Underneath all Christine Aguilera's coy affectations and vocal gymnastics lurks a rare talent. With her second album, Aguilera allows it to flower by abandoning all pretense at courting the teenage market. Stripped is a seemingly effortless move into weightier adult territory. Using her extraordinary voice as a much subtler instrument, Aguilera sings movingly and with grit and anger about the disintegration of a relationship; she's ultimately stronger for the pain. But that's not her whole agenda.
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