Customer Reviews

Mary

5 star:		(239)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

If this album was a painting, it would be filled with radiant colors, gorgeous textures and encased in an exquisite, meticulously designed frame. In other words: A work of art. Much has been said about the clarity and the overall sound of Mary's voice. But I'm telling you, NO ONE can channel their pain and feelings through their voice like Ms. Blige. You have no choice but to feel what she's feeling. "...don't judge me or think I'm bitter, for the evil God's allowed me to see......I'm just Mary." Classic!

Mary reinvents herself yet again. She come at you with this old-school, 70's vibe and mixes it with the soul and flava that made her what she is. She has an impressive list of guests on this one: Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Elton John, etc. "All That I Can Say" gives you an old Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life) type feel. On "Deep Inside", she pleads with you to see the 'real Mary'. She even updates the Gap Band classic "I'm In Love". She also represents for the club-heads with her cover of "Let No Man Put Asunder", which is hittin' in the clubs worldwide. The true highlight of this set is "The Love I Never Had". Complete with a live band, Mary gives it up on this one, all the way up to when she 'breaks it down'. Once there, she flows with some freestyle scatting and riffs that would make Ella proud.

Overall, this album proves why Mary is the trend-setting, innovative, soul-stirring Queen of Hip-Hop Soul.

I've been listening to Mary J Blige's music ever since her debut album, "What's The 411?" was released back in 1992. The album was so innovative and groundbreaking becuase few artists were doing what Blige was doing at the time, mixing hip-hop and R&B together. But, ever since that album and her 1994 classic, "My Life", Mary has been excessively using hip-hop elements to keep reinventing her sound. One her fourth album, simply titled, "Mary", Blige truly sounds like a mature artist. On this album, she throws away her raw and gritty hip-hop production, in favor of a more polished and glossy soulful sound. The opening, "All That I Can Say", which is written and produced by Lauryn Hill, is a lushy and moody ballad that has Mary echoing Stevie Wonder's sound. "Sexy" is probably the only song on here that has a true hip-hop sound, with Mary looping the melody and lyrics of the Michael Jackson tune, "I Can't Help It", which was written by Stevie Wonder. JadaKiss also does some brilliant rapping here. "Deep Inside" is all about stardom and its ups and downs. This track has Elton John replaying a piano loop from his 1973 hit, "Bennie And The Jets". "Beautiful Ones" is a mid-tempo ballad that has some beautiful and soft acoustic guitar being played throughout the song. It's a very elegant tune. "I'm In Love" is a personal favorite of mine. On this tune, Mary does a refreshing cover of The Gap Band's memorable ballad. "Time", a song that is brilliantly co-written by Stevie Wonder, is a haunting, yet introspective tune with Mary basically talking about the world's problems. She even loops the orchestral bridge off of Stevie's 1976 hit, "Pastime Paradise". "Memories" is a mid-tempo, sophisticated ballad with Blige covering her aspect on relationships. "Don't Waste Your Time" has Mary doing an amazing duet with the Queen Of Soul: Aretha Franklin. On this track, Aretha gives Blige some advice, telling her to just leave the man alone. This amazing ballad is produced by Babyface. "Not Lookin'" has Blige doing a harsh duet with her ex-boyfriend, K.C. Hailey of K.C. and Jo-Jo and also the group, Jodeci. In this song, they share some disturbing confessions of their relationship with the listeners, they also realize that they both made some mistakes. The song also has some explicit language. Both "Your Child" and "No Happy Holidays" are the most important songs on here. The first one, "Your Child" is a low-key ballad with Blige talking about finding out her boyfriend has a child with another woman, but he denies that it's his child. The other track, "No Happy Holidays" is about her boyfriend not spending time with her on special romantic occasions, especially different holidays. "The Love I Never Had" has Mary recalling a stong influence in 70's soul. The song has a lot of live-sounding instruments being played throughout the song. "Give Me You" is a nice ballad that shows Mary's maturity clearly. The song was written by Diane Warren. "Let No Man Put Asunder" has Mary showing a strong influence in disco and dance music.

Although I consider her 1994 classic, "My Life" as her finest album, "Mary" is her most unified and acclaimed record. It shows how mature and consistent she really is. From an artistic standpoint, "Mary" is a better collection of songs than an overall statement like "My Life" was. "Mary" is very coherent and this is her most collaborative album. She works with everybody from Aretha Franklin to Elton John. This album should be in every R&B collection because the consistency and talent Blige puts in this album is special in every way. A-

ONCE AGAIN MARY PROVES WHY SHE IS THE QUEEN. SHE GIVES IT TO YA RAW, UNFORTUNATELY SOME PEOPLE MISTAKE THAT RAWNESS FOR ANGER AND BITTERNESS. MARY IS ON A WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL AND SOME PEOPLE JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND. MARY MAKES SONGS THAT ARE ABOUT REALITY, AND THINGS THAT SHE HAS GONE THROUGH. WHICH SO HAPPENS TO BE WHAT ALOT OF YOUNG WOMEN HAVE EITHER GONE THROUGH OR ARE CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH. HER MUSIC IS FROM THE SOUL WHICH IS WHY SHE WILL CONTINUE TO SHINE. MY PERSONAL FAVORITES ARE 'DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME' FEATURING THE QUEEN OF SOUL ARETHA FRANKLIN, 'NO HAPPY HOLIDAY', 'GIVE ME YOU' W/ERIC CLAPTON, 'DEEP INSIDE' W/ELTON JOHN AND THE 'LOVE I NEVER HAD'. IN THE SONG 'YOUR CHILD' I REALLY LIKE THE FACT THAT THEY ACTED LIKE REAL WOMEN AND NOT GUEST ON JERRY SPRINGER. THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM IS 'NOT LOOKIN' FEATURING K-CI, IS IT JUST ME OR DOES EVERY TIME THIS TWO GET TOGETHER THE SONG IS OFF THE CHAIN. I STILL LOVE 'IF YOU LOVING YOU IS WRONG' FROM 'WHAT'S THE 411'.

LIKE DMX SAID TO LIVE IS TO SUFFER BUT TO SURVIVE IS TO FIND MEANING WITHIN THE SUFFERING AND MARY J BLIGE IS A SURVIVER! ONE LOVE **LILSPECIAL**

Mary has moved into full fledged R&B on this album.....it is so smooth and beautiful. I think that anyone who truly likes an artist will appreciate that artist's work if it comes from the heart. And it is obvious that Mary put her heart and soul into making this album. Like her previous albums it is deeply personal, but a little less hiphop beats and more straight forward R&B! If you don't know much about Mary J. Blige...let me tell you this about her. The way she sings comes straight from her heart, raw and unedited. She has experienced the problems in life that we all have faced...and makes us feel like were one of her best friends. It is that realness that has put her in a category of her own...hence her title: Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Because she is considered a modern legend, she will probably release albums well into her old age, like Aretha Franklin, or Patti La Belle. I look forward to this journey with Mary, because as she matures as an artist, she will probably go through different stages of her career.....releasing live albums, studio albums, duets albums, gospel albums, even rap albums. The current Mary album is a journey into the more R&b side of Mary. The next part of Mary's journey will be Mary Volume II, which should hit stores later this year, or early 2001. Some of the guests on that album are Busta Rhymes, Silk the Shocker, Missy Elliot, and Jay-Z. It will be more uptempo style. Anywayz.....thank yall so much for reading this review. And buy the album......if you like it buy some of her old albums.....they are like a biographical journey of Mary J. Blige......Her albums are: What's the 411 (1992); What's the 411 remixes (1993); My Life (1994); Share My World (1997); The Tour (1998); Mary (1999)

MARY was released in August 1999. It wasn't her most successful album, but it's my favorite album she's done. I was especially disapointed in 2001 when she went mainstream again with her NO MORE DRAMA album which was very disapointing in comparison to this album. There is so much emotion and passion all over this, and if anything this album proves that Mary is the rightful heir to Aretha Franklin's throne. Mary proves she has soul power on this disc. The album opens with the first single, the Lauryn Hill penned "All That I Can Say", a beautiful love song. She sounds so good on the song "Sexy". "Deep Inside" was also a single, where Mary sings about how she's just herself and how she wants to be understood. The song also features Elton John and samples his song "Bennie and The Jets". "Beautiful Ones" is a favorite of mine, it has an interesting sound, a looped guitar over some hip hop beats. She does a magnificent cover of The Gap Band's "I'm In Love" which is one my favorites on here. "Time" is a great song that samples "Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder. "Memories" is a nice uptempo R&B song, and the show stopper is the duet with Aretha Franklin on "Don't Waste Your Time". Two of the greatest voices on one track? Believe it! I don't care much for "Not Lookin", I think it's the weakest track here. "Your Child" is another favorite of mine, about finding out her boyfriend has a child with another woman, and that he doesn't want anything to do with his child. "The Love I Never Had" is an excellent soul song, very sad but the lyrics are great. "Give Me You" is a nice Diane Warren ballad, also a single from the project. The album closes nicely with a cover of "Let No Man Put Asunder". This is Mary's best album, her heart is all in this and I hope one day she returns to doing this type of music, instead of the boring mainstream stuff she has done on her latest two albums (LOVE & LIFE and NO MORE DRAMA).

If you're going to buy any of Mary's CD's (or maybe all) this one HAS to be included in that list. Of all the albums Mary has done, this one is filled with the most emotion and the most thought-provoking lyrics yet. Songs like "Beautiful Ones" and "Your Child" are sort of haunting in their beat and in the words. Mary's newest album, "No More Drama", PALES in comparison to this. While her others also have a few soul-touching songs (but not many) "Mary" has the most. It shows a mature Mary. A Mary with real emotions and deep thoughts-not the superficial Mary of "No More Drama".

To sum it all up, JUST GET THIS CD!

I bought this cd after hearing a few songs in my sister's car. Maybe it's just me, but I think that this is her best album. The music stands on it's own (Puffy's gone). It starts off with the Lauryn Hill penned "All That I Can Say." It's the best song that's not on "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill." Next up is one of the only two tracks that I skip past while playing the CD. (The other is "Memories.") "Sexy" (which features an out of place rap) just doesn't do anything for me. Other than those two songs, she makes it almost impossible to take the cd out of the player. From the ingenious use of Elton John's "Bennie & The Jets" sample, mixed in with the other ex-Al B. Sure collaborator Kevin Deane additions, Mary let's you know that she's just her on "Deep Inside." Her vocals are powerful throughout the rest of the cd... most notably on the duet with her ex, K-Ci Hailey. Not to be overlooked are the beautiful ballads "Beautiful Ones" and "I'm In Love." Two of the best R&B ballads in the last ten years. Eric Clapton makes a guest appearance on "Give Me You."

My three favorite tracks are "The Love I Never Had," "Your Child," and "No Happy Holidays." Three emotionally packed songs. The Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis penned/produced "The Love I Never Had" is their best song in at least ten years (wow, they used live drums for once!) The other two tracks are just as incredible.

If you don't own a cd yet by the premiere R&B female artist of this generation, this is the one I recommend. I just wish she'd come to Seattle, so I can experience these songs live...

Mary is Mary J Blige's 6th album, one of her best indeed. The album has a 70's R&B flavor throughout all the songs, and more and more she is proving why she is soulful. She sings with passion, emotion, you can hear her joy or pain in the songs. Here's my track by track review.

The album starts off with All That I Can Say, the first single, also written by Lauryn Hill. It continues with songs like Sexy, and Deep Inside which samples an Elton John song and explains the difficulty of being famous and finding someone to trust. Beautiful Ones is Mary's favorite track on the album, deserving of being a single. The next songs include I'm In Love, Time and Memories, which I wouldn't be surprised if it became a single, its one of the best songs on the album. Don't Waste Your Time is a wonderful song with another lady of soul, Aretha Franklin. The vocal gymnastics they perform will leave you breahtless. Your Child, will be the next single (check out the junior vasquez mix!), a song that deals with the pain of realizing the man she's with had a child with another woman, but is neglecting it, and she's trying to deal with it. The tracks continue, suddenly its Give Me You the current single, a wonderful lush ballad. The album closes with a wonderful cover, Let No Man Put Asunder.

You should check out this album, if you love mary, or R&B.

I wish I could describe this whole album....but it would be several pages long.....So I will make it short and simple. If you get this album, you will experience soul music in it's highest form. This album, is proof why Mary is already a living legend at such a young age...(29 yrs old). She has created a musical masterpiece for the world to enjoy.....You have to listen to it yourself to see what I mean. So buy this album, and let the queen of hip-hop soul share her beautiful voice with you.

Mary J. Blige shows her ability to fit into either Hip-Hop, Soul, or both at the same time. Amazing versatility. If one is looking for the typical Mary J. Blige sound, prepare to be disappointed. Though she's the queen of hip-hop soul, don't be deceived: Mary J. goes soul all da way here. Though criticised by some people for lacking the unique sound of her previous albums, Ms. Blige should be highly commended for her wonderfully successful attempt to go back to Soul, her musical roots. Artistes are allowed to be who they want to be, not what people want them to be. The Queen shines through doing what she was raised on: Soul.

A throughly enjoyable and moving album. 5 stars!