop music, but I'd prefer Millie Small singing My Boy Lollipop to this bloated, self-important artistic statement.

Of course when this album came out in 2002 and I was a 15 year old male I watched the diirty music video multiple times! But I never listened to any more apart from the odd track on the radio. I was expecting this album to just be ‘another pop album’ however, the issues raised in some of the tracks are quite poignant and especially on ‘I’m ok’ it gives you an outlook on life of others that make you step back and open your eyes. The albums intro which is normally a bug bear actually explains and demonstrates what and why this album is. The spoken outtro at the end of the last track though… not needed. The album is 77 minutes … that is tooooo long.. however if you stripped (see what I did there?!?) it back to 45/50 minutes this would make an unbelievable pop record, Christina’s voice is sublime, many of the tracks are superb, the mix of r and b added into the mix adds something without trying too hard. The singles I’ve heard on the radio spread nicely among the album and if I could remove 5/6 tracks as I say it would make this album even better. Fave track- ‘Beautiful’ and ‘the voice within’ showcased the voice best so both of them. Worst track- obviously the intro was in contention but infinite job, ‘keep On singing my song’ was a weak ending to the album and the spoken outtro on the end again unneeded- it’s a shame a rejig a removal of a few tracks and ending with ‘the voice within’ would have been perfect! Very impressed actually 8/10

Christina I just don't get it. All the whoo ooos and woah woahs. It all means nothing to me. There was a little 3 song run that I quite enjoyed: Beautiful - great single Make Over - stolen from Sugababes Cruz - Lynyrd Skynyrd esque But that was it, I'm afraid. 3/10

Fun!

What a time for a teenage girl in 2002. CA brings a lot to the table here. Plenty of highlights on this album (Shout out to RedMan for the feature). A pop album with a mix of a variety of other genres that blends together nicely.

There were some good songs on this album, but many forgettable ones. I kinda forgot how good Christina Aguilera can be sometimes.

I'm not very familiar with Christina Aguilera's music. Not my favourite style but I found this album pretty good. However, it is definitely too long. Some songs I think are fine: "Walk Away", "Infatuation", "Impossible", "Beautiful", or "I'm OK" (probably my favourite track). Overall, this is a solid 3-star album for me.

This is for my girls all around the world! Look, this album slaps. My sister owned it when we were in middle/high school and it definitely got played repeatedly (I thought it was too long then, and it's still too long now). I was genuinely surprised to still know all the songs. It's not one I'm going to be listening to all the time, but it was a nice blast from my past today. Unpopular opinion though: I hate the song "Beautiful". I know, I just find it too cliche. I'm not a fan.

Is nice, but not my jam. I still have a fav and it's make over, that song is great, love it.

4/5

pop/r&b mixed with low rise jeans. ok then

A manufactured album for manufactured fans.

Amazing voice, meh music, way too long an album.

I always feel like Xtina doesn't get the props she deserves as a singer- she really is one of the greats. Her voice is powerful, she shows skill and range, and her hits are catchy. The album as a whole, however, is slightly worse than the sum of its parts. Lots of great songs, but lots of duds too. It also went on too long- it definitely could have used some editing down. Overall- still good. Probably 3.5/5, but I'm willing to upgrade to a 4 based on vocal talent alone

She has a spectacular voice and is not afraid to try out different things musically. And her themes and lyrics are quite meaningful. Yes, there are some fillers in this lengthy album, but the hits really do hit. A really good pop album from the 2000s. I remember when it came out - Dirrty was really shocking back then!

This album is a good reminder of what a tour de force she was round about y2k. It’s got energy and variety. My only real complaint about this album is that is should have ended 5-8 songs earlier.

Not my thing. Could have been worse

One thing I'll always give Christina Aguilera credit for: she can sing, and she has great pipes. And there are some good songs on this album that she elevates. The problem here is that the range of songs is limited. Pop and soul, ballads and belters, not much else. If this were two albums released a year apart, we'd say the second album was just more of the same. Releasing it all as a double album doesn't change that.

The faster, more beat-driven tunes are amazing here. The rest of it, I can do without. Her voice is obviously very powerful, but over-affected at times.

77 minutes of unlistenable over-produced caterwauling.

2 out of 5. Not my thing but still better than new country.

Favourite Songs: Fighter Dirrty

Instead of titling this “Stripped”, she should have titled it “Bloated”. There are some good songs on this album, but she really could have used an editor. 20 tracks and 77+ minutes is simply too much. If she had knocked off right after “Beautiful”, it would have been a decent album. As it is, I am docking her a full star for refusing to edit herself.

Christina got some pipes. It's not something I would normally listen to on my own, but it's got a good, girl power theme to it and it's just fun pop music.

I’m old enough to remember 2002 when this kind of crap was force fed to is via Radio Stations. Now, 25 years down the road, when people have freedom to choose what they listen to, and radio stations have no hold on us, crap like this is only listened to by a part of society and the rest of us are free to turn it off. And I did. Seventy Eight minutes of this pretentious shit? FO

Honestly solid album with some valid bangers. Enjoyed the opener and the lil kim feature. Also make over with its Phrygian vibes and soar which is just a really really solid ballad. Obviously dirrty as well. I don’t really love the blaccent that some of the songs have but that’s just early 2000s pop I guess. I don’t get the vitriol that some reviewers on this site seem to have towards albums by female pop stars (and generally female artists or albums that have a female pov it sometimes feels), so what if an album is not made by one singular genius man or is about women stuff? Who cares, honestly. If that’s the way you approach music I’m second hand embarrassed for you lol. Besides, a mindset like that really does a disservice to all the people involved in the production and marketing process. Not like this page‘s best rated albums didn’t have any major labels backing them…. Anyways this music makes me want to put on a cropped juicy hoodie and flavoured lipgloss. 🍒💅🏻

6/10

siempre me sorprenden estas artistas de los 2000

It's a decent pop record, better than I was expecting it to be. It's definitely way too long, though. Cut this back to a 45 minute record and you could have something way more impactful and tight.

So many bangers, so many different styles, probably with the help of many different songwriters, but I don't care, I had a really good time listening to this and - in reference to one of the current top reviews - I am way too old to pretend I don't like pop music. [This is honestly such a breath of fresh air for me after yet another shoegaze album I had to listen to yesterday]

Had some nice surprises in there, so not quite a 2, even though it sometimes felt a little too grandiose in that at times a little distasteful American way. But having had Gorillaz as one of the first band I ever really listened to when growing up, that "lo-fi without trying" sound does something for me, which I felt glimpses of during the record. There ya go

Dette har vært en vanskelig skive. Den begynner bra. Ja, faktisk bra! Synes introen er skikkelig kul og det kommer en kavalkade av bangers. Til-og-med interludsa funker for meg. Og Can't Hold Us Down må være noe av det bedre som kom ut av popfabrikken på tidlig 2000-tallet. Det er for det meste god production med fin mix av Soul, RnB, og Pop. Litt for påtatt vokalprestasjon, men det kommer med territoriet. Skiva holder seg ut Beautiful, en ballade jeg tenker Oasis innerst inne skulle ønske de hadde skrevet. Hadde skiva bare endt her, ville den kanskje fått en 4er. Det er her det begynner å bli vanskelig. Neste låt, Make Over, er et merkelig forsøk på å gjøre alt. rock med en latino twist, men den har ikke noen edge og stemmen hennes funker ikke i denne sjangeren -- spesielt i refrenget, hvor hun liksom skal rope. Og så kommer skivas første ordentlige drittlåt. Cruz er ikke bra. Refrenget er faktisk til å bli dårlig av. Skiva faller så hardt i andre halvdel at jeg knapt klarer å fullføre og lurer på om den egentlig var dårlig i starten også. Så jeg lar det gå en stund og sjekker ut starten igjen. Og det blir en slags loop hvor andre halvdel får meg til å tvile på mine opprinnelige smaksdommer. Dirrty er et lys i andre halvdel, men synes den er overrated. Mens The Voice Within får meg til å lure på om ikke Cruz har blitt danket ut som skivas dårligste låt. Vurderer å sette igang en underskriftskampanje for å forby ballader.

Dette var seigt, men ikke helt jævlig. Er noen store låter her som er bops, men jeg sliter med rnb og vokalrunking. En del spennende sjangermikser, da

Listened to some tracks. Very much a thing I do not care for—and probably not very good in general—and I would rather not blemish a wonderfully sunny day.

2,5

Nothing worse than bad, cravenly commercial pop music.

Pop, R&B.

Yeah, ok

3 - BAD

estou realmente impressionado com esse album. quando li que seria um album mais sexualizado e sobre empoderamento feminino, eu imaginei que seria algo parecido com CARDI B ou NICKI MINAJ, cujas musicas eu particularmente desprezo. fiquei impressionado com a voz dela, e as letras não eram oq eu esperava. claro, alguma musicas sao mais descaralhadas, mas mesmo assim tem uma vibe bacana. the voice within e impossible sao duas musicas que me lembraram a whitney houston, principalmente a musica GREATEST LOVE OF ALL. emfim, bem impressionado com ela, meu preconceito foi quebrado dnv. devo admitir que foi o album mais legal que eu ouvi no gerador ate agr. em questao tecnica, não é melhor que o dos beatles, mas eu gostei e vou revisitar as musicas da christina, entao vou ter que dar o top1 pra ela. nota: 8,0

es un buen album si lo aprecio de forma externa?

Art Direction & Design: Jeri Heiden and Glen Nakasako aka SMOG Design. Photography: Miranda Penn Turin. This was a pretty succesful repositioning exercise for Christina, moving her from bobblegum to Xtina, a more uninhibited, sexually liberated personality. While not ground breaking the sleeve is good, solid and well crafted, shame the music is crap.

A very good album, the music videos and styling set the tone! I really enjoyed Can’t Hold Us Down, Infatuation and Make Over! Rating: 4/5 GEMV (25.07.2026)

Pleasantly surprised by how soulful and varied it is. I like the female empowerment theme, and it's no secret she has a great voice. But personally I'd rather see more albums from the artists who influenced her, than this on the list. Although I'd enjoy it less it's arguable that one of her straight up pop albums would be a more justifiable inclusion as a representation of that Britney/Christina era of pop music.

A guilty pleasure :-) Four stars...

This feels like it was designed in a lab for early 2000s radio play. Would've been a 4 if it was half the length.

The singles really stand out on this album. For me they're easily the strongest songs here, and it's an incredible run of hits. I also really like "Underappreciated," while songs like "I'm OK" have some genuinely heartfelt lyrics. In general, Christina is more open and vulnerable here than I expected, and that gives the album a lot of emotional weight. This isn't the sort of album you'd probably expect from one of the biggest pop stars of the early 2000s. It feels like Christina was trying to prove she was more than a manufactured pop act, and artistically it was definitely a risk. Sometimes that ambition really pays off, and sometimes it doesn't. The album jumps between a lot of different styles, which keeps things interesting but can also make it feel a little unfocused. I also don't think it needed to be this long. At over 70 minutes, it starts to feel bloated, and a lot of the deeper cuts just don't reach the same level as the singles, in my opinion. One thing that's never in doubt is Christina's voice. Incredible. I go back and forth on Stripped because I really respect what Christina was trying to do. It's ambitious, even if I don't think every idea lands. For me, it's about a 3/5 for enjoyment. I'd probably put this and Back to Basics as her two best albums.

She sounds great on this album, and the production is consistently solid for the full run time. Despite a few radio hits, it’s the run time which ultimately makes this tough to get through in one sitting. This was made to pop into a car’s cd changer and stay there for a full year before the driver would get sick of skipping all the songs and eventually toss it out the window. Her self titled album is better, more consistent, and more fun. Honestly, I wish this was as overtly sexual and party-centric as the cover promised.

I've heard of her. Some songs are OK. After a while, I got tired of listening to her. An OK album.

This is actually exceptional. Was not expecting there to be so many great songs. Very soulful and great voice. Fair play lassie

A decent pop record for its time, the hits were massive, and a powerful singer, with good meaningful lyrics!

Christina's albums are a bit bloated, but she really can sing.

Pretty good. Few tracks from my childhood on here, and they hold up quite well. Favourite Track(s): Fighter, Beautiful Least Favourite Track(s): I'm OK

I knew Christina Aguilera could sing, but this was amazing. It's certainly not my favourite genre, but I appreciate the musicianship here.

Has this stripped me of the will to go about the rest of my day today? Yes, yes it has. It's just the most cynical R&B chart slop you could ever imagine. Completely hollow, distant and manufactured for a wide-eyed pre-teen demographic. She can sing, but everything about her presence and lyrical writing on this album feels engineered to make the mega bucks rain cause it was what the kids wanted innit!

Dirrty and Beautiful are good songs, but this album is too long and she gets boring pretty quickly

Didn't finish. Wasn't "bad" but 100% was not my music taste and honestly didn't have the energy to get through an hour album.

bad

eh

qq飞车来了说是

There’s actually a section, right in the middle of this, where it’s extremely good pop music. It’s all deep cuts, not singles, but I was super impressed at it! A genuine delight! It’s still otherwise too long and a lot of filler, but Aguilera is a technically great vocalist and it’s a lot better than her other entry on this list. I’ve listened to a lot worse for this project.

Don't think it's bad or anything, just never gonna work for me. I do wish I could go back in time a few days to when I forgot Beautiful existed Will I listen to again: 0%

when I saw there were 20 songs on this album I was expecting Dirrty and 19 variations that mirrored it, color me surprised its way more mature than that across the board. I totally forgot Fighter was on this album, I found myself liking more of this entry than I thought I would, but 20 tracks? pare it down to 14 and you got a solid album Xtina, but still a fantastic 2000's pop album that completely changed her image.

An album filled with feminist anthems that’s only known for a song hyper sexualizing Xtina. It’s a decent enough pop album but Waaaaay too long to recommend

Rating: 4.6/5 Short Review: Bold, messy, vulnerable, and surprisingly ambitious. Christina Aguilera takes big swings here. Pop, R&B, soul, rock, confession, empowerment. Not every experiment lands, but the emotional commitment is undeniable. Favorite Track: “Beautiful.” It became an anthem for a reason. Earnest without feeling manufactured.

There were many albums like this in the CD era - 1 hour and 17 minutes of sameyness. "Never mind the quality, feel the width". No nourishment - the aural equivalent of a burger from a fast food chain, heavily processed.

Christina Aguilera – Stripped This one was never likely to be my genre, but it turned out to be far more interesting than I expected. Stripped is huge, messy, overlong, over-sung, over-explained, and sometimes so 2002 you can practically hear the bootcut denim. But the overreach is not just a flaw. It is almost the album’s working method. The key thing, I think, is control. The opening feels like a blur of media voices already telling Christina’s story for her, and the album then becomes her attempt to seize that narrative back. It is a public image demolition job, a self-defence brief, a sex-positive statement, a trauma record, a vocal showcase, and a serious attempt at old-school songcraft all fighting for space inside the same 77 minutes. That sounds like too much because it is too much. But she was 21 when she made it. Once you pop that age into the mix, the whole thing starts to feel a bit astonishing. This is not a seasoned artist carefully curating a reinvention from a safe distance. It is a young woman barely out of the machinery that manufactured her, already being sexualised, mocked, marketed, compared, psychoanalysed and over-narrated in public, responding with an enormous argument for personhood. The album is also a tug of war. On one side you have Scott Storch and the very early-2000s pop/R&B machinery: blunt feminist statements, clipped vocal cadences, club-adjacent beats, sexual autonomy, glossy grit, guest-rap logic, and all the commercial impact needed to detonate the old teen-pop image. On the other side you have Linda Perry, bringing older songwriting craft: piano, guitar, wound-first directness, Beatles echoes, Four Non Blondes plainness, and songs that feel as if they could survive being stripped of most of their production. Christina clearly wants both, and I cannot blame her. You do not demolish the old image with a tasteful acoustic EP. You need Dirrty. You need impact. You need the old audience to gasp and the new audience to look twice. But spectacle alone would only trap her in another costume, so she also needs Beautiful, Cruz and I’m OK to prove there is a person and a songwriter’s interpreter under the shock. Vocally, she made more sense to me here than I expected. She has not got Mariah Carey’s otherworldly drift. Christina’s melisma is much more physical. It has elbows. There is something of the street fighter in it: forward motion, attack, pressure, a refusal to leave space unoccupied. On weaker material that can be exhausting, but when the song gives her something to push against, it becomes the correct dramatic tool. Walk Away works brilliantly because the vocal excess becomes panic and compulsion rather than decoration. The song is about knowing a situation is bad and still being unable to command yourself out of it. Her voice fights the trap. Fighter is ridiculous in exactly the right way. It is grievance turned into armour. Not subtle, not trying to be. It is basically: “You hurt me, and unfortunately for you, you trained the weapon.” Not a Sunday morning record, but effective all the same. The Storch side dates hard, but often interestingly. Can’t Hold Us Down is wildly 2002 in both production and vocal cadence, but it works as a blunt feminist argument. Get Mine, Get Yours is merely OK, but it is also a perfect little time capsule of major-label sex-positive R&B: low-lit, carefully packaged, and wearing terrible trousers. Dirrty, though, is still remarkable. It is not just a sexy single. It is image demolition. It is the pop equivalent of Daniel Radcliffe doing Equus: not “I have matured slightly,” but “you thought you knew what body I was allowed to have; update the file.” Miley was clearly taking notes. The Latin section is just as heavily signposted. Infatuation comes with every badge on the lanyard: Spanish guitar flavour, percussion, heat, romance, heritage. It is not quietly integrated; it is announced. But it is also a decent song. Good Latina pop with both bite and gloss. The Perry material is where the album finds its strongest bones. Beautiful is bulletproof. It has that plain confidence really good songwriters display, where the thing sounds so obvious you almost think anyone could have done it. They didn’t. Perry starts with a wound, not with the idea of writing an anthem, and that is why the sweep is earned. It has a McCartney-like directness, with those little Beatles-ish falling descents giving it gravity. It gives people a sentence they can stand on. I was the stepfather of a teenage girl during this period, and I know how much a song like that could mean. Make Over is the oddball joy. Linda Perry clearly loves quoting The Beatles, and this one sounds like the Shangri-Las wandering into Abbey Road in spring 1966, being handed flamenco chord changes and told to be bratty. It is trashy, psychedelic girl-pop, almost Tomorrow Never Knows for girls singing into hairbrushes. It should not work as well as it does, but it has bite, movement and a wonderful cheap-thrill energy. Cruz is another proper old-school song, wide-open and unafraid of melody. I’m OK is where Perry’s wound-first method becomes unavoidable. It is underdressed, almost demo-like, with that very Four Non Blondes guitar plainness. Voice, guitar, memory. No glamour escape hatch. It gives the album’s control arguments a private source. Not everything works. Soar is coffee-table uplift: sincere, well sung, but too pre-approved. The Voice Within wants to be a Linda Perry healing ballad, but Glen Ballard ain’t no Linda. It has that “sat down to write an inspirational song” quality and ends up sounding like a movie tie-in. You can practically hear “as featured in the upcoming summer blockbuster” halfway through the middle eight. But even the weaker material helps explain the scale of the project. Stripped is not a tidy album because Christina is not accepting a tidy version of herself. She wants the armour and the wound. The club and the confessional. MTV shock and old-school songwriting. Current impact and lasting significance. That is too much for one album, obviously, but it also feels like the only honest shape the record could have taken. So I’m landing on 4/5, with overreach. More precisely: Stripped is a 4-star album with 5-star nerve and 3-star editing. It is too long, too much, too keen to explain itself, and sometimes absolutely carbon-dated to 2002. But the highs are strong, the self-reinvention is genuinely significant, and the mess belongs to the meaning. A neater version might be a better-behaved album, but probably a less important one.

a little long but, its pretty good 2000s rnb, you can't go wrong with that. nice mix of poppier radio hits and slower sensual and introspective stuff, I enjoyed it. can be a bit on the nose sometimes, but I expect this era of rnb to be a bit cheesy so i can forgive it. enjoyed it way more than back to basics, this was pretty great

Well - I tried - twice. One day I made it through maybe five songs. Today I went through and read lyrics while listening. I guess in small doses this would be okay, but sitting through 20 songs for over an hour .. no. And that video - Beautiful - she is, but the rest of it ... ick.

Pop music off an assembly line.

She has such a great voice. It feels like she lacked a great producer because this album is all over the place and I barely enjoy a single song. It's a shame. She could probably do a cover of any already great song and meet or exceed the experience. Can't deny drrty and beautiful though. 2-3 rats

Back when plumbers butt was sexy.

Damn girl, we get it you can sing, but you don’t need to crank it to 11 on every damn track and we def didn’t need 80 mins.

Surprisingly good. Pop but with a lot of different feels throughout the album.

obvious talent, but the music is just not for me

Saved? ✅ Would listen again? ✅ Would recommend to anyone? ✅ Would buy on Vinyl? ✅

Christina is one of the most talented of the pop princesses of the early 2000s and still one of the best pure singers. This album was a clear influence on all of the pop ladies that followed and still is to this day, with the themes of breaking out of childhood roles and female empowerment. Some of the best songs are the ones that were not released as singles, including Infatuation and Soar. But one of my all-time favorite songs by any artist is Cruz. It is just a beautiful song and pushes this album to five stars for me.

Aside from "Beautiful," I would say this is utterly unremarkable.

8/10 Best songs: Fighter, Infatuation, Beautiful, Make Over, Soar, Get Mine Get Yours, Dirrty The misogyny and narrow-mindedness in the reviews for this album is insane. So many reviews focus either on Christina Aguilera's appearance or on how they hate pop music from this period. First of all, grow up. Second of all, why are you doing a "listen to random albums" project if you're going into it without the desire or willingness to try different types of music? I could very easily say "gosh I hate pop music" in a review for the Beatles and I'd be lambasted. The same should go for people who do the same for Christina Aguilera. Regarding the album: it's really good. It has this extremely early 2000s sound to it, yet with a twist - pop, R&B, and Latin music mixed together, kind of. There are a lot of "story" songs (sorta), where she's talking about her place in the world and relating to her family, lovers, and other people. I was astonished to hear Make Over, which is a riff on Sugababes' iconic debut song Overload. Maybe my only issue with this album is that it desperately needed editing - it's a bit too long and not all of the tracks seem to be in the right place on the album (ballads immediately after the rockier/poppier songs, for example). It also sort of feels like two albums mashed together: everything from the beginning through Make Over has one vibe (a R&B/pop production style), then Cruz through the end has another (2000s pop). But overall it's a very solid album that deserves its kudos.

No thank you

Okay album. Girl can sing!

Hell. No.

She has an amazing voice and I really like some of her feminist and self empowering lyrics. On the other hand this record is far too long and the music is absolutely not my style, at best it reminds me of club nights of my youth.

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)

why? Why is this album important? It suffers greatly from quantity over quality, and the ridiculous vibrato on every fucking song is completely overdone. The only thing that this album will be remembered for is the music video for Dirty.

So very long

Now I know where every girl I knows MSN name came from circa ‘02

Meh. Not for me.

I don't see why "Stripped" is on the list. There are a ton of albums that sound identical to it. Most of the songs on "Stripped" were devoid of soul. "Stripped" isn't a complete disaster, with some nice-sounding songs. When "Dirrty" came on, I was like, "I knew that song!" 2 stars for "Stripped".

Her voice is amazing but lyrics were a bit dry. My fav tracks are Can’t Hold us Down, Fighter and Infatuation.

Beautiful Dirrty

It’s a solid early 2000s pop album. 7/10

There's really nothing wrong with this, I'm just not into the genre. I don't need to listen to the whole thing - I suspect my opinion would be unchanged. The music is catchy, pretty standard pop. Christina has a nice voice. I know I've heard stuff like "Dirrty" and "Beautiful" because this matches up pretty well with the time I was watching a lot of MTV and VH1 and probably saw the videos. Songs I'm pretty sure I've never heard like "Infatuation" sound just like other Christina songs I have heard. It's fine, just not for me.

Didn't listen when I was 20. Courtesy skip through the album 24 years later. Some OK pop songs, but this is pretty generic stuff.

Great voice. I love good pop music, which this is not.

I think the shame is that Christina Aguilera is so much better than her career has turned out to be. This album kind of turned her into a cartoon character, and I’m not sure she ever came back from that. It’s a shame she can fucking sing.

Exceeded my expectations.

Some absolute bangers here and an overall good album. The production lets it down, though.

So much of this album sounds like you are shopping in Ross Dress for Less.

It was very good!

6/8/26. First time listening all the way through although I'm very familiar with Christina and the singles from this record. Sounds like a staple of early 00's pop music, touches a lot of different styles. Christina's voice is powerful!

Some great songs let down by its length. Strip it down a bit

Another great voice chooses or is allowed to be chosen for her, the same crap that any female was putting out at the time. You really could substitute Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson and there wouldn't be much difference.

She has a powerful voice, but this didn't do the best job of showcasing it. 3/5

This was peak Christina

Christina reina

Most of this didn’t land with me. It was recorded really well, and I have to admit I love that it’s a ‘big’ pop record that was Max Martin-ed which is awesome. Also her voice is legit incredible - it’s possible there is ZERO autotune on this record and that blows my mind for this style and time period. I also love that this is a showcase of a ‘pop prodigy’ taking creative control. But it does also sound like a record where a 20 year old girl is in creative control, and that was harder for me to understand maybe haha. I thought a few times like this is what it’s like listening to Celine Dion who has the most amazing vocal talent - like maybe in history…. But the style and content and lyrics and everything else about the music is just really hard to understand and get behind.

beautiful was beautiful

I enjoyed parts of this album. Beautiful, Dirty and Fighter are all great songs. However, how an album can start off so fiery with Can’t Hold Us Down and then repeat the same ballad about love for at least 10 songs is criminal. This album could be 30 minutes with 6 songs on it. So much filler, as with the previous Christina album I listened to.

I mean the anthem tracks are really solid, but the rest (and there is a LOT of the rest. Seriously why is a pop rnb album 80 minutes long??) is just kinda...meh.

This was a punish to get through. The production sounds like every pop song from this era, maybe this was influential or derivative, who knows, but I do know that I did not like any of it enough to ever want to listen again. On a positive, you can’t deny Christina’s singing ability is unmatched by many of that era.

Enjoyed this. She had such a unique voice and Fighter/Beautiful are iconic songs. Some of the album wasn’t memorable, but I enjoyed it overall.

queen of the y2k pop movement

Fun album

Is it wrong to rate this higher than Mariah Carey? Probably, but I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I think I wrote it off because I never liked Dirrty very much, but every other song is way better. Great transition from Walk Away to Fighter. Highlights: Can't Hold Us Down, Loving Me 4 Me, Cruz, Soar

I'm not a fan of the more r&b stuff, but there were a couple of good songs on this.

erm muy 2000 ero se quedo atras

she’s so fun i love her. 3.5

Thought I might like this more than I did. She can sing but.....

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.

Why was Christina vs. Britney even a thing when Fiona Apple was right there?? Favorite track: Beautiful

Wasnt what i was expecting but most of the songs were kinda good and would listen to some of them again

To be 17 again, and having to define yourself as either Team-Britney or Team-Christina, because obviously you cannot be both. Can't say this ages well.

Assless chaps, pierced nips, and Redman. Doesn’t get any more XXXtina than this.

3 stars for beautiful alone. Otherwise just a well performed/produced pop record

My hopes were really high, but it was just a big disappointment.

The album was okay. It was better than “Back To Basics”. I am not a fan of 2000s Pop Music and former child stars trying to prove that they are adults.

Pleasantly surprised. Great soul feeling to this one

I think it’s very good. A bit too much flexing but overall still good. Commercially very successful too.

no denying that Aguilera has talent, but this album feels a bit all over the place. the album comes across as frantic, really trying a bit of everything and not mastering anything. you can kinda tell that, with more of her major hits coming from other works. it seems like this piece of work allowed her to lock in, later in her career. but seems like this was a necessary step in her artistry career

I had multiple waves of nostalgia come over me with this one. Not so much because of specific songs, other than Beautiful, but more because this album sounds exactly like the era it came from. The variety of styles blended together also keep the album interesting, and it needs that with the length. Overall a solid album, it just needs to be about a half hour shorter.

I was very surprised by this album. Typically early 2000s female vocalist is my least favorite genre of music. Luckily Christina was able to keep the ooOooOOOOoooOoOoo's to a minimum. I was entertained overall with this album and very impressed with her music style. I would probably rate this a 4 if it wasn't for the length. Still, I was pleasantly surprised.

3.5

2/5

Christina wants to be free from the bubblegum pop that reigns her debut album and it is a interesting listen. I enjoy the singles since I knew them from back in the day, but wouldn't go back to the project as a whole.

This is actually a really good album. I enjoy listening to this typical MTV famous artists albums, which I mostly know through the hit singles. As the singles are not telling the full truth, it's exciting to see what more there are to it. Often either hit or miss. This was more of a hit.

Okay.

Not my vibe usually but I guess it was ok. Too long. Some cool transitions between songs and the production is good (albeit maybe too loud) some surprisingly good songs (“Underappreciated”) as well as surprisingly bad ones (“Make Over”) It does have some of xtinas biggest hits and they hold up imo.

One for the sistahs

You forget how relevant Christina Aguilera was back then. Fighter, Beautiful are Toyota Corolla car radio staples. It had some other good songs too

Didnt listen

Best tracks "Fighter" "Beautiful". This sort of straightforward sexy-pop stuff is not my cuppa tea. It's perfectly serviceable for what it is, but it's not for me. That said, I forgot just how striking "Beautiful" is, which makes great use of her considerable vocal talents. Having not heard it in 10-plus years, it's actually a striking, dare I say beautiful song. Almost enough to elevate the whole thing. Almost.

Strongest pop album I've heard so far on the list. However i would say we get the message youre a good singer. It doesnt mean you have to ad lib for the entire duration of every song. It's quite unsubtle in that sense. The best musicians reserve their talent and make more purposeful artistic choices.

The review I saw talked about a "ceaseless 70 minutes running time and a seemingly endless 20 songs" which is about right.

Tragic that such a great voice has to sing formulaic songs

this album is actually about women empowerment in a male dominated industry. Christina an exec producer and lyrics that resonated with me in a different way than in 2000s. Maybe that's thanks to my own now understanding as a 30 plus year old man. But thank you for letting me listen to his album through a new perspective

There is no way that this album is 24 years old! This album has stood the test of time.

Reminiscing about my awkward teenage development years is... well, awkward, but this album cover was influential during that time... the music, however, was not... and still isn't. There's potential, but it's not realized, kind of like my development during those years, lol.

Very nice, a sign of the times. Cool to look back on.

Final Christina Aguilera, and this time an album which wasn't removed from later editions of the book. I listened to Back to Basics around 270 albums ago and don't remember much of it as a result, though I do remember the Candy Man song and "Naughty, Nasty Boy", if only because that latter song made me horny. Truly sordid things are transpiring on the thousandty-eighty-nine albums website. Anyways, I'm expecting this album to be a danceable, contemporary R&B album. Here goes. On the money with my prediction. I shall take this moment to gracelessly stroke my ego, though in all fairness the album cover was kind of a dead giveaway. Unsurprisingly, I'm not a teen girl in the middle of discovering herself, so I didn't get much from being told not to be ashamed of my body count or that I'm a precious, itty bitty little snowflake who is perfect in every way. It's difficult not to view these pieces of sex positive, feminist art as socially corrosive with all of the terrible, destructive behaviours they have encouraged, though in all fairness the purchase that these ideas have largely appear to have dissipated. People are having less sex now than they were 10 years ago and you don't exactly see shitlibs batting for sex work and promiscuity like they used to, so I guess chastity VVON. Anyways, the album. It's alright. An hour sixteen is definitely overkill for what this music is, but the album carries itself decently. Aguilera has a nice voice, though she can be a bit shaky during the moments where her voice is strained. I can't say I cared much for the guest appearances, however. As far as the instrumentals go, they aren't remarkable, which I acknowledge is by design. The backing instruments primarily serve a utilitarian role in elevating the vocal performances and filling the empty areas with a warm, bassy sound. I can admit this idea is well-executed, though it's a bummer nonetheless. As mentioned previously, this is a loooong fucking album, which kind of caused me to check out during the final stretch. Overall, this was a dull, if tolerable listen. There's "Fighter". I wasn't expecting there to be any songs on this album that I'd recognise, though I suppose it was inevitable that I'd land on at least one familiar tune. It's an alright song. The songwriting is the obvious highlight - the chorus has a fun, fluid motion to it which builds upon itself in a satisfying way. The delivery, however, is a little hit or miss. The tough sound lands for the most part, but the strained vocal sections are awkward. Thankfully, they never linger. Aguilera also sounds a bit like Michael Jackson at the beginning of the song, which was also quite strange. The instrumental gets the job done, though the tacky guitars and pre-set drum loops show their lack of polish quite regularly. Some of the smaller parts also don't resonate with either, like the bridge near the end of the track. Overall, the song is decent and deservedly iconic, though its quality is questionable when looked at through a critical lens. I've heard "Beautiful", too. It's a better tune than Fighter. The pianos have a nice, sensitive sound. The vocals are dynamic, engaging and harmonise effectively during the chorus. The strings which uplift the song during the latter half are a welcome addition in addition to being contextually appropriate. The lyrics are nice, if shallow. Aguilera's crooning style can be a bit much at points, but for the most part she gets it right. Overall, a solid listen. I've heard "Dirty" before, too. Yet another track with songwriting conventions that are reminiscent of Michael Jackson. It's kind of jarring hearing this style coming from a lady, but far be it from me to complain. Aguilera's vocals go a long way in making the song listenable, with the rolling, punchy style carrying the song along competently. I can't say I care much for the rough, buzzing instrumental and dated 80s percussive sounds, but in their defence they obviously aren't the emphasis of the song. The instrumentation is also generally well-paired with the instrumental. Book time. Released during a period where teenybopper artists were re-inventing their image. Aguilera underwent the most drastic transformation, adopting the "Xtina" moniker and appearing mostly-naked in magazine spreads. Oh dear. "...one of the best mainstream pop records of the year and a quadruple-platinum smash that would spawn several radio singles." Wikipedia says this album has a wide range of influences and was uber successful, being one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. Critics didn't care much for it at the time of release, though it has since received positive reapprarisals, primarily because of its cultural impact. Aguilera became the most successful female pop artist of 2003 and Billboard have called this album one of the most important releases of the 2000s for its influence over female pop music. Demi Lovato, Sabrina Carpenter, Selena Gomez and Charli XCX have directly cited this album as an influence. The album only topped the charts in Argetina but charted in a grand total of 23 countries, usually peaking at around No. 10. It made the year-end charts in 12 different countries, notably being the third best-selling album of 2003 in the UK and the 10th best-selling album of 2003 in the US. It was also the 21st best-selling album globally in 2002 and the 16th in 2003. On the decade-end charts, it was the 77th best-selling album in the US, the 66th in Australia and the 29th in the UK. It is also the 14th best-selling album of all time from a female artist in the UK. Yeah, this album is a slam dunk if I've ever seen one. I cosign this inclusion.

Great voice but that’s about it

I couldn’t stick with it. I just don’t like this very specific brand of overproduced and hyper-cleaned pop

Didn't need to be that long .. lotta killa, lotta filla

perfect

Сто лет не слушал Кристину, а этот альбом, кажется, никогда не слушал полностью. Хорошая работа.

Christina Aguilera – Stripped (2002) Day 143 was a bit of a disconnect. I have to agree with the critics on this one. As Jane Stevenson wrote for E! Online: "If she had just shown up and sang her ass off, Stripped would've been a better show." Instead, the album sounds like a headless chicken spanning random directions, trying so hard to genre-bend that it loses its own track. While her raw talent is obvious, the lack of cohesion makes it a frustrating listen. Not quite a 1, but definitely a 2/5.

I liked this more than I expected too. I've never gone out of my way to listen to Christina Aguilera, but her music is pretty good. This album is very reminiscent of the early 2000s and a lot of these songs were everywhere back then. It was a little too long and not all the tracks hit, but overall positive experience. Favorite Track - Fighter Least Favorite Track - I'm OK ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Откуда у Агилеры такая мегаломания? Релизы по 77 минут, воет по страшному все это время, ты че ебанутая?

So I have to be entirely honest - I don't think that I've listened to any Christina Aguilera songs that are not her top 2-3 songs, but wow... I was genuinely impressed at her voice, even though this is now almost 25 years after the release of this album. Overall, I can say that this album was pretty great and I really enjoyed the moments where she would sing very loudly, because usually only people who can sing can do that. I can't really complain about this album.

In theory I should love this album. I mean Xtina has one of the best voices of our generation and there’s some absolute classics in here but I’m clouded by the fact that this whole album feels quite inauthentic. P!nks album Mizundazstood (which I don’t think is on this list? BIG MISTAKE. HUGE.) literally ran so this album could walk. P!nk convinced Linda Perry from 4 non blondes to come out of writing retirement to help her write Mizundazstood as a fresh and more authentic sound than what a lot of the pop girlies were getting pitched at that time (think peak Britney Spears) and Mizundazstood was amazing and ground breaking - so much so Xtina asked Linda to write stripped for her to have the same perceived authenticity and relatability. Because I’m overwhelmingly a P!nk girly this loses major points because it’s hard not to see it as a less good replication

So many different genres in one album I feel like Christina was still trying to find her 'sound'. Tbh enjoyed it more than I thought I would

There's some bangers here, but plenty I'm not fussed about too

Enjoyable! ‘beautiful’ was in my head all day after this

Eh. Kind of bland. If you were into it at the time you probably still are. Not a lot here for me.

I really enjoyed this. Not sure if it just coincided with me feeling a sassy queen that day but it was exactly what I was in the mood for.

5 - Great voice but songs were mediocre

If it was half the length it would easily earn another star

it's alright.

Album 190. Stripped (https://open.spotify.com/album/2USigX9DhGuAini71XZEEK?si=DUll7_8GTW2zB52XuCPBng) — Christina Aguilera (2002) Well, it was tough and felt more like torture. It's a really interesting pop album sometimes, I like latin and r&b vibes. But I'm not gonna pretend I give a shit about this kind of pop music. 2/5 No liked songs

Fantastic voice, great mix of songs. We can go home now. 3.

I knew she was a good singer, but I didn't realize what a great singer she was. Wow! Not exactly m style of music, or I would have given 5 stars, but undeniable talent. A bit too polished on this. BUt it's a pop album. What do you expect?

fighter de las mejores canciones ever. muy buen repertorio, te amo xtinaaa

Not for me.

I used to be one of those 'all pop music sucks' guys in my youth. I was (and still sometimes am) contrarian by nature. But now I have a greater appreciation for a lot of pop music. I remember a few of these songs from when I was growing up. Specifically, Fighter, Beautiful, and Dirrty are all good pop songs. Unfortunately, this album is overly long.

Skipped by most tracks, a handle full of seconds that feel like hours is enough for me. Days are too short for this.

One Christina Aguilera album was painful but at least vaguely understandable in the context of the list. Two is appalling, can only assume her mam was one of the contributing critics. Not sure which of her albums was worse, I think the first album had some vague brass bits that were better than the rest but had a lot more self aggrandising which annoyed me. This album was just painfully, endlessly bland. Dirty is pretty iconic, if not really for me I sort of think it's alright. But the length and relentless poor quality of this album is obviously a one star.

A very distinctive voice, disturbing presence. Dirrty is pretty decent and memorable, and as are the other overplayed hits Beautiful and Fighter. But the rest of the album, deary me. Scattered, and really poor. I didn't enjoy Back to Basics, nor did I enjoy this album. Come to think of it, both album titles suggest she's much more of an instrumental artist. Loads of brass on Back to Basics, and one is filled with hollering and some very cheap keyboard sounds. Does she know what an acoustic album is?

I really thought 1 Christina Aguilera album on the list would be enough, apparently not. I think I remember disliking the first one more than I disliked this. But still disliked this! Her weird vocal trilling and growls are there. Think she was trying to be a bit more serious and less "dirty" here. It's way too long for a pop album too. Sorry Xtina, it's 1 again

sloppy

Instant classic

good but not really up my alley

Possibly the most jarringly rogue album I've seen on this website.. Was ready to hate, but had some decent pop/R&B melody vibes. Some of it is total cornball shit still.

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

2/5

Amazing theme and such but it gets quite boring

another entry by christina aguilera, with a fresher sound and wanting to prove that she's not the younger and more innocent version of herself anymore. heard "fighter" on the radio at least a thousand times. if there's one thing this album has over the last one of hers i listened to, it's inventiveness. tracks have interludes, basic musical themes and i'd argue and say that i can tolerate her runs a little more... it's still christina aguilera though. i'm just not the right audience for this music i think... love, passion, self-worth, and the times and turmoils of a pop diva. i guess.

Not quite as good as Back to Basics. Some good stuff on there but too long.

I know objectively this is a good album!, there are songs that I enjoy, I just have this thing that I don't like some stuff mostly by his type of music that I have disliked since I heard this album it wasn't for me!

I respect it, but I am bored by it.

1-800-come-on-now.

Quelques bons titres mais je ne réécouterai pas tout l’album. Un peu trop d’étalage de sa voix on fini par fatiguer. Une excellente première partie d’album et une belle chanson pour le clôturer. J’adore le Groove qui est bien assumé. Les instru sont belles et contenues par rapport à sa voix. Il n’y en a que pour l’amour et les relations comme de définition d’elle par le regard de ses rencontres, elle reste e l’objet de ces relations même quand elle dit « en ressortir plus fort » ça reste grâce à. Ma préf : Impossible. Infatuation, loving 4 me, Keep on singin my song

i don't like the way some of you talk about women in pop music fave track: i'm ok

You know what. It truly was a time and place, it truly was. You have to listen through the ears of a 6 year old girl, it low key has everything. It's got glamour, grit, a bit of emo dare I say, and a really really young woman being really sexualised to signify she's not a little disney girl anymore (when I was 6, Xtina may as well been 65 for all I understood of those dynamics) - and I LOVED it. Anna, grab your piano book let's do Beautiful from the top!

This kinda music just isn't ever gonna be for me. It's really good for what it is though, really solid girlboss 2000s American pop. Her voice is good, there are a few bangers, I liked that one that sounded a bit like Nirvana mixed with early Black Eyed Peas. But it's also a million hours long and a lot of it is just really basic. Three stars I guess?

Her voice sounds great on this. There are some good songs. I like the "rock" one and a few others. I thought the "sexy" songs weren't good at all. Also, the album was simply too long.

Surprisingly good album with great variety and great vocals.

I like Christina. I think she’s got a great voice and she can cover the pop lexicon. Beautiful is masterful. Yes there’s some Lao here, but you only need to be genius once.

Look. Her voice is a 5. Its just down to a debate on which song or album is best to hear her on... I thought this would be tough to rate. I expected a pop album and fluff. Turns out I missed her "I'm taking back control of my music " transition album. the R&B and other styles really work for her voice - some bangers and previews of what she can really do as she matures. Great I already loved her voice on Back to Basics (album I own - as her jazz, standards and showtunes voices comes to full raunch here. Virtuosic. Did anyone mention Candy Man!?) . Turns out I should have had this album too.But in 2002 I was working FAR too much and missed a lot and that includes great new music like this. So here we are in deep R&B grooves Tracks are solid. I am thinking 4-5... She is the 5.. Some tracks a tad long or slow to build. Will the elbowman use the indulgent word? Its so good i really want to go a listen to their top 10 tracks. And I crave a bit some latin overall this works on me... the slow songs are commanding. plenty of emotional / power ballads, clear comeback feels, and overall some sexy 'the star asserting themselves' album. She takes the reins very well. Id recommend this to my Ladies and assume they dont know her.

Look I'm sure it has its merits in context, but this is something I should listen before I die? Why?

The late 90s and early 2000s was a pretty glorious time for pop music. The record companies were still flush with cash from CD sales, oblivious of the way the internet was about to bring their castles crashing down. Big budget production and million-dollar videos were worthwhile investments against blockbuster revenues. And there was a generation of ambitious, hard-working young pop stars who benefited from the system. Many got their start in the Mickey Mouse Club; they were child stars, seasoned professionals in their teens, with talent, work ethic and experience. Christina Aguilera was 21 years old when recording Stripped, which was her fourth (!) studio album. Like Stevie Wonder before her, she was well prepared at 21 to impart her own artistic vision on her recorded output. That included a new sexier image, but her firmer hand on the songwriting and production is apparent and fortunately is not limited to a simple "I'm grown up and sexy now" message. There is a kind of feminist-lite theme throughout. It's not academically sophisticated, but it's a damn sight better than the Spice Girls' "Girl Power! Yeah!" philosophy. It's human and inclusive and emotional. Sure, this is pop music, but it is smart and relatively mature pop music. It's really well produced and recorded but never forgets that Christina is the star of the show. Christina has a reputation as super professional in the studio, and you can hear how much work she put into the vocal arrangements and performances. She has a great voice and she has learnt to use her formidable chops in service of the song, which shows a growing musical maturity. I have a few quibbles. Those pants she is wearing on the cover are terrible. And this album suffers from the late 90s trend of being too long. Interestingly, the songs are not over-long (which is a common fault of albums of this vintage), but there are just far too many of them. Imagine if this was trimmed to, say, 12 of the strongest tracks here. It could be a powerhouse 45 minutes. It is of its time, I suppose, but it still sounds relevant today, which it quite an achievement for a pop record. 3.5 stars, rounding up

First off, it's an hour and 17 minutes long, so the score instantly goes down. Make Over is an atrocious song but Beautiful still goes, Dirrty is a banger and I did like The Voice Within despite it's preachiness. But, the sheer weight of the rough slog that is the rest of this album prevents this from being anything but a 1 it's just not good and I was relieved when it ended

Stoma bares it all when Stripped. This is a marked improvement over our previous listen of her. Lots of messages of feminism and female empowerment, and Dirty talk. Fighter is top track, Beautiful is a song I recognized and remember. This album is impressive based on my previous exposure to her. (3,9*s) ha-ooh, you go girl.

A better, more rated R album than the previous entry. Still not a big fan of Aguilera though after the listen. Stripped is definitely more "Dirrty" and Xtina tried to punch back at social bias during her beef with eM and Durst. She does take on the sex double standards but it's a losing battle. It may be unfair for society to label promiscuity in women so harshly but if you compare the devil's 3some to the angel's...well, you get the point. I remember the hits and they aren't as good today as they were upon release. If this album was so inspirational to young women and influenced generations of artists to come than ok, list worthy. Still, too long and just some bland R&B pop...2.1 stars.

I remember the release of this album and Christina's attempt to re-brand and re-emerge as more of an adult in the wake of the teen-pop craze of the late 90's. While I get what she is going for, I'm not sure it stuck the landing. The album is a forgettable mixed bag of various genres. It almost feels like they got a "packaged" version of every genre they thought they could cram into an album so that it would have wide appeal among various radio stations. The album is OK I guess, but its also has almost zero lasting appeal. Outside of Dirrty (and maybe Beautiful because I'm sure the message gives it the chance to show up in some random pop culture piece in the future) I don't think I'll ever hear any of these songs again, and if I did I wouldn't recognize any of them. It's a valiant attempt for a young women trying to reclaim her independence and re-brand but I agree with the initial critical reviews that its just a mediocre hodgepodge of a release. Perhaps if I was a young angsty girl in the early 2000's this would have done more for me. Alas, I was not so Stripped goes back on the shelf to continue to be ignored. 1.88 stars

Actually not bad on second listen

Some very well done music by CA. Some very emotionally powerful tunes.

Not my jam, but impressive production and contributors.

My guilty pleasure.

u can't tell me there was any reason for this album to be any longer than 50 minutes. just a whole lotta yelling for no reason.

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.

It's harder for me to hate this than I expected. I don't like her overwrought singing style and I really don't care for her pants at all, but the songs and their arrangements and production are better than either. But while the pants go away when I look away, her over the top singing doesn't. "Beautiful" is not a new track to me. This one I've heard before and I appreciate the sentiment, even if the melody and harmony are painfully unoriginal. Most/all of the rest of this is new to me. I was a little disappointed to learn that she was singing "walk away" when I thought she was singing "fuck 'em" - my version was much more powerful. Overall, I am finding in general that my imaginary lyrics are way better than her real ones. I like the Mexican hints, like on Make Over with its castanets and Spanish scale (technically, Phrygian). But if I'm honest, I seriously doubt I will ever think to listen to this again. So, better than I expected, but we're only talking about an upgrade from 1.125 star to maybe 2.375. And if you were prolonging your life just to scratch this one off your list, don't bother.

I enjoyed this more than I expected, and while I wish she was more involved in writing the lyrics or music, I'm glad she chose to be fairly active in shaping the song choices and directions (despite the liner notes attributing her as co-writer for most tracks, it seems she gave songwriters direction rather than actually penning much of anything). And she is definitely a more interesting singer/performer than some of her fellow Mickey Mouse Club grads like Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears, which is probably why she has two albums in this collection; ironically, I had completely forgotten that I'd heard her other album about 500 albums ago, and had much the same impression then. The album is *way* too long, and there aren't many tracks outside her singles that are all that memorable (and a few that aren't very interesting at all), but the singles are generally pretty entertaining, with decent videos as well ("Fighter" and "Beautiful" in particular). I can see why there was a lot of controversy surrounding "Dirty" and its video, but it feels a lot like the same sort of tension that Miley Cyrus generated when she started to assert her adulthood (musical and otherwise); she probably could have ditched the whole "Xtina" alter-ego thing, though.

Overwrought in all dimensions, but I got to a better place with that when I realized she was only 21 when she created it. I enjoyed it but would have enjoyed it a lot more if she'd cut about 1/4 of the songs.

Soy una pop girl y este álbum me encanta, las letras de las canciones lentas, las más poperas te dan ganas de bailar. Muy 2000 y me encanta. La voz es increíble, todo es perfecto

Pop crud

This really is not as bad as I thought it would be. Very 2000s spanish flavoured pop, has some wild vocals on it, She is clearly talented, maybe a little restraint is lacking but it is low key iconic for the combo of looks and tunes. Overall fine. Some iconic songs from the time.

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

AMAZING. So dynamic and variable and interesting and obviously her vocals are out of control

It's not bad but it's a singer's album. We all know she's got great pipes but the production only highlights that these aren't her songs and that is where I struggle with vocal pop records. They sound great but what else is there?

Su mejor disco, realmente un disco en el que demuestra su talento. Back to basics, el siguiente también está en el listado. Cualquiera de ellos se merece una escucha. Una artista que dejó atrás el estilo de ídolo de adolescentes y pop aniñado, demanda a su agente de por medio, y apostó por el estilo que a ella le gustaba. Salió vencedora de todo ello. También de un divorcio, una película con Cher y un disco arriesgado como Bionic (que apenas tuvo ventas debido a la ingente cantidad de descargas ilegales del mismo) con SIA, MIA o Peaches. Compuesto por ella, con R&B, Hip-Hop, algo de Soul y sobre todo buenas canciones. Su voz, ya se sabe que es estupenda. Ayuda y mucho, Linda Perry (la de Four non blondes), nada menos que compuso Beautiful, también Cruz y Soar, que es una habitual de Pink, otra inspiración para Christina. Yo creo que en su mente estaban Janet y Alanis para este disco. Nada menos que 5 sencillos publicó: Dirrty, la más conocida y gran canción Beautiful, Fighter, la inicial (tras el intro) Can't Hold Us Down (dardo a Eminem de por medio) junto a Lil' Kim y The Voice Within. También están las melosas Walk away y la preciosa Loving Me 4 Me, Fighter con Dave Navarro (RHCHP, Jane´s addiction) inspirada en Alanis Morissette, las latinas (ya había publicado dos años antes un disco latino entero como Mi reflejo), Primer amor, Underappreciated y Infatuation, Impossible compuesta por Alicia Keys (que la produce), Make Over con polémica con las Sugababes. Cruz y Soar, son dos temas que siguen las coordenadas del disco, con su voz sobresaliendo y una producción cuidada. Soar lleva su voz al límite (ese grito en el 3.20...). Get mine, get yours es R&B de principios de siglo, que se sostiene aún con brillo. The Voice Within es otro baladón donde su voz tiene protagonismo. I'm OK presenta otro registro diferente, lo que se agradece mucho. Keep On Singin' My Song es un buen cierre para un disco que se va a los 77 minutos. I will be es un homenaje a la mejor Withney Houston. Por aquel entonces estaba por encima de Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Avril Lavigne y Kelly Clarkson. El tiempo puso a Beyoncé en otro nivel pero sin este disco tal vez las carreras de Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX y tantas otras no hubieran sido lo mismo. A recordar el beso de Madonna, las giras con Justin y el tremendo éxito de Xtina. También su aportación a Moves Like Jagger, con la que logró tener un número 1 en tres décadas distintas, algo nada sencillo. ¿Al nivel de Shania Twain, Rihanna o Celine Dion? Desde luego fue la que cogió el testigo de W. Houston y M. Carey lo llevó a otro terreno. Más de 100 millones de discos y una masiva colección de premios dan buena fe de ello.

moody, at times reminiscent of the darkness of NiN, at others very classical hispanic beats. Some songs with a great bass, others not so much. Not the worst popular music I've heard in a while

595/1001 2026.04.17

Album #77, Christina Aguilera, Stripped, ⭐⭐ Woke up with a cringe seeing this one this morning, but one of the reasons I’m doing this list is to listen to music I would never normally choose. So today was the day to give it a go, and I went in with an open mind. I remember how big Christina Aguilera was when I was younger. She was a phenomenon, and I remember this album being everywhere, so on that level alone I can understand why it’s here. But what an absolute mess of an album this is. It really feels like throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks, and most of it is just shit. She moves through so many different styles and genres with no real focus, through line or consistency. The first quarter sticks fairly close to R&B, and I think the more low key tracks like “Loving Me 4 Me” and “Impossible” are actually quite strong. She has an excellent voice for that style, and the production there is more understated and tasteful. Technically she’s clearly a very strong singer, but she needs the right setting. A lot of the other styles just don’t suit her at all. She dips into hip hop, big Disney ballads, and then the rock side of things is the worst of it. “Fighter” is not great, but “Make Over” is genuinely one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. It’s just shouting and grunting. The production doesn’t help either. She’s so far forward in the mix that everything else gets buried, and when you do hear what’s underneath, it’s often not great. It gets an extra star because I liked some of the R&B material, but overall it’s incredibly messy, even thematically. You go from overtly sexual songs to something like “Beautiful”, which is actually quite good, and then to very heavy material about abuse. The tonal shifts will give you whiplash! But my God. The length is the biggest issue. This thing nearly as long as Sign o’ the Times by Prince, which I gave five stars. That album earns its length. This absolutely does not. It feels like it exists to squeeze out as many singles as possible, which was probably the thinking at the time. It actually reminds me of Prince in how many styles it tries to cover, but it takes a special kind of artist to tie that all together, and she just doesn’t manage it. There might be a really good shorter R&B album buried in here somewhere, but as it stands I never want to hear most of it again. Final note, looking back now, the early 2000s were rough in terms of how women in pop were presented. The hyper sexualisation around artists like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears has not aged well at all, and it leaves a bit of a bad taste. It’s not a one star, there are redeeming qualities, but this is probably the worst album I’ve heard so far on the list. I could really do with a five star album right about now.

Surprisingly good

Much better than I thought it would be. A few catchy songs to be found here.

Ugh. As much as I loathed Britney Spears’ Baby, One More Time, I feel like this one is going to be a short review. I never really liked any of these little pop teens that showed up in the late 90s/early 2000s, the Chrstinas, the Britneys, the Jessica Simpsons, the Mandy Moores. But what I really disliked was the underage teen boppers going from bubblegum pop to sex maniac when they hit 18 or 19. Christina was a genie in a bottle, and then for the next album, she was a what I can only surmise is a sex fighter. The video for her first single off Stripped was Dirrty, and it made it seem like she was in some sort of underground sex fighting ring. I guess she didn’t want to be seen as a little girl anymore. Which is fine, but 0 to XTina is an extreme overcorrect. Though I put the blame more squarely on the adults in the room, because she was essentially still just a kid. I also never cared much for her voice. I know it’s technically brilliant, like on Mariah levels, but she has a bad case of the runs in most of her songs. She can take a two-syllable word and make it a 10-syllable word, which is fine, but not every word in the song needs all that flair. Track 2 is Can’t Hold Us Down, which was a single off the album featuring Lil’ Kim. It sounds just like all the songs featuring rappers and singers from those days. I wonder if Kim and Christina were ever in the room at the same time? Track 3 is Walk Away and it features her growly, bluesy singing. She inspired a ton of less talented women to become pop stars. Good Lord, this album is one hour and 17 minutes long. The production is fine. The music sounds good. She starts track 4, Fighter, with her talking, and I hate talking in songs. Bret Michaels and Shania Twain are the top two offenders. Another thing that turned me off of Aguillera was that I don’t buy that she’s some chick from the streets who had to make her living through sex fighting. It’s the same reason I could never buy Carrie Underwood as the scorned girlfriend who would take a baseball bat to her cheating lover’s car or burn his house down. I watched Carrie Underwood on American Idol. She’s about as violent as Paula Abdul was coherent. Sorry, I’m not this guy. If you like Christina Aguilera, God bless you, but this just isn’t for me. Though I may go back and revisit the Dirrty video. You know, for old time’s sake. Nope, I tried to, but as soon as the video starts and we’re supposed to believe Aguillera is riding a dirt bike through the crowd with her little X underwear on, I become physically ill.

Not entirely my thing, but still a neat slice of early 2000s pop. Interesting to learn what album it was that spawned "Beautiful", one of the biggest radio earworms I had to endure entering my early teens in the 2000s. 7.5/10.

It's kind of confused but I like the spirit. The singles and features really stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest, for better or worse. Favourite track: Beautiful

8/10 Definitely her best album, I like most of these songs but damn did it have to be this long?

I thought I was going to end up saying 'R&B/pop isn't my sort of music' (if it was someone's I highly doubt that they would be doing this list), but I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Infatuation has nice latin beats. The vibe of Underappreciated and the melody for Cruz are also great. Also Quite surprised Get Mine, Get Yours wasn't made into a single, it's got the raunchy lyrics and hook that would get repeated playings on early 00's radio. I'm OK is a surprisingly reflective song about her upbringing My main gripe (other than overhearing Dirrty and Beautiful in my early years) is this album is just SO long, it must be one of the longest on the list.

Oh god. This has not aged well.

Way better than I expected - out of all pop albums of early 2000s, I think I'll be coming back to this one. Great vocals, interesting beats, the only thing I don't like about this one are the ballads, but they sell.

Not my cup of tea

Not really me

classic

Álbum muy pop, en uno de los momentos más pop que han habido seguramente. Trasgresor para la época, pero hoy parece menos atrevido, sin duda. Excelente voz para letras y música tan básica.

Over long with some bubblegum pop filler

More balls and grit than Beyoncé and Mariah. Similarly polished, big voiced R&B though.

Good but maybe a little too long. Up until this point the only songs of her's I had heard were Beautiful and Accelerate (with Ty Dolla $ign), so I wasn't sure what to expect. Never realized she was hispanic

gal can sing

With 20 songs you're gonna have a few misses but there are a lot of hits. Even on the lesser tracks Christina's vocals shine. Trim some of the fat and work out some of the iffier production choices and you've got a phenomenal pop record.

good! tracklist a bit too long, production felt a little off (but maybe i just need new headphones), 3.5 if i could.

Overall middle because there are some truly iconic songs on this album - Fighter and Can't Hold Us Down being top of my list. But overall, not a big fan of her vocal tone, and some of the songs she sounds especially flat/just don't seem to fit her vocal style.

Right off the bat way too long, as always no album should be more than 40 minutes. More varied than I was expecting. She’d got a nice voice but it’s just not my favorite kind of voice. To me just an average bloated album Also always fun to see a fellow tiger: “During her youth in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, Aguilera attended North Allegheny Intermediate High School before leaving there to be homeschooled to avoid bullying she experienced at school”

Christina’s second entry in the list, and with a better album imo. Still not my kind of thing, but you have to admire the drive. Favourite track: Make Over

3 na szynach, mieszanie gatunków, mogło być gorzej

Heard Before? Only the singles. Notes: - one of the best things about this list is knowing that thousands of old guys are going to be listening to teen pop. - that said, I'm also an old guy and I find this easy to admire but hard to love. - with so many songwriters and producers in the room, there's bound to be at least a few stunning moments. and there are plenty. - TOO MANY INTERLUDES. I'm so glad this trend mostly died out. - obviously a shockingly powerful voice that any reasonable person would barter their eternal soul for, even if it doesn't exactly resonate with me. but the multitracking on "Walk Away" (and several other songs) was wild - blew me away. Verdict: Delivering the opposite of its premise, I can think of several current pop stars who should be taking notes from this master class in genre-hopping melismatic maximalism. Listen Again? Not planning on it, but that won't stop me from recommending it.

First album I really, really did not want to listen to and could barely get to finish it. It being 70 minutes also is another reason to stay away.

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.