| Product Summary | | Label: Universal Music Group | | UPC: 00602498606117 | | Release Date: 8/26/2003 | | Buy.com Sku: 60609157 | | Item#: MYDLYT | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 | Format:  CD |
|
|
|
|
| Song Listing |  |
(P) 2003 Geffen Records
(C) 2003 Geffen Records
| This gorgeously soul-smacked set finds Mary J. Blige reteamed with producer Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. It also sees her joining the restructured Geffen Records. Joining Blige on Love & Life are special guests Jay-Z ("Love & Life Intro"), Eve (the Dr. Dre-produced "Not Today") and 50 Cent ("Let Me Be the 1"). Additionally, Method Man raps on the first single, "Love @ 1st Sight."
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Mary J. Blige (vocals); Jay Z. P. Diddy, Eve, Method Man, 50 Cent (rap vocals); Sean Foote, Stevie J., Mario Winans (various instruments); Joel Woolfolk (guitar); Mike Elizondo (keyboards, bass); Ron Feemster (keyboards); Kandace Love, Shannon Jones, Terri Robinson (background vocals). | | Producers include: Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, Stevie J., D- Nat, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Donald Lawrence. | | LOVE & LIFE was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album. "Ooh!" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. | | Mary J. Blige has made it clear in virtually all of her TV appearances and interviews surrounding her sixth studio album that she's happy with the way things have been going for her, both personally and professionally. That's more than apparent -- albeit detrimentally apparent -- throughout Love & Life, an album that sees her linking back up with production from P. Diddy and company. The down side is that you can tell that her heart isn't as into the songs that deal with the nastier aspects of relationships. It's that distance that holds the album back from being one of her best; neither she nor her partners should've felt obligated to cover so much emotional territory, especially when an album's worth of material here (at least 40 of the 70 minutes) beams with joy (and/or desire) and goes along with where she's at right now. Even on the somewhat clunky lead single, "Love @ 1st Sight," Blige's uplifted spirit is as contagious as it has ever been, and just the sound of her voice is enough to get by on. Though her re-pairing with P. Diddy doesn't return her to the glory of What's the 411?, at least half a dozen cuts will vie for slots on a future best-of. For 11 years running, Blige remains a durable and consistent artist, and no one is on the verge of dethroning her. ~ Andy Kellman | | Perhaps the most telling track on Mary J. Blige's sixth record, LOVE & LIFE, comes on an interlude fairly early in the album, bearing the title "Finally Made It." She rambles back and forth, stream-of-consciousness style about loving her job, about breaks, about spirituality and other things for a little under two minutes. And within the folds of those haphazard moments lies honesty, an earnestness that has flowed through the singer's work since she claimed the crown as Queen of Hip-hop, crooning on WHAT'S THE 411? more than a decade ago. | | LOVE & LIFE continues her legacy as she layers resolute, compelling vocals over 1970s-style smooth R&B, suffused through a beat box from the opening track, "Don't Go." As a vanguard at the fusion of hip-hop and R&B, her guest stars transcend the cliche, adding to the songs without overpowering them. Particularly of note are Method Man's turn on "Love @ First Sight" (best line--"you can't spell Mary J. Blige without JB") and Eve's appearance on the funky, off-kilter "Not Today" (as she intros it--"this is another one o' 'em Heartbreak Hotel joints for the ladies"). Through the years, Mary J. has remained true to her game, as real in 2003 as she was when she broke out. |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 08/26/2003 | | Original Release Date : 2003 | | Catalog ID : 0000956 | | Label : Geffen Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00602498606117 |
|
| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (9/18/03, p.70)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...LOVE's greatest strength is the same as its predecessors': Blige simmering vocal intensity and the way it slowly boils over into catharic exultation..." |
|
| | Bio | | | Nobody tells it like Mary. With a voice that is rough and ready, sweet and pure, Mary J. Blige is capable of conveying heartache and happiness in a single musical phrase. A confessional singer, her emotional honesty reflects the great traditions of blues and soul with a ripped-from-the-pages-of-your-diary immediacy that has won her countless honors and a devoted, ever-growing audience around the world.
Over the course of twelve years, five studio albums and one live collection, Mary J. Blige never fails to deliver potent R&B/hip hop mantras that work on the head, heart and hips. More than a vocalist, she is an accomplished recording artist known for her electrifying live performances, dramatic videos, and innovative studio productions with a who's-who and who's-hot of musical talents from Elton John to Eve.
A quantum leap forward and a welcome return to her roots, love & life, the latest CD from Mary J. Blige (scheduled for release 8/26/03) reunites Mary and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, the producer-performer who crowned her the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Now a seasoned songwriter (she co-wrote 17 of the album's 18 tracks) as well as a brickhouse vocalist, Mary co-executive produced the album with P. Diddy. They collaborated on many of the album's tracks including the pulsating first single "love @ 1st sight," a tune inspired by her real life romance that features Method Man, as well as "Let Me Be The One" (featuring 50 Cent.) Blige and Combs won a Grammy in 1996 for "I'll Be There/You're All I Need To Get By." "The person I really am is hip hop. That stuff lives in me. I know how to choose whatever sample is the hottest thing because I've lived in the clubs. I've been to block parties since I was 16. I've grown up in hip-hop culture."
Reflecting a new-found serenity without forgetting her trademark straight-up messages to players, cheaters, and fools, love & life features club-ready slammers ("Ooh!") tender love ballads ("Special Part of Me") and gospel-flavored songs ("Ultimate Relationship.") "Not Today," featuring Eve, once again pairs her with producer Dr. Dre who produced Mary's #1 smash 2002 single "Family Affair." "This album is more upbeat," she notes. "It's a celebration of coming full circle. It's who I am and who Mary J. Blige has been. "
Delivered with conviction and compassion, the songs on love & life are evidence of Mary's spiritual growth and her transcendence over a childhood in the projects of Yonkers, New York and an early success plagued with drama, to her current joy. "Yes she's gotten lost, she's done this and that and she's been trying to figure it out," Mary admits in her typically forthright manner.
The team of Combs and Blige helped usher in a stylish, "ghetto fabulous" hybrid of R & B that united gospel and blues-influenced vocals with high-tech funk and rap on Mary's groundbreaking 1991 debut What's The 411? Their follow-up, 1994's My Life set a standard for soul that remains unmatched.
It also set her up for some hard life lessons explored on 1997's Share My World and 1999's Mary. With the same inner strength and raw honesty she had used to tackle her personal pain, these uncompromising recordings revealed the universality of Mary's heartaches and demonstrated the healing power of music. "I didn't want to tell my business," she continues. "I had no other choice. I wrote it down and people came back to me and said, 'You saved my life!'" Without even knowing that when they listened to me sing, it helped me, too."
Ushering in the 21st century Mary released the triple-platinum No More Drama in 2001. "I always thought my fans were just inner city but people from all over the world and of every color responded to that record. I gave a lot of myself not knowing it was gonna reach so many people." She has also reached them in other arenas, as a budding actress on TV (Strong Medicine on Lifetime) and in the independent film "Prison Song" (co-starring with rapper Q-Tip), as well as in her humanitarian efforts.
In addition to filming anti-drug public service announcements, Mary has worked with various education groups and received Rock The Vote's highest honor, the Patrick Lippert Award. She is a tireless fundraiser for people with AIDS and continues as the spokeswoman for MAC's Viva Glam IV with all proceeds from the lipstick earmarked to AIDS education and research.
Whether pouring her heart out in a recording booth or on a concert stage or privately learning how to love herself and help others, Mary J. Blige has discovered something powerful. The music that she makes, the songs that have brought so much joy and solace to so many, have also been her own salvation.
"Going through all the stuff I went through wasn't in vain because I found out that my job is to give," she concludes. "No More Drama wasn't just an album, it was a transition in my life. I was tired of suffering, of the hustle and hassle of everyday life. I figured out that all along, the problem had been pride and ignorance. Right now I'm growing, I'm learning, and I'm listening. I realized that I need to hear the truth and that the truth is setting me free. And what you hear on love & life is the truth and my willingness to embrace it."
|
|
| |
|
| |
