Christina Aguilera: Stripped (2LP) [RCA]

Why you'll love it

This RCA pressing spreads all 20 tracks of Stripped over a 2LP set. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 330,000 copies in its first week, went five times platinum in the US and has sold over 12 million worldwide.

This edition

• 2LP set

About the album

Three years after her teen pop debut, Christina Aguilera decided she'd rather steer the ship herself. She took creative control of Stripped as executive producer, wrote across the record and brought in a new crew of collaborators, swapping bubblegum for a mix of pop, R&B, soul, rock, hip hop and Latin music.

Linda Perry produced the album's centrepiece, "Beautiful," a piano ballad about self-worth, along with "Make Over" and "Cruz." Scott Storch handled a big run of the record, including "Can't Hold Us Down," "Walk Away" and "Fighter," whose rock guitar and snarl made it an anthem. "Dirrty" was the loud opening statement, and "The Voice Within" closes the singles with a soaring ballad. Interludes such as "Primer Amor" nod to her Latin roots, and "Soar" lifts off near the end.

Stripped landed five Grammy nominations and a win, and in the UK it became her best-performing album, with two million copies sold. She took it on the road with Justin Timberlake on the Justified & Stripped Tour. Twenty-plus years on, "Fighter" still turns up at every gym we've ever set foot in, admittedly not many.

Also at Kops: more Christina Aguilera on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On RCA (cat# 07863 68037-1), the 2002 album.