Music
Store

Times have changed but she still sounds fresh and groovy. "Love & Life" does not include such killer singles as the previous album's title track "No More Drama" or the stellar Dr. Dre-produced "Family Affair", but, for that matter, is more consistent. Starts with a unique, movie-like intro in which Mary is getting a call from P.Diddy, before Jay-Z gets his rap job done. Follows the first 'normal' track, "Don't Go", which pretty representatively sets the mood for the entire, 70-minute album.

The catchy first single "Love @ First Sight" with Method Man cleverly employs an eloquent bass line, before being replaced in loudspeakers by relaxed, summer-y feel of "Willing & Waiting". Mary's voice is again full of raw emotions, as on "When We" and "Friends", the album again offers great beats (Eve collaboration "Not Today" or "It's A Wrap"). "Ooh!" follows the footsteps of Aretha Franklin, pounding "Press On" is downright glorious, a cream of Blige, as is positively erotic "Feel Like Makin' Love". The record's end simmers down to ballad territory, in which the singer relishes, apparently drawing from her personal life.

With "Love & Life", Mary J. Blige easily outshined the other, currently more successfuly sold R&B female artists, who may produce great singles (Beyonce, Ashanti) but only uneven albums. Blige remains the real premiere urban diva of her generation and this recording will go down as one of her very best.


Underrated Cd!   August 6, 2006
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I don't know why this cd is the one of Mary J's that just seems to get ignored? I just bought it recently and I have to say it is very good. I was at a MJB concert recently and hardly any of the fans siting near me had even heard or bought this cd. Which surprised me as it went to #1! Its got dance songs, ballads, passionate songs a little bit of it all and I reccommend it to anyone who likes Mary but dont own it. Mostly everyone likes Whats THe 411 and I agree its a great cd but this cd is just about as good... of course my favorite is her new cd The Breakthrough...but this cd is very close to the same type sound....give it a shot!


Love & Life by Mary J. Blige   September 1, 2003
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

The Queen of Hip Hop Soul has proven her self to be a no-nonsense taking, ghetto yet pure diva throughout her incomprable career as today's leading lady of RnB. Blige is hands down the most consistent female entertainer in the industry today. Ever since her debut album Whats the 411 was released in 1992, she has been churning out albums that are straight through listens with an excellent & eclectic mix of RnB, rap, gospel & pop. Blige's latest effort, Love & Life is an album full of fantastic anthems that fans of grown used to.

The album's lead single "Love @ 1st Site", her first re-teaming with Method Man since "Your All I Need" hit #1 in early 1995. The duo is a guaranteed success as 'Love' proves to be another smash in Blige's song book. Other sure fire hits include "Let me Be the 1" with 50 Cent, the breath taking "Friends", "Ohhh", "Willing & Waiting" and hands down the album's best track, the Dr. Dre produced "Not Today" featuring Eve.

In fact the only misfires on the disc are the spoken word interludes, such as "Free", "Finally Made it" & "Message in Our Music". The album's 'Intro" however is actually worth a listen to hear Jay-Z spit a hot, nearly 2 minute verse. Reuniting with Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs clearly fits Blige well as the album is a ode to old school hip hop soul, that Combs helped Blige carve out in 1992 with Whats the 411 & in 1994 with her classic sophomore effort My Life.

Blige is a true diva. Her life performances have so much emotion and feeling, her songs are so deep and personal, and her attitude is a perfect mixture of both good and bad. Mary is a phenominal artist who is guaranteed to leave listeners happy every time she comes out with an album. Do not sleep on this, its a smash.


Lazy....   September 5, 2003
 6 out of 8 found this review helpful

This album to me seems like a lazy effort from Mary, I read that it had been recorded in four weeks and it does show.

Firstly, its not all her fault- its ultimately P.Diddy's. I cant decide why someone would want to work with P.Diddy after his disastrous attempt at producing Notorious K.I.M., 10 years ago he was good, nowadays he isn't.
The old school feel is nice but it has been achieved through heavy sampling (12 songs are samples). I hoped that they would have more live instruments in the studio to achieve an old school feel but basically P. Diddy has just nicked someone else's song without any real thought into making original beats.
Would it have hurt to have actually had a saxophonist in the studio?? of course it would to P. Diddy, it would have taken some originality.

Secondly Mary doesn't actually sing much. In the last 5 songs all you can really hear is backing singers. Great had Mary done the backing vocals herself. But she didn't, so bascially the last five songs are just some backing singer with Mary occasionally going 'ooooh' over the top.
The lyrics also seem tired ('no-one can make me feel the way you do', for example).

There are some decent songs, 'Love @ 1st Sight' is an amazing song, 'Ooh', 'When We', 'Its a Wrap' and 'Not Today' but everything else is pure filler.

I feel that niether Mary nor P. Diddy spent any time working on the album and that the whole thing sounds like a rush job which leaves me with the opinion of 'if they cant be bothered to make good music then why should I listen??'
This, in my opinion, must come in as the worst album Mary has put out so far and hope that she drops P. Diddy next time round.


Greatest singer of her generation, but...   September 6, 2003
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Mary's voice is a force of nature, and even when she's singing of joy and love, as she does on most of this album -- the tension in her voice always reveals the natural blues within. That said, the songs here are only ocassionally up to par with her artistry. The best track is the blistering ballad "Friends," and the old school call-and-response of "When We" and "It's A Wrap" are perfect hybrids of classic soul and hard-core hip-hop. The rest of the album is erratic, and saved only by Blige's torrid vocals. In a way, this album is as inconsistent as both versions of the album "No More Drama" -- classic songs burst out of runs of mediocrity. To this listener, Blige's "Mary" raised the bar for all contemporary singers, and is Blige's masterpiece. So in the tradition of Chaka, Aretha and Gladys, the singer is usually better than the song. When the two match, as it does a few times here, it's perfect soul.