Mary Album Songs
Edward
Mary is the fourth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released August 17, 1999, on MCA Records. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 239,000 copies in its first week. It spent 57 weeks on the chart and produced five charting singles. Upon its release, Mary received acclaim from music critics. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of two million units in the United States.
According to critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album showcases a creative move by Blige from urban contemporary to adult contemporary,[1] eschewing her previous work's overt hip hop elements and raunchy persona for classicist soul music and more mature songwriting.[2] Highlighted by sleek and polished production reminiscent of 1970s soul, Mary came as a surprise to many of her fans and critics. Similar to Blige's previous release Share My World, the singer served as executive producer. Blige worked with various artists on the album including Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Eric Clapton, Elton John, K-Ci, and George Michael. "I'm in Love", "As" and "Let No Man Put Asunder" are cover versions of songs originally performed by The Gap Band, Stevie Wonder, and First Choice respectively.
Despite viewing its strength as "more in how Blige sings the songs than the songs themselves", Los Angeles Times writer Soren Baker commented that "the lively, supple instrumentation only adds to the force of her already dominating delivery" and noted "a more soul-stirring, straightforward R&B attitude than the hip-hop/R&B hybrid of her earlier collections".[9] Rolling Stone writer Tour said "Blige seems to have moved away from the Terry McMillan once-again-he's-breaking-my-heart mantra to, perhaps, an Oprah love-your-spirit ethos".[12] Christopher John Farley of Time wrote that "Mary is somewhat inconsistent in song quality, but Blige's soul-singed vocals save the weaker material".[18] Ann Powers of The New York Times viewed that the album exemplifies a "new conscience" of feminine themes in contemporary R&B at the time, adding that "if Mary gestures toward an older, non-hip-hop audience, it also makes the claim for Ms. Blige's canonization within the rhythm-and-blues hall of fame".[19] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau wrote, "Rather than hating playas, she's bored with them [...] all that she can say is that she's ready to love someone serious and walk away from anyone who isn't".[15]
In a retrospective review for The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Tom Moon deemed Mary an improvement over Blige's previous album, commenting that it "more fully realizes Blige's vision for Share My World".[20] AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised its "sheer classiness", writing that "There's still grit in the music, but it's been glossed over with a polished production".[2] Erlewine described it as "a rewarding, engaging way to mature" and wrote that "Blige's voice is richer and her skills have deepened, and her new songs, while not as streetwise, are worthy of her talents".[2]
In the United Kingdom, Mary marked Blige's highest-charting album yet, debuting at number five on the UK Albums Chart.[29] As steady seller, it was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on April 24, 2000 and reached Gold status on July 22, 13, indicating shipments of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[30] In Canada, the album peaked at number nine on both RPM's Canada Top Albums/CDs and the Canadian R&B Albums chart.[31][32] On August 23, 1999, it was certified Gold by Music Canada for shipments of 40,000 copies.[33] Elsewhere, Mary became Blige's first top ten album in Sweden and first top 20 entry in Japan, Norway, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.[34]
Hellooo! I've recorded 8 songs written from January 2020-July 2021 that will be my debut album, titled "Mary". My birth name is Mary, but I've only ever been called Molly. I was born with this dichotomy of self, which is reflected in each of these songs written over a period of time filled with many mixed messages. I'm not very good at asking for help and yet I truly believe in this thing I've created with the help of Collin Pastore and Jake Finch. It's my best work yet, and I want to do it right. I've saved all my pennies from this past year nannying and saved enough to pay for the recording process, but not enough to get these tracks mastered, music videos made, and merchandise created.
No contemporary songwriter has had a greater effect on my life than Andrew Peterson. His first album appeared the year I moved to Romania as a missionary student, and since that time, his songs have become part of the soundtrack for my life and faith.
Tonight I saw the children in their rooms
Little flowers all in bloom
Burning suns and silver moon
And somehow in that starry sky
The image of the Maker lies
Right here beneath my roof tonight.
I debated whether or not to include this album in this guide, since technically it is a compilation of Andrew Peterson songs. But because it contains several unreleased songs as well as several new versions of old songs, I thought it best to offer a brief review.
The Son will stand on the mount again
with an army of angels at his command,
and the earth will split like the hull of a seed
wherever Jesus plants his feet,
and up from the grave the dead will rise
like spring trees clothed in petals of white,
singing the song of the radiant bride.
Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy, The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching. His podcast is Reconstructing Faith. He and his wife, Corina, have three children. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook, or receive his columns via email.
TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. The guitarist, songwriter and singer Mary Timony has just released her first solo album in 15 years. It's called "Untame The Tiger," and rock critic Ken Tucker thinks it represents a new high point in her varied, adventurous career. Timony was on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest guitarists of all time, published last year, and she's familiar to indie rock fans as a member of bands such as Helium, Ex Hex and Wild Flag. Ken says this solo album is a marvelous collection dealing with strong, sometimes contradictory emotions.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NO THIRDS")MARY TIMONY: (Singing) Check the situation. Is it cruel or is it kind? You wander in the desert trying to find time. The white flags above us fly on our doubt. Time to meet the mountain. There's no other way out.KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: Mary Timony's guitar playing over a 30-plus years career, has been characterized by a firmness and unyielding, flintiness that conveys a confidence in making music, even when the songs themselves are detailing doubt, vulnerability or loneliness. Her new album, "Untame The Tiger," unfolds like a journey in which the traveler maps her emotions onto every scene. In the song "Dominos," for example, Timony adds to the list of great rock 'n' roll road songs, singing about going 90 in the wrong direction, riding next to someone whom she's decided she's no longer in love with. She doesn't feel trapped in that car, though. If anything, she's feeling the power she has to control her destiny.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DOMINOES")TIMONY: (Singing) When you said it was forever, you looked me right in the eye. The next second, you were gone. And that's when I realized love was a lie. Going 90 in the wrong direction. I was right beside you trying to steal back my affection I really never thought I'd be out here on my own. Living in this desert half frequency zone. Don't you know?TUCKER: On the song "Don't Disappear," a lyric about comforting a troubled friend could also be Timony talking to herself, perhaps without realizing it. When she reaches the chorus of the song, Timony lifts her voice and her guitar into a brighter, sunnier place. She sings harmony with herself and plucks out chords that would fit right into a Beach Boys song, saying, don't be afraid, and uses an odd, soothing phrase. I've got you in my brain parade.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DON'T DISAPPEAR")TIMONY: (Singing) I see you there, beyond everywhere. The garden of time grows upwards in my mind. If you fall, don't be afraid. I've got you in my brain parade. If you're close to the edge of that emotion, come on. Fall back in to my devotion.TUCKER: Most of the time here, the music is made by a core trio of guitar, bass and drums. Some of the prettiest drumming is done by Dave Mattacks, the 75-year-old former member of Fairport Convention going strong. Timony's vocals are so plainspoken, her details so vivid, it's as though she's recording the audiobook of a novel she's written.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UNTAME THE TIGER")TIMONY: (Singing) Thought I was through with you when the tiger was tamed. But now my brain is running hard, and I'm counting all the rain - want to go where your animal runs free. I hear it call my name. What do I get from loving you? Just this song about the pain.TUCKER: That's from the title song, "Untame The Tiger." At about 5 1/2 minutes long, it features a languid, dreamy instrumental intro before her vocal abruptly picks up the pace. The song becomes a piece of brisk pop music about realizing a relationship you thought was over is still very much alive. It's the tiger that hasn't been tamed. Her words try to downplay the intensity of these thoughts. At one point, she calls "Untame The Tiger" just this song about the pain. But Timony's words are contradicted by her guitar playing a gorgeous, galloping solo that becomes the heart of the song.(SOUNDBITE OF MARY TIMONY SONG, "UNTAME THE TIGER")TUCKER: I'll give you one more example of the range of sounds Timony taps into here. On "The Guest," Timony makes her guitar do the work of a country music pedal steel guitar, creating a high, keening sound that rises up to meet her as she greets her old friend, loneliness.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GUEST")TIMONY: (Singing) Hello, loneliness. You've come back home. You were the only one who never left me alone. I try and I try to say goodbye, but you insist. You insist.TUCKER: More than once listening to this album, I was reminded of something Carrie Brownstein, her bandmate in the group Wild Flag, once wrote describing her friend's guitar playing. This is the sound a wound makes. On "Untame The Tiger," it sounds as though the wound is healing.GROSS: Ken Tucker reviewed Mary Timony's new album, called "Untame The Tiger." After we take a short break, TV critic David Bianculli will review the new miniseries "Shogun." It's based on the James Clavell novel that was also adapted into a 1980 miniseries that starred Richard Chamberlain. This is FRESH AIR.(SOUNDBITE OF ERROLL GARNER'S "IT'S ONLY A PAPER MOON")
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