‘Breakthrough’ proves Blige can still touch the soul
Mary J. Blige
“The Breakthrough” (Geffen) •••
Mary J. Blige has always been able to make you feel her pain. Now the queen of hip-hop soul is letting us in on her joy as well.
On her seventh album, Blige balances her trademark edginess with the personal happiness she has found in recent years. So while she gladly sings the praises of her man on songs such as “No One Will Do,” she still can get fed up with fools, offer encouragement to troubled sisters or confess that she carries plenty of “Baggage.”
Producers including Dr. Dre, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am give her compelling musical backdrops. What has always set her apart is that her songs have a ring of truth. Blige still touches souls, by laying bare her own.
Steve Jones, USA Today
Bo Bice
“The Real Thing” (RCA/19 Recordings) •
“I ain’t gonna change who I am,” Bo Bice sings on “Willing to Try,” the next-to-last track on his debut album. But that’s precisely what the “American Idol” runner-up does.
The 30-year-old bar-band veteran was “Idol’s” first hope for a real rocker, as opposed to the typical young, antiseptic pop singer the show favors. Instead he winds up closer to Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, saddled with wholly uninteresting, overproduced pop songs.
One would presume that to be an idol a star must stand apart, give people something to idolize. But the “American Idol” machinery strips the individuality and personality out of its performers, rendering them all bland and generic. This is a real shame.
Howard Cohen, Miami Herald
Ludacris
“Ludacris Presents Disturbing tha Peace” (Def Jam) •••
On the second compilation from Ludacris’ DTP crew, the strongest tracks, not surprisingly, are the ones on which he participates.
“Georgia,” featuring Jamie Foxx (once again channeling Ray Charles) and new label signee Field Mob, sings the praises of the Atlanta native’s home state, but from a different point of view than the Charles original. Standbys Lil’ Fate, I-20 and Playaz Circle contribute to the general rowdiness, as does the underutilized Shawnna.
Ludacris shows a keen eye for R&B talent with rising star Bobby Valentino and newcomer Shareefa. Now what remains to be seen is how many of these acts will make noise on their own.
Steve Jones, USA Today
Ryan Adams
“29” (Lost Highway) •••
It’s hard to tell through this supremely dark group of songs whether you’re listening to a work of art or a cry for help.
Ryan Adams delivers a compendium of tunes in which he wrestles with myriad demons – drugs, lethargy, hopelessness, desperation, loss, anger – so relentlessly you want to put him on a 72-hour suicide watch.
Since Adams is so prolific (this is his third album this year), this collection may be his snapshot of one particular period of isolation and desolation. Three months from now we may get his views on the aspects of life that make it worth living. Until then, somebody might want to keep the sharp objects locked away.
Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times
Ryan Cabrera
“You Stand Watching” (Atlantic) ••
They just don’t make disposable, cookie-cutter teen idols the way they used to. Nowadays, such stars are expected to co-write their formulaic fodder with more experienced hitmakers and to project the kind of tortured earnestness that label execs hope will make college girls swoon alongside their little sisters.
In Cabrera’s case, that means singing in a breathy bleat that evokes both bubblegum and modern rock while nodding to contemporary-pop prototypes from Backstreet Boys-like balladry to Avril Lavigne-esque angst. You stand watching; I’ll sit this one out.
Elysa Gardner, USA Today
Various artists
“Brokeback Mountain – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” (Verve Forecast) •••
In his score for the year’s most-talked-about film, Argentine-born Gustavo Santaolalla (“The Motorcycle Diaries”) employs spare acoustic guitar and moody pedal steel to evoke the loneliness and quiet majesty of the Rocky Mountains.
The lullaby-like “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” is sung sweetly by Emmylou Harris. Lending more grit are Willie Nelson (covering Bob Dylan’s “He Was a Friend of Mine”) and Steve Earle (with a new version of “The Devil’s Right Hand”).
Greg Crawford, Detroit Free Press