Stripped was received with mixed to negative reviews upon release. Understandably, it was a super bloated album with 20 songs running at nearly 1hr 20 minutes. Such a pity because there are sooo many great songs on it. With a bit of a trim it could have been one of the greatest pop classics of all time. What would you change (if anything) about it to make it flow better?

Here's my edit:

1. Stripped (intro) - outstanding intro

2. Walk Away - flows much better from intro. Can't hold us down had no business being track #2

3. Fighter - perfect follow from Walk Away

4. Get Mine, Get Yours - strong song, flows perfectly with previous ones continuing with the rock sound

5. Dirty - continue with hard hitting songs

6. Can't Hold Us Down - Dirty was a great mix of rocky and urban sounds and set the stage to this urban leaning song

7. Primer Amor (interlude) - a little break

8. Infatuation - melodic with latin flavour. Works well after Can't Hold Us Down and leads well into the next few tracks

9. Impossible - slow it down

10. Beautiful - the centerpiece

11. Loves Embrace (interlude) - thematically perfect after Beautiful and a little breaker between the slower songs

12. Loving Me For Me - continues the slower pace set earlier

13. The Voice Within - perfect thematic continuation from the previous song

14. I'm OK - another emotional vulnerable centerpiece leaving the best for last and flowing perfectly with the previous 5 slower paced songs

This is an album that shows range, creativity and stays tight from beginning to end. The first half is more rock leaning and hits really hard. The middle is latin/urban that leads perfectly into the slower second half. No bad, no mid songs. A perfect pop album. Runtime: 53 minutes

What was left out:

1. Stripped part 2 - great interlude, could have served as a great outro, but I feel like it doesn't work very well after I'm OK. Could be the intro to the deluxe edition

2. Underappreciated - 100% filler level. Delete

3. Make Over - Accelerate's distant cousin: obnoxious and weak all around. Delete

4. Cruz - cute and beautiful but doesn't fit the sound of the album. Leave as bonus track on the deluxe edition

5. Soar - also doesn't fit the album and pretty weak. Bonus track

6. Keep on Singing My Song - perfect bonus track material, but pretty weak and doesn't fit on the main album at all

The only songs I'd remove are Make Over (migraine inducing) and Soar (Cruz is right there and gets the job done much better). I like my 2000s pop albums with a hint of filler, it was part of the culture.

I have it like this in my library

1.Can't Hold Us Down

2.Dirrty

3.Infatuation

4.Get Mine, Get Yours

5.Loving Me 4 Me

6.Impossible

7.Underappreciated

8.Beautiful

9.Cruz

10.Walk Away

11.Fighter

12.Soar

13.The Voice Within

I listen to it front to back no skips, flows like a breeze.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by AxelFox

1. Stripped Intro

2. Walk Away

3. Fighter

4. Primer Amor Interlude

5. Infatuation

6. Loves Embrace Interlude

7. Loving Me 4 Me

8. Impossible

9. Beautiful

10. Underappreciated

11. Can't Hold Us Down

12. Get Mine, Get Yours

13. Dirrty

14. Stripped, Pt. 2

15. The Voice Within

16. I'm Ok

All Killer. No Filler. Smooth Transitions. I Will Be (Hidden Track) .

14 minutes ago, AxelFox said:

I have it like this in my library

1.Can't Hold Us Down

2.Dirrty

3.Infatuation

4.Get Mine, Get Yours

5.Loving Me 4 Me

6.Impossible

7.Underappreciated

8.Beautiful

9.Cruz

10.Walk Away

11.Fighter

12.Soar

13.The Voice Within

I listen to it front to back no skips, flows like a breeze.

Where's I'M OK?

Stripped Intro

Dirrty

Cant hold us down

Fighter

Primer Amor

Infatuation

Get mine get yours

Impossible

Walk away

Beautiful

The voice within

Other tracks can be in deluxe

1. Stripped pt.1/pt.2 - Merge them into one proper song. I've always thought there was a genuinely great single hiding in there if it had an actual structure instead of being split in two.

2. Can't Hold Us Down (featuring Lil' Kim)

3. Walk Away

4. Fighter

5. Primer Amor Interlude(ditch this interlude. I know some people love it, but I've always found it a bit theatrical... like Christina was auditioning for a telenovela. Infatuation works perfectly well without the dramatic setup.)

6. Infatuation

7. Loves Embrace Interlude (see opinion below)

8. Loving Me 4 Me (I like the song but again, could easily be a b-side or a bonus)

9. Impossible

10. Underappreciated (I actually like this song, but I'll admit it's one of the more obvious fillers on the album. I'm sure the message meant a lot to Christina personally, but as a track it's never been particularly memorable. It has very strong B-side/leaked-demo energy. That's What Love Can Do?)

11. Beautiful

12. Make Over (ATRL will never make me hate this song. If Overload is a cult classic, then justice for it's twin copycat sister with better vocals)

13. Cruz

14. Soar (keep as b-side ala I Will Be)

15. Get Mine, Get Yours

16. Dirrty (featuring Redman)

17. Stripped Pt. 2 (see Stripped pt. 1)

18. The Voice Within

19. I'm OK

20. Keep On Singin' My Song (Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful closer and a fitting way to end the album. I've just always found it a little too uneventful. I'd move it to the deluxe edition without thinking twice.)

I'd cut: Loves Embrace, Loving Me 4 Me, Soar and Keep On Singin' My Song. None are bad, but they scream deluxe edition or B-side to me. Stripped is one of my favorite albums ever, ...yet I've always felt its biggest flaw is that it tries to say too much all at once. Shaving off 15–20 minutes would've made the experience much tighter without losing what made it iconic imo.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by Sharamee6

1 hour ago, NEX said:

Where's I'M OK?

It's a beautiful song but I feel like it doesn't work as well for the album as the other slow songs and it just drags the pace for me.

1. Can't Hold Us Down f/ Lil' Kim

2. Fighter

3. Walk Away

4. Beautiful

5. Dirrty f/ Redman

6. The Voice Within

dont care for the rest

11 hours ago, KatyPrismSpirit said:

1. Can't Hold Us Down f/ Lil' Kim

2. Fighter

3. Walk Away

4. Beautiful

5. Dirrty f/ Redman

6. The Voice Within

dont care for the rest

Just say you haven't listened to it outside the singles..

I'd cut Make Over, Underappreciated, Soar and Cruz. All of them are not bad songs by any means, they would make great B-sides.

36 minutes ago, NEX said:

Just say you haven't listened to it outside the singles..

Even Liberation is better than 143. Just saying. Not a golden standard, really.

Yes, I can shamelessly admit I kind of love Lotus so I didn't mention it.

Edited July 22Jul 22 by Sharamee6