Christina Aguilera: Stripped

DITCHING THE TEEN seduction of her 1999 debut, Christina Aguilera’s second album attempts to speedup the aging process and shake off her wannabe Britney Spears image. Like P!nk, her route to pop maturity involves bouffant rock, AOR ballads and lyrical trauma. Sadly, bra-burning rhetoric and gospel warbling make poor substitutes for addictive songs and nothing here rivals her previous best, 'Genie In A Bottle'. 'Dirrty''s R&B snarl and the Bon Jovi-lite 'Fighter' make the most of her new found attitude and tendency to shout, and 'Loving Me For Me''s gorgeously sensual. Overall though, she just seems desperate to be anyone other than Christina Aguilera.