Artist: Mary J. Blidge
Album: Stronger With Each Tear
Label: Geffen Records

I imagine ‘Stronger With Each Tear’ is going to be an album that people either love or hate, leaving not much room for the middle ground. On the one hand, when placed in Blige’s catalog, this album seems necessary or expected; it continues where the last album, ‘Growing Pains’, ended with Blige seeming more confident, secure and happier than ever. As a stand-alone album though, it doesn’t seem to measure up to her past work. Upon the first listen, this was the first album of Blige’s that I wasn’t impressed with and moved by. It doesn’t have the gut-wrenching angst, sadness and anger of her earlier albums or even that of ‘Breakthrough’ or ‘Growing Pains’. The past albums all started off with a bang even with the first track. For this album though, it takes a few tracks for the album to find its legs. That being said, this is a good album but it certainly isn’t Blige at her absolute best.

The Good: After two albums that felt somewhat similar style and sequencing wise, ‘Stronger With Each Tear’ feels like Blige’s move in a new direction musically. There aren’t as many ballads or deep, depressing tracks and instead, she seems more bent on finding her groove with hip-hop and dance tracks like “The One”, featuring Blige’s voice manipulated by auto-tune and a dancefloor-ready beat accompanied by hand-claps and an appearance by rapper Drake. A piano and string-backed “Hood Love” is catchy and soothing and has Blige singing of love and devotion rather than her usual theme of heartbreak and angst. “I Am” is this album’s version of “Be Without You”; it’s very mainstream, hip-hop but pop at the same time and (in my opinion) is Blige at her absolute best musically and vocal wise on the album. Blige also takes a few chances, deviating from her usual musical path by including a track that is rather fun with silly lyrics but again, features a more confident Blige who’s giving a warning to a woman coming after her man. “Each Tear” may have a title that screams of ballad and makes you think of Blige’s emotional singing but it’s a stark turnaround; instead, it’s an uplifting, inspiring song about learning from your heart ache. There’s a wide range of music and styles featured on ‘Stronger With Each Tear’, probably the first album from Blige in a while where she’s sticking to a theme but allows the music to vary and evolve for each track rather than fit into a specific sound and style for the entire album.

The Bad: What brings the album down is that no track really rises to the level of Blige’s biggest hits or her vocal abilities. In some ways, this album felt a bit tame and reserved. I kept waiting for her to let go and really dive into a song with heart, soul and raw emotion as she did with “No More Drama”, “We Ride”, “As” or even the last album’s “What Love Is.” She doesn’t really have a track like that on the album, though “In the Morning” and “I Can See In Color” come somewhat close. Some of the tracks are decent, but they seem a bit beneath her after all she’s accomplished musically in the past few years. The collaborations seem a bit much; you have Trey Songz, T.I. and Drake somewhat taking over some of the songs they’re featured on. It’s fine, but unlike the past albums, this one is shorter so it felt as if the listener is being cheated out of a real Mary J Blige experience. There are more than a few tracks that just seem okay or average and felt like filler or skip-worthy after one listen including “I Love U”, “Said And Done” and “Tonight.” It took a few listens for me to pick up on the theme of the music and lyrics but the album sounds as if it was somewhat rushed for the sake of getting it out before the holiday season.

In all, the album is average, not Mary J Blige at her absolute best. Yes, style-wise it’s different from her past few albums and she somewhat goes back to her roots with a few hip-hop tracks but still, even after a few listens I can’t help but to feel like there’s something missing. Something, by the end of the album, feels unfinished, or unrealized and leaves you as a listener with an unsatisfied feeling.

Listen To These: “Each Tear”, “I Am”, “Kitchen”, “Hood Love”