2008's 'Growing Pains' was a great album.
Ms J. Blige's finest in a long and distinguished career.
'What Love Is' and the sublime 'Come To Me (PEACE)',
particularly the latter, were unforgettable highlights.
I had high hopes for 'Stronger' but this release is a very
different kettle of catfish. Things really don't get started
until about halfway through the recording and by then I was
already feeling more than a little disappointment.
I'm a fan you see. I really do love this woman's voice and
this is far away from the best of what she is capable.
The opening four tracks really are very lacklustre.
Things just don't catch fire. Mid-paced, middle-of-the-road
unmemorable melodies and hackneyed arrangements.
'The One', a very ordinary composition is further damaged
by guest Drake's truly dreadful rapterlude.
T.I.'s interruption to 'Good Love' is no better.
Both contributions, whilst doubtless intended to add to the
music's urban credibility, drag it down into the most
mundane and predictable of territories.
Things start looking up on track five, 'I Feel Good'.
Suddenly the voice, like an exotic flower opening,
bursts into full bloom, largely due to the fact that,
at last, she has a solid melody to hang on to.
A cracking song, beautifully sung!
'I Am' keeps us in a good place. Another strong tune
carried off with style and incandescent conviction.
The vocal harmonies are stunning.
'Each Tear' is a somewhat run-of-the-mill love song.
Nice enough in its own sweet way but hardly classic Mary.
'I Love U (Yes I Du)' is about as upbeat as things get.
A dance-friendly track with a canny hookline but the voice
sounds constrained and marred by unnecessary electronic treatment.
'Kitchen' is a cracking piece of loping R&B.
Our heroine sounds happy and at home in its company.
'Hood Love' would have been a whole lot better without the
presence of Tray Songz. His horribly affected vibrato adds
absolutely nothing to an otherwise reasonably good composition.
'In The Morning' is by-far the project's finest moment.
Heart and soul come together in a performance of credible
and genuinely hair-raising emotional intensity.
This song is, alone, worth the price of the album.
Final track 'I Can See In Color' demonstrates that The Lady
really can sing the blues! A stunning ending just in time.
A very mixed bag then. Some sublimely shiny moments sparkling
in amongst the dross. I am thankful for those small mercies.