Christina Aguilera Stripped CD

Extremely limited version of her 2002 album, packaged with a bonus make-up kit by Miki that contains five different kinds of lip-gloss & five kinds of eye-shadow. The make-up kit is packaged in a bonus jewel case. The album & make-up kit are housed in an exclusive slipcase. BMG.

Personnel: Christina Aguilera (background vocals); Aaron Fishbein (guitar, electric guitar); Linda Perry (guitar, strings, piano, drum programming); Rob Hoffman (guitar, Fender Rhodes piano, programming); Dave Navarro, Glen Ballard, Michael Landau, Arthur White, John Goux (guitar); Ramon Stagnaro (acoustic guitar); Lili Haydn (violin, viola); Shanti Randall (viola); Richard Dodd (cello); Dan Higgins, Gary Grant, Darryl Dixon , Jerry Hey, Bill Reichenbach Jr. , David Watson (horns); Alicia Keys (piano, background vocals); Greg Phillinganes (piano); Damon Fox, David Siegel, Randy Kerber (keyboards); Paul Alexandre John, Kameron Houff, Brian Frazier Moore, Ahmir Khalib Thompson, Matt Chamberlain, Mike Stinson, Brian MacLeod (drums); Steve Morales (drum programming); Alexandra Brown, Charles Hines, Crystal Drummer, Toya Smith, Alfie Silas, Maxi Anderson, Maxine Willard Waters, Eric King (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Dave Pensado; Peter Mokran; Tony Maserati.
Recording information: Conway Studios, Hollywood, CA; NRG, North Hollywood, CA; The Enterprise Studio, Burbank, CA; the Record Plant, Hollywood, CA.
Photographer: Miranda Penn Turin.
Arrangers: Christina Aguilera; Balewa Muhammad; E. Dawk; Glen Ballard; Jasper Cameron; Steve Morales.
According to Christina Aguilera, the title of her second album, Stripped, refers to her emotions and not her body, but the topless photograph of her on the cover suggests otherwise. Most things about Stripped suggest sex, actually, since Xtina -- as she calls herself in a handful of interviews accompanying the release of the album -- never hesitates to put her body, her piercings, and recently liberated sexual beliefs on display throughout her hyper-sexual, convoluted sophomore effort. Like any diva, Christina believes her trials and tribulations are inherently more fascinating than anybody else's and, like any diva, she has an inflated sense of self-importance, defiantly strutting on the "Stripped Intro" that she's "sorry you can't define me/sorry I break the mold." What she's referring to is anybody's guess, since she hasn't exactly defied expectations since her last album -- releasing a Christmas album and a Spanish-language record of your debut ain't exactly breaking the mold: it is the mold. Plus, Stripped clearly has its origins in the sound of two of Christina's teen pop contemporaries -- the teasing sexiness of Britney Spears and the wonderful, gonzo dance-rock confessionals of Pink, who truly did break the mold with M!ssundaztood. Since Aguilera spent so much time working on the album, tearing through a seemingly countless number of producers, she seems desperate to not just catch-up with these two, but surpass them in the sex and confessions, breaking it down so they become the same thing, while adding a strong hip-hop undercurrent throughout all the songs. And the end result is utterly bizarre, surpassing Mariah Carey's Glitter as the modern-day standard for musical immolation while rivaling The Teaches of Peaches in its sheer carnality. Where Peaches always is in control of her sexuality, using it as a weapon and a joke in equal measures, Christina is overwhelmed by the reaction of others to her sexuality, putting it on equal ground with her voice, which remains a remarkably powerful instrument, especially since she's toned down the scale-running histrionics from her debut. If she's mastered her vocals, she's still desperately searching for her artistic voice, placing too much emphasis on club and street-level R&B, which fit her poorly (why was "Dirrty," a non-song that requires less range than the slinky sexiness of "I'm a Slave 4 U," the first single?), when she needs full-blown songsRolling Stone (11/28/02, p.88) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...With its lack of gimmickry and a surplus of sweet Seventies soul, STRIPPED is almost an album for grown-ups....Sophisticated fare..."
Spin (12/01/02, pp.137-8) - 6 out of 10 - "...STRIPPED is Aguilera telling us what a girl pop star really wants: to be free with her body, her art, and her heart..."