Billed as “a soulful shout out to Mary J’s loyal fans”, Reflections is Blige’s first release since her hugely popular 2005 album The Breakthrough, which spawned the UK Top 10 hit ‘One’- a duet with Irish rock legends U2 - and went on to shift over three million copies worldwide.
Although Reflections is indeed a retrospective collection of songs spanning the R&B superstar’s 15 year career, it also boasts four brand spanking new tracks, including her hot single ‘We Ride (I See the Future)’.
A two disc set entitled Mary J Blige and Friends has also been released in the US, which includes an album of duets with artists such as Sting, Santana and Elton John, as well as a DVD of Blige’s concert performances. All proceeds from the set are to be donated to the youth aid programme The Boys and Girls Club of America.
They say:
musicOMH: “We can only hope that this is another passing phase in a career of devilish matriculations, which Reflections sums up with a wilfully commercial air.”
We say:
Although sequenced non chronologically, Reflections is a fascinating insight into Mary J Blige’s evolution as both a woman and artist, from street savvy youth fighting to get her family out of the Schlobam housing projects in Yonkers, New York, to hip hop soul pioneer wrestling her own personal demons to the reigning queen of soul at one with her world.
Highlights include the yearning, Chaka Khan influenced funk of ‘Real Love’; the Norman Whitfield penned soul ballad ‘I’m Goin’ Down’ - in which Blige comes across like Aretha Franklin at her most pure and tormented - and the cathartic gospel tinged pop of ‘As’ (featuring George Michael).
Of course, at only 18 tracks it could be argued Reflections is too short for someone with such a rich back catalogue as Blige (‘Mary Jane’, ‘All That I Can Say’ and ‘Not Today’, for example, are noticeably absent), but this is nitpicking.
Brimming with timeless slices of soul, Reflections serves as an excellent introduction for anyone looking to explore Blige’s work for the first time, while the very thought of a few fresh cuts is sure to satisfy fans’ thirst for new material until her next studio album arrives.
Like this? Try these:
Aretha Franklin – Amazing Grace: the Complete Gospel Recordings
Chaka Khan – The Platinum Collection
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
RELEASED
4th Dec ‘06
LABEL
Island
POSTED...
Tue 5 Dec 2006 at 7:16pm
