On Stripped, Macy Gray shows herself at her most vulnerable. With a selection of new material, covers and rearranged old work, she throws herself into jazz for the first time. Whether this is a wise choice remains to be seen. Her hoarse and shrill voice turns out to be too limited for the genre. Her range does not reach far and in terms of dynamics she is also seriously failing. Sometimes it sounds
… like she doesn't have enough air to convey the end of a sentence with as much conviction as the beginning. She does not give herself 100 percent, which makes many vocals sound restrained. Unfortunately, her timing also leaves something to be desired. It seems as if producers David and Norman Chesky have heard this too, because Gray is regularly drowned out by the band, especially by the full bass sound of . This project is a bit too ambitious for Gray. (AD)more
