Happy New Year to Everyone...Just visiting for a bit...don't mind me :).
If you're interested in w...
Happy New Year to Everyone...Just visiting for a bit...don't mind me :).
If you're interested in where I usually hang out - it's over here:
http://www.epinions.com/user -kristinafh
Member since:04.03.2001
Reviews:8
Members who trust:7
Preamble I've been looking forward to the release of Christina's sophomore effort for a long time. Over the past six months, I've been a little discouraged by Christina's image in public. I wondered if she still had it or if she was trying to be something she wasn't. Guess what I just found out? I may have finally just met the real Christina.
A Trip Down Memory Lane In 1999, Miss Christina Aguilera screamed on to our MTV screens with Genie In A Bottle. She was that thin, blonde with a powerful voice that reminded us all of Mariah Carey. Just like her fellow mouskateers - Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez and Britney Spears, Christina seem to follow the same PR path. Lots of appearances on MTV, lots of photo shoots with teen magazines, and lots of singing of those same songs.
Her debut cd sold over eight million copies and she p*issed off Britney by stealing the grammy for best new artist.
Christina followed up her 1999 release with a Spanish version of her debut cd and a Christmas cd. A couple of years later, some money-grubbing people who worked with Christina early on in her career, released what is perhaps, one of the worst cd's ever - Just Be Free.
Although Christina hasn't released any "major" cd since 1999, that hasn't stopped her from being smack in the middle of the headlines. Between her scantily clad video for Lady Marmalade and her near-naked appearances at MTV events, Christina has managed to keep herself in the limelight.
Stripped - The Overview Stripped had quite a few tentative release dates. Usually, when a cd is delayed, that means that the cd is pretty crappy. In this case, I have a feeling that Stripped was delayed because the record label was scared.
Scared of what? You know how I'm always b*itching about how artists say how different their next cd is? In 99.9% of the cases, there's no difference. They may add a different producer or songwriter
to the mix but their overall look and feel, is just the same. And by the way, that's not necessarily bad. I just hate it that performing artists think that they need to say that their music is different.
So what's RCA scared about? I'm sure they're scared that Christina seems to be just a bit unpredictable. Compared to her debut cd, this one seems like an X-rated version of Lolita. Since record labels are all about money and what they release to the public is supposed to be about commercialism (and not the actual music), I'm sure that they tried to get Christina to tone it down a bit. I can just imagine the meetings that must have taken place behind closed doors. More Brit! Less Lil' Kim!
It's obvious - she must have won.
Let me tell you - when I first put this cd in my player, I wasn't expecting much. Christina's voice - i.e. what I thought was the voice - can be really grating. I mean, how many times can we belt out that high note??!!?? Although I won't take back what I've said about her voice in the past, I will tell you that I've discovered that it isn't her voice that was grating but the material she was singing.
Proof of that is this cd. Not once did her "voice" get on my nerves. Over the past 3-4 years, it appears that Christina has taken that inital wave of success and has decided what works for her and what doesn't. What doesn't appear to work for her are the Diane Warren type songs that Celine Dion gets stuck with or the Max Martin songs that Brit can only seem to get into.
What does work for her is writing or co-writing all of her songs (making sure to write from her heart) and collaborating production wise with many different kinds of artists and producers. While only Lil' Kim and Redman make appearances vocally, we are treated to the talents of Glen Ballard, Alicia Keys, and Linda Perry (just to name a few) from a production perspective. And let me tell you, production on every single one of these tracks is tight.
Every single one of these songs seems to be very personal. Looking back over the past 3-4 years, you can tell how her relationships and her career have been affected by her early fame.
Musically, you're going to get a lot of hip-hop, R&B, a dash of pop, a sprinking of soul.
So, this was supposed to be just an overview of the cd (sorry!). What I wanted to make you aware of is that this is perhaps one of the best cd's you'll hear this year. It was well worth the 3-4 year wait.
Track Listing Stripped - Part 1 Can't Hold Us Down (featuring Lil’ Kim) Walk Away Fighter Infatuation (Interlude) Infatuation Loves Embrace (Interlude) Loving Me For Me Impossible Underappreciated Beautiful Make Over Cruz Soar Get Mine, Get Yours Dirrty (featuring Redman) Stripped - Part 2 The Voice Within I'm OK Keep On (Singing My Song)
In Janet Jackson tradition, Christina comes barreling out of the gates with a musical interlude that sets the tone for the rest of the cd. Stripped, Part I contains bits and pieces of media clips from controversial situations with Eminem, Fred Durst, Britney Spears, etc....Christina introduces herself, asks you to take a moment to get to know her better, and although she says sorry you know that it's more from the point of view that she's sorry that people just don't get her.
The one minute 36 second interlude is tight. Between the media spots and Christina's vocals - I was just blown away by the fresh approach Christina was taking. There was no screeching. Most of the vocals were on the medium to low end which I think makes her sound so incredibly earthy and sexy.
Can't Hold Us Down, featuring Lil Kim is a song I would label, f*uck off to all of the critics who seem to think that men can strip down to nothing, do it with a bazillion girls, grind with women in videos and be brilliant. As Lil' Kim and Christina have experienced, for women, it makes you a hoe. By the way, I like this song because they're right. There's too many double standards in the world of entertainment.
When you think of some of Christina's slower song and/or ballads, a couple of things that come to mind is that her pattern for getting to those higher notes is pretty formulatic. Think about I Turn To You or Reflection. Walk Away is one of her slower songs on this cd and it couldn't be further from something that you've heard from her before. You can tell that the song is biographical. Christina's emotions are laid out in one of the most vulnerable positions I've heard her in. Musically, the torch song feeling adds a bit of mystery and misery.
Fighter is one of the most rocking-est songs I've heard from the lips of a female in a long time. The bridge climbs into a leash your fury on to the next person who gets in my way. She unloads a lot of her wrath and bad feelings to whoever did her wrong on this song. I'd love to see her release this as a single.
If you didn't know up front that Alicia Keys worked with Christina, it wouldn't take you more than a few seconds to realize that Impossible had her handy, dandy influence stamped all over it. Impossible has the same R&B groove feeling to it as Alicia's Fallin'. Make no mistake though - it's not the same song with just Christina singing it.
Linda Perry, who continues to make the rounds with all sorts of artists, magnificantly created this track that is aptly called Beautiful. Christina's vocals have never sounded better. It sound like she sings from a place of reflection and vulnerability. The musical arrangement is gorgeous. There's a thick layer of piano and strings yet the production is a little stripped back compared to some of the other songs. I get goose bumps just listening to this song. If they don't release this as a single, I will kill someone :).
I'm OK brought me to tears the first time I heard it. It's Christina's thoughts around the domestic abuse that her father put her and her mother through. Many artists have sung about abuse and many times, they're just singing about it. It's clear that Christina is reliving some of her painful memories through the words that she sings.
I hate to even include Dirrty in this review because most of you have heard it and probably seen it on MTV's high rotation of the video. While the song is fine - I consider it to be one of the weakest on the cd. I can see why the label had this released first - it's probably the easiest way to gain notoriety and get those sales up the first week. Personally, I don't think that's needed. The cd will eventually catch on for its merits.
The End To Christina Aguilera - Thank you. You blew me away. This is the cd I've been waiting all year for. The 3-4 year wait was well worth it. See you at the grammy's.
If you're looking for music of substance, look no further. This will make an excellent Christmas gift for any pop/hip-hop fan.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Underneath all Christine Aguilera's coy affectations and vocal gymnastics lurks a rare ... more
talent. With her second album, Aguilera allows it to flower by abandoning all pretence of courting the teenage market. Stripped is a seemingly effortless move into w...
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Stripped Pt.1 Can't Hold Us Down Walk Away Fighter Infatuation (interlude) Infatuation ... more
Loving Me For Me (interlude) Loving Me For Me Impossible Underappreciated Beautiful Make Over Cruz Soar Get Mine Get Yours Dirty Stripped Pt.2 A Voice Within I'm OK...
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Dec 14th, 2002
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