Growing Pains (CD)

• Category:  Music  »  R&B  »  Contemporary R&B
• Format: CD
• Release Date: December 18, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records (USA)
• UPC: 602517520301
• WAPI (Tower ID): 111612666
• Average Customer Review:    (1 customer review)
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #128 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #10 in R&B (See Top 100 R&B Bestsellers)
• #3 in Contemporary R&B (See Top 100 Contemporary R&B Bestsellers)

• DISC 1 for Growing Pains (CD) Album
• 1   Just Fine
• 2   Grown Woman
• 3   Just Fine
• 4   Feel Like A Woman
• 5   Stay Down
• 6   Talk To Me
• 7   Shake Down
• 8   Till The Morning
• 9   Nowhere Fast
• 10   Roses
• 11   Fade Away
• 12   What Is Love
• 13   Work In Progress (Growing Pains)
• 14   Hurt Again
• 15   Smoke
• 16   Come To Me (Peace)

•  [Mary J Blige - Official Site] 
  
•  [Mary J Blige - Myspace] 
  
•  [Mary J Blige - Wikipedia Entry] 
  
•  [Mary J Blige - Music at LAST.fm] 
  

Rolling Stone (p.129) - 3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[The] songs have the stuff to fight back.....[Certain] tracks remind us how tough this sweet-voiced diva can be..."
Rolling Stone (p.113) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "[T]he songwriting is her finest in years."
Entertainment Weekly (p.55) - "She shines on the buttery bedroom groove of the Neptunes-produced 'Til the Morning'..." -- Grade: B

It's no accident that Mary J. Blige is an icon on the urban contemporary scene, in large part because each new album--and 2007's GROWING PAINS is her eighth--finds her more self-assured as a singer, a lyricist, and a person. Like 2005's THE BREAKTHROUGH, GROWING PAINS delivers a mature Mary J., one who's faced down her demons and emerged triumphant. The tough-as-nails, confessional nature of her work is still what gives it its distinctive stamp, but Blige's sonic palette continues to grow as well.

From the heavily hip-hop-tinged "Work That," to the 1980s-sounding pop of "Fade Away," to the swirling balladry of "Work In Progress (Growing Pains)," the album isn't afraid to hop genres. Blige's work has always had a wide appeal, but GROWING PAINS has tracks that move from the club to the bedroom to adult alternative radio while still sounding 100% the artist's own. Help from the likes of Ne-Yo, the Neptunes, Ludacris, Usher, and Jazze Pha, among others, gives the set star-quality, but this is Blige's show: her voice, her style, and her sense of personal conviction shine through loud and clear.

• Great Deals on CDs under $9.99
  
  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic Albums all for under $10! Great Music for Everyone's Tastes!
• Great Deals on DVDs under $12.99
  
  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic DVDs all for under $13! Great Movies, TV and DVD Specials for Everyone's Tastes!
• Great Deals on Books under $14.99
  
  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic Books all for under $15! Great Reads for Everyone's Tastes!