Mary J. Blige – Reflections (A Retrospective)
Geffen Records (released 12/12/06)
R&B/Soul
In the early ’90s, just at the height of the New Jack Swing movement, Mary J. Blige successfully broke into the music scene with the help of (at the time) a much less egotistical and ad hoc award-demanding-prone Sean Combs, and it was good. What’s the 411? was received warmly by R&B fans and pop fans alike, and was further popularized by a subsequent remix album (no, Linkin Park wasn’t the first act to stretch seven months worth of material over three years), and then My Life, in which Mary J. flexed her songwriting muscles, and this, too, was good. After a lukewarm reception to 1997’s Share My World, she decided to try a more organic, classic soul sound with 1999’s Mary, and this was very good, and although most of her original fans were a little confused, critics ate it up with a spoon.
Fast-forward a few more years to No More Drama, and with its painfully catchy vanguard single “Family Affair” (produced by one of Mathan Erhardt’s all-time favorites), which dropped Mary J. back into the New Jack/hip-hop fold, and that was still pretty good. Then came 2003’s Love & Life, which marked her reunion with collaborating with Combs, at that time known as P. Diddy, and also at that time being the egotistical and ad hoc award-demanding-prone bundle of joy that we all know and love. Unfortunately, it failed, miserably, but fortunately Mary J. was able to regroup and drop The Breakthrough, which has won her something like 38 awards over the past year.
Needless to say, Mary J. Blige is one of the hardest-working singers of the R&B genre, consistently dropping albums almost every two years and still managing to garner critical acclaim 14 years after her debut, while many of her New Jack Swing contemporaries have been reduced to bringing home the bacon by doing things like appearing at marketing conventions and bar mitzvahs (see, e.g., Sure!, Al B.; and Public, Joe). That said, the question remains whether or not Reflections (A Retrospective) is a proper representation of what she’s been doing over the course of her career…
The album features four new tracks, which happen to be the first four tracks: “Reflections (I Remember)”, “We Ride (I See the Future)”, “You Know”, and “King & Queen” (f/John Legend).1 The John Legend track is bland and “We Ride” sounds like a rehash of the much, much better “Be Without You”, which shows up later in the set, as well it should (I’m pretty sure it was Number One for around four months). If I had to pick one of the new tracks as a winner, it would either be the relatively solid opening track, “Reflections”, or “You Know”, which at first sort of had me making confused faces, but I learned to appreciate it in a Kristine W sort of way. Here’s to hoping Thunderpussy will get to remixing that one.
The aforementioned “Family Affair” appears back-to-back with “Real Love”, which may be Mary J.’s best song ever, and luckily the powers that be opted to use the original and not that crappy remix version. This song just shows that before he was shamelessly aping David Bowie and Grandmaster Flash, Sean Combs was able to take a sample (in this case Audio Two) and do some fantastic things with it. “I’m Going Down” and “Not Gon’ Cry” (of Waiting to Exhale fame) were good choices, but “911” with Wyclef Jean is quite possibly the worst song ever recorded, as it sucked even more than the Wyclef/The Rock collaboration, “It Doesn’t Matter”, which appeared on the same album. Its inclusion doesn’t make much sense seeing as songs like “All That I Can Say” and “Love Is All We Need” got bumped from the lineup, and even “Deep Inside”, the duet with Elton John which was basically “Bennie and the Jets” featuring Mary J. Blige, would have fared better in the lineup. Ok, maybe not.
Using the classic “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By” duet with Method Man to close out the set was a good choice. Moreover, the 2006 remix of “My Life”, also appearing near the end of the set, is thoroughly enjoyable, and is probably the best reason for diehard fans to buy the album, aside from the new tracks. It would be most recommended for new fans that want a decent Cliff’s Notes of her material. This set is not the greatest representation of Mary J.’s musical progression as an artist, but it’s still an enjoyable album.
Rating:
ENDNOTES
1 A UK version of the compilation was released on Dec. 4, and it actually features three songs that were omitted from the US release‗As” (f/George Michael), “One” (f/U2), and “MJB Da MVP”.
