It is almost incredible that, after almost 14 years, "Stripped" still gives me goosebumps.
And it's not rare feat. After all, this is the follow-up of that self titled album that sold more than 7 million copies only in the US. Expectations were high for this one.
We can say this was the "coming of age" album from her. Tired of her conscious and careful image of her first album, Christina decided to give an 180 degrees change, and boy, for many it was too much.
"Dirrty", the first single, was met with derision and disapproval for the people who thought this was extreme for a former Disney girl (this was pre-Miley and everything, but is a recurring theme in pop music). And the video offended many sensibilities, accustomed to watch little Christina being flirty in an innocent kind of way, not in a straight-forward, come-on imagery, and very sexualized.
In an attempt to demonstrate she still had that thing that make her famous in the first place (her tremendous and skillful voice), she released her behemoth ballad, "Beautiful", and a classic was born. Sung until the end of times in every karaoke competition and "The Voice" blind auditions held, she had the opportunity to recover from the 'failure' of her first single, and made herself immortal with this, well, beautiful ballad about love and acceptance.
One of the recurrent themes from "Stripped" was a desire to be loved for who you are, and self-acceptance. She made raw confessions about family abuse in themes like "I'm OK", the problems she had with her father and how she overcame them in "Fighter", and made self-esteem anthems with "The Voice Within", "Soar" and "Keep On Singin' My Song". Very personal themes, that made us discover a very fragile and vulnerable Christina, that fought all of her youth life to find a voice and found an escape in music, which ultimately saved her and made her the person she was at that moment.
Of course, this album was full of bangers, too. Songs as the rhythmic female-anthem "Can't Hold Us Down" featuring former "Marmalade" collaborator Lil' Kim; "Infatuation" with its latin-infused beat; the pen-assisted Alicia Keys semi-duet "Impossible"; sultry come-on "Get Mine, Get Yours"; or the Sugababes rip-off "Make Over", this album had a little of everything for everyone.
But definitely what made Christina a Legend was definitely THE BALLADS. The aforementioned "Beautiful", "Cruz", my all-time favorite "Loving Me 4 Me" (channeling the Mariah-whistle register, sounds crazy and beautiful), and of course "The Voice Within". She definitely had this thing going on, where she can bare her soul in one note, and she was amazing for that.
Ultimately, this album was all about empowerment, confidence, feminism, being able to stand up for yourself, and love all around. "Dirrty" may have been a misleading single because it was all about sexiness, dirtiness, and little to no clothes, but perhaps she found suitable to shock the world to be heard, and boy she succeeded at that.
That is why, 14 years later, this is one of my favorite albums of all time. Listening to it today, many memories came to mind, and I appreciate the effort Christina put in this material, working with many great producers and making an album very long (almost 74 minutes), but very rewarding in the end.
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