Reflections - A Retrospective

Mary J. Blige | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 12, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000JU8HHE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,727 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Mary J. fans are about as likely to put up with chain-pulling as the queen of hip-hop soul herself--which is why a good many of them have been quick to point out that this disc, exceptional as it is, doesn't quite equal a greatest hits package. Where among these favorites are biggies such as "Love @ 1st Sight," "You Remind Me," "Your Child," and "Dance for Me"? The answer is it doesn't much matter. Because Reflections, as its name suggests, is a mere dip in the Mary J. memory pool--a meatier hits package is likely on the way. There's no time like the present, then, for rolling with the latest on offer from R&B's reigning bruised-hearted lady. Threaded through evergreens like "Family Affair," "Not Gon' Cry," and "No More Drama" are four new tracks, not a one of which is a throwaway: "We Ride (I See the Future)" coasts on attitude and a hand-clappy beat; "King & Queen," a duet with John Legend, seems spun from some ecstatic fantasy; "You Know" breaks itself down to a dizzy-headed disco vibe; and opener "Reflections (I Remember)" is a proud look back on a lifetime of heartbreak and healing. It may not be as definitive a disc as some would like, but in determining whether to buy it, take a cue from Mary J.: don't hold back. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description

To state that 2006 was one of the biggest years of Mary J Blige's career isn't hype. It is truth. In 2006 there was no bigger story or artist, in any genre, than Mary J Blige. Thanks to a chart-topping album, history making #1 single, galvanizing television appearances and a sold out tour, 2006 became the 12-month span in which the multiple platinum selling, Grammy winning Queen of Hip Hop Soul scaled new creative, personal and commercial heights. So after all of those dazzling achievements what does Mary J do to top it? Simple. She rewards her fans by recording yet another classic in the making - REFLECTIONS - A RETROSPECTIVE.

A much anticipated and long awaited collection Reflections -A Retrospective not only gathers together all Mary J's timeless greatest hits but features FOUR NEW GREATEST HITS TO BE - the first of which is the hot single "We Ride (I See The Future"). Spanning the entirety of Mary J's spectacular 15-year career Reflections- A Retrospective is more than a greatest hits collection. It's a soulful shout out to Mary J's loyal fans, and a celebration of the year when one of R&B's most influential singers "broke through" bigger than ever.

Released on December 20th, 2005, Mary's 7th cd The Breakthrough debuted at #1, and sold an astonishing 727,163 copies its first week: making it not just the best opening week for a solo R&B female artist in SoundScan history but the biggest opening week of 2006 to date. Period. Yet even more explosive than The Breakthrough's success was the album's lead off single "Be Without You". Written and produced by BRYAN MICHAEL COX and JONATA AUSTIN (the same creative team responsible for "We Ride (I See The Future"), "Be Without You" had the #1 spot on the Billboard R&B charts on lock; and stayed there for a record breaking 15 straight weeks. "Be Without You" was not only the biggest hit of Mary's already brilliant career, it entered the history books by becoming the longest-running No. 1 song on the R&B chart since it was reintroduced, after a brief hiatus, in 1965. You'd have to go back to 1949 to find a #1 song with as lengthy a chart run as "Be Without You."

The Breakthrough was equally dominant. The emotive CD was the recipient of universal critical acclaim, with Vanity Fair declaring, "...she's still the Queen..." USA Today stating "Another Blige `Breakthrough' ...Blige still touches souls..." and the Boston Globe hailing the cd as "...a start-to-finish triumph."

Fans also felt The Breakthrough's power. Following Mary's stellar performance on the 2006 Grammy Awards, (dueting with U2 on their ballad "One"), The Breakthrough recaptured the top spot on the Billboard 200. Along with that electrifying appearance -which the St. Petersburg Times declared was "chills-inducing" - Mary also performed on the finales of "Dancing With the Stars" and "American Idol", "Oprah", and the ABC soap "One Life To Live".

RON FAIR, Chairman of Geffen Records says of Mary's success "Mary J. Blige has reached the defining moment of her life - as a vocalist, as a songwriter, and as a human being. Her new album "Reflections- A Retrospective" is an essential collection of songs that solidifies Mary as one of the greatest recording artists of all time. Anyone who has ever suffered loss, experienced pain, been in trouble, gave love or been loved, can find themselves in the music of Mary J. Blige."

With her landmark 1992 cd What's The 411 Mary J Blige became R&B's standard bearer, setting both its sound and style. Since that debut Mary has earned 3 Grammys, had 7 multi platinum albums, lent her support to a slew of high profile charities and earned the unqualified respect of fans, critics and her fellow performers. With a soulful power that knows no equal, Mary J Blige owned 2006 and the Queen continues her reign with Reflections - A retrospective.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Milestones!, December 14, 2006

By 

Josh "JAC" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections - A Retrospective (Audio CD)

People seem to be a bit confused with this CD. It is NOT a Greatest Hits disc. Mary has been on several talk shows promoting Reflections (A Retrosepctive)and she has said that it was not intended to be a greatest hits. MJB has gone on to say that she wanted to put together a collection of songs that she gets a lot of emails and letters about, from her fans, telling her how much these peticular songs have impacted their lives.

With that being said, she has chosen some pretty big milestone songs in her career. Mary obviously included the song that put her on the map -"Real Love". Everyone knows this as her first bonafide hit and takes you back to that early 90's sound. She also took such great tracks as "I'm Going Down", "Be Happy", "Not Gon' Cry", the gut wrenching: "No More Drama", the song we ALL tore the dance floors up to: "Family Affair", and she also took us into the now and re-invented the classic "My Life" and also included the recent smash: "Be Without You".

Mary has 4 brand new songs on here with: "King & Queen" (Featuring John Legend), "You Know", "Reflections (I Remember)" and "We Ride (I See The Future)". All 4 are good but "Reflections" and "We Ride" are standout tracks that are 100% raw Mary!!! 2 very good midtempo songs that you will just warm up to immedietly.

The bad: I have ALWAYS loved the song: "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" but, why did they have to remix it??? I do not like this remix at all! I wish they would have just remastered the original and put that one on here instead of this bland remix. PLUS Method Man is all edited - UGH! In my opinion, I feel there are just a few songs on here that could have been excluded to make room for a couple different songs that I am sure have made more of an impact of Mary fans.

I have and always will love Mary. She does not have a bad song. I just think people need to understand that this was never intended to be a greatest hits. We know when one does drop, it will be a box set!!! :)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where Are The Hits?, December 12, 2006

By 

K. Bryant "kenbinc2" (Dayton) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reflections - A Retrospective (Audio CD)

First let me state that whomever formulated this track-list must have little knowledge of MJB's long explosive 15 year career. They failed to add all of the obvious choices. The record company should've also known better than to package a MJB "Reflection" in just fifteen tracks. There's just too much material to fit on one CD.

Where is 'Love No Limit' from 'What's the 411?'

Where is 'I Can Love You', 'Seven Days', 'Missing You', & 'You Are Everything' from 'Share My World'?

Where is 'All That I Can Say', 'Deep Inside', & 'Your Child' from 'Mary'?

Where is 'PMS' & 'Rainy Dayz' from 'No More Drama'?

Where is 'Ooh' & 'Love @ First Sight' From 'Love & Life'?

That is a lot of essential Mary cuts that were excluded, many of which were bonafide hits and will be missed by those who knew them. I could have done without 'Be Without You' & 'No One Will Do', both of which never sat in the vault long enough for us to miss them. They were both unnecessary inclusions seeing as how they were both released on 'The Breakthrough' less than a year ago.

I also hate when they remix tracks on greatest hits packages. I could have done without the 'You're All I Need' remix. Whitney did the same thing for her greatest hits CD and it suffered because of it.

Bottom line: This is not a definitive collection. Nowhere near it. They really dropped the ball on this one. The new cuts are alright, but I could have done without all the padding and they could have added more essentials.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great CD but missing tracks, December 12, 2006

By 

Music lover "tom" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections - A Retrospective (Audio CD)

The long awaited and highly anticipated greatest hits collections has finally arrived. The one but very important criticism I have is why is the North American version 3 tracks short!! It's missing the key singles like the duet with George Michael "As" as well as the one with U2 and the coveted MJB Da MVP. I urge all fans to petition Geffen to release Mary's cds with their full tracklistings. After all, did she not gain international status from support here at home!