The Brighter, Lighter Side of Mary J. Blige

Share My World (1997)

1. "Intro"

We open the album with an announcer praising Mary as we hear snippets from various award shows of Mary winning awards and making acceptance speeches thanking God. Some more of the announcer and some silly sounds leading us into...

2. "I Can Love You" (Featuring Lil' Kim)

This fierce hip hop/R&B collaboration between the then Queen of Rap Lil' Kim as she delivers one of her most memorable and clever rap verses. As for Mary, she almost tearfully sings about how she would be the best choice to her desired man instead the other women out there. I like the song's production and both women compliment each other as Kim's verse feels just as personal as Mary's various singing verse as Notorious K.I.M. channels her love for Biggie clearly on this track making much more authentic and fun than just another throwaway collaboration. A fine opener to the album and memorable single from the album. :)

(B+)

3. "Love Is All We Need" (Featuring Nas)

Mary is all about joyous new beginnings in this full filled track and lead single off the album. I love this side of Mary, as she cheerfully sings about the many benefits of love and the beat just feels just as happy as Mary's vocals sound. Nas' verse is decent if not needed. No disrespect to one of greatest living rappers out there but Mary could have easily carried this song on her lonesome as Nas doesn't really add much to the song but it's still an otherwise strong track from the album.

(A-)

4. "Round and Round"

"Round and Round" feels a bit like filler to me as Mary casually sings about a man that puts her through the ringer by continuing to recycle their problems and her feeling like she's stuck in limbo. While the concept of the song is good, the execution is a little weak and the songs just kind of drags a bit as I lose my attention listening to it. Nothing terrible but it just could have been SOOOO much more.

(D+)

5. Share My World (Interlude)

Meh! I'll skip this soulful, appreciated interlude as we lead into....

6. "Share My World"

...this mid-tempo title track! I like the groove of the song as Mary sings about the world she wants share with her man as she doesn't want him to leave as she's ready to give as much as she can to him. This is Mary being vulnerable hear as she sings "I promise I'll be here whenever you need me". It's a nice sentiment....only I feel that there is something missing and I think I know what it is but overall, this is a solid title track with a good showcase of Mary's vocals. :)

(B+)

7. "Seven Days" (Featuring George Benson)

Another mid-tempo track as Mary sings of a week filled with intense passion added by George Benson with some smooth background vocals. The song is a good and clever construction of how a relationship naturally unravels and I love the guitar melody added to the beat toward the end of the song. An otherwise great song if you ask me!

(B+)

8. "It's On" (Featuring R. Kelly)

Mary teams up with R. Kelly for this rather conventional R&B song which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The song is actually really catchy, especially the chorus that I already can't get out of my head. I guess I expected a collaboration between these two artists to explosive but it just comes off merely above average. Don't get me wrong, both R and Mary compliment each other very well, the production is slick and smooth with just the right amount of sensuality and passion but from the man that brought us "Bump N Grind" and the first lady of street soul who brought us "Real Love" and "You Bring Me Joy", it just feel slightly underwhelming. I just wanted something more intense I guess! Shrug! Not bad at all though.

(C+)

9. Thank You Lord (Interlude)

Praise Jesus!!! Thank God!!! Hallelujah!!!.....Next track!

10. "Missing You" (Featuring Lox)

Awwww, this is a sweet ballad.....almost a little too sweet sounding for Mary. I almost feel like I could hear Toni Braxton or Whitney singing this rather than Mary. Mary has shown her softer side before but it was still in personality for her with hard edge to her. This just feels a bit too out of character when it feels any female R&B singer at the time could have sung this! This is just not Mary for me, not at all. Not a bad song by any means, just not one suited for Mary. Sorry! :(

(C)

11. "Everything"

Finally getting to the track I've been eager to review!!! :) "Everything" is such a nostalgia trip for me as during the summer of 1997 this song was all over the radio and one of the moments I will never forget from my childhood. Now this is Mary sounding lighter and softer without having to sacrifice her persona for it. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis a typically fantastic job with the production as they sample "You're My Everything" by The Stylistics and James Brown's "The Payback". Add in Mary's masterful vocal work and luxurious tone of the track and you have by far the finest song on the album as well as one of Mary's most popular hits! :)

(A+)

12. "Keep Your Head"

Now this song reminds me more of Mary's signature style from her first two albums as she sings this with the raspy grit of those projects and the production also reflects that as well. It's a shame more of the album hasn't been like this so far (it's not a bad album by any means!) But then again, I'm sure the departure was inevitable given the behind the scenes circumstances/changes. But anyway, I like the song the song for recapturing Mary at her gritty best.

(B+)

13. "Can't Get You Off My Mind"

This has a threeway mix of R&B, jazz and hip hop, once again, showing how Mary works best in her element, not anyone else. Even though the song is clearly produced by Darkchild, the hip hop infusion is thankfully present as well as the presence of two anonymous rappers that deliver brief rap verses! This is how the album should have sounded from the beginning as it got too experimental with basic R&B formats and trappings.

(B+)

14. "Get To Know You Better"

"Get To Know You Better" is another strong indicator of the alum going into the right direction, though I find the song in general to be filler sounding. Nothing truly standing out about it in terms of Mary's vocals and production by just feeling average or slightly better at best. Maybe after a couple more listens I'll enjoy the song more but so for, it's kind of a dud really.

(C+)

15. "Searching" (Featuring Roy Ayes)

"Searching" is a pretty repetitive track as there is a moral lesson behind it's lyrics. I like that once again the album is quickly returning to Mary's hip hop roots but there isn't much to the actual verses as the overly repetitive chorus takes over the album. I like Mary trying to be uplifting but this feels like such filler and a pretty forgettable one at that!

(D+)

16. "Our Love"

In this cheerful track, "Our Love" shows Mary in a positive space ready to sing her heart out and celebrate the epic love story between her and her lover. It's kind of....cheesy....gloriously cheesy and for that reason I can't really stand it. I mean Mary sounds solid as ever but I just can't get into the song lyrically and the production has a leftover Sunday school choir feel to it that I can do without. Sorry Mary, but I'm just not about this track and "your love".

(C+)

17. "Not Gon' Cry"

Finishing off the album is Mary's acclaimed and emotionally rattling ballad from the "Waiting To Exhale" soundtrack. I have to say that this is another standout among Mary's string of hits during this phase of her career. Lyrically, the song perfectly sums up Angela Bassett's character and her inner struggle to seek revenge after how much sacrifice and loyalty she showed to her man. Vocally, Mary gives her most emotional yet subtle performances. She really captures the essence of pain and frustration of the character; not to mention some moments just make you want to break out into tears. An exceptional piece of R&B turmoil!

(A+)

"Share My World" had its work cut out for it! Following the definitive debut album for a whole new genre of music and one of the most emotionally gripping R&B albums of all time, Mary decided to clean up her act for the sake of her career. She sobered up, ended her relationship with K-Ci Hailey after years of struggle and abuse and even decide to leave Uptown Records in favor of MCA Records. After collaborating heavily with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs on her first two albums, the biggest change happened when she severed ties with him and went on to work with a new swarm of heavy hit makers of the studio. While rumors were swirling of a falling out between the two, Mary pressed on and sort out new producers like legendary duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, R. Kelly and Babyface to name a few. This was a time when record companies were figuring out how profitable hip hop and R&B music was and tried to polish it's sound. So instead of the usual dark hip hop mashed with rough R&B that we've come expect from Mary, we get a more conventional R&B here without much hip hop overtones. Which is both the album's greatest strength and unfortunate greatest weakness. Now this departure to more standard R&B presentation is fine on a couple of tracks but on the majority of them, it feels like Mary wasn't really needed or she doesn't bring anything to these songs that any other singer at the time could have brought. And that has to do with the productions not giving her much to work with (Although, the sultry bounce "Love Is All We Need" and especially the spiritually rewarding "Everything" are some of the handful of exceptions) You can always count of Jimmy and Terry to truly understand what makes an artist's certain style work and feel distinct to everything else out there! Just look at Janet's work with them! But back to Mary! It's just Mary feels out of her element for the most part of the album as the various other producers feel like they are trying to make her sound like someone else. This is Mary J. Blige! The Queen of Hip Hop Soul! She should only sound like herself. Honestly I'm being harder on the album than I really am. I honestly really like "Share My World" as this fresh and less street hardened Mary gives the album a much different feel than her previous LPs. I enjoyed the much lighter tone at times and Mary' soulful voice wasn't just meant to sing about misery and pain. She really does carry songs about hope well like the understated "Keep Your Head" and the slow but stunning title track. When it came to it's commercial success, "Share My World" became Mary's first #1 album on the Billboard 200 and sold over 240,000 copies it's first week. It garnered mostly positive reviews from critics. Well deserved all things considered!

"Ditching the depressing street anthems of her previous masterpiece, Mary returned with her third album, "Share My World", a much happier look into the troubled singer's life that has some stellar cuts amongst an album filled with some shoddy, generic R&B cuts but the fact that Mary hasn't lost an ounce of vocal prowess and soulful drive elevates the album to a very solid release from her newly acquired record label and solid productions from some new producers like Jam and Lewis."

(B+)