Believe it or not, Mary J Blige’s debut came out nearly 18 years ago. A baby born that summer is about to be able to purchase cigarettes and has never known a world without the amazing, career-making “Real Love”. Lucky youngster. During that time, Blige’s career has been the stuff of great cinema. Stunning debut, rise to fame, rocky personal life, dramatic return and lasting success. Along the way she’s released eight studio albums that showed the evolution of a strong vocalist and performer.

With the release of Stronger with Each Tear, her ninth album, Blige seems to be more comfortable than she’s ever been. Her confident delivery and mostly safe song choice keeps the attention on Blige as a performer and not as a hit maker. At times you’ll miss the flare of her flashier songs, such as “Family Affair”, but the album has enough highlights that you won’t feel cheated.

“Tonight” starts things off on a catchy but unspectacular note. In fact, the first three tracks follow the same trend of being potential singles because they’re easy to listen to, but they’re all gloss. “Good Love”, which is just as glossy as the previous tracks, is the first time Blige seems to be having some fun. Stronger is undoubtedly going to be coined her happy album-the inevitable release where an artist has come to terms with major issues and come to accept her strengths and weaknesses. It’s not defiant or making a statement other than letting the world know that Blige is fine. “Good Love” is unrestrained joy, and she sings in the chorus, “So give me that, give me that, give me that good love/Now don’t you tell me no, just come here and give me that good love.” T.I. adds insignificant interjections through most of the track until he gets the spotlight for a verse in the last third. It’s exactly what you’d expect it to sound like, and it would’ve been nicer to hear Blige command the mike with the same bravado he did. But it’s a catchy number that segues perfectly into “Feel Good”, a midtempo number that draws on late 90s R&B. The echoing vocals, basic drumbeat, soft keyboard-it sounds like period when poppy R&B was about to merge with hip-hop for mainstream audiences circa Blige’s What’s the 411? days. It’s one of my affirmation tracks on the album and she keeps announcing that she feels good.

To anoint an artist’s happy album as lacking edge is cliché, but it’s not entirely untrue in this case. The album closer is the showstopper. “Color”, on which she collaborated with Raphael Saadiq and was featured in the bleak film Precious, is understated in all the right ways. The lazy drums, the vocals pushed to the front, her shaky delivery-this could have been recorded in your local jazz lounge. On some of her biggest ballads, Blige has been known to fuzz out the speakers with her vocal showmanship. Here, she goes to the edge but steps back at just the right moments. She hasn’t released anything this strong in ages, and hopefully it receives the attention it deserves.

Ignore the clunker, “Kitchen”, which relies on cheesy keyboards and loops you’ve heard for the last 15 years. And the warning, “I tell you what I know/Never let a girl cook in your kitchen/All up in your fridge/Next will be the stove” is too annoying to even be fun. For a song with an equally simple sentiment but a much better delivery is “Each Tear”, which proclaims that each tear has a lesson. It’s not complex, it’s typical Top 40 fare, but it delivers. By the second chorus, you’ll be singing along and probably dance in place because it’s that irresistible. It’s definitely in the same vein as the I-will-survive anthems Blige has been singing for most of the decade, and she proves that it’s reliable subject matter for a reason. And the flirty “I Love U (Yes I Du)” is ready for dance floors, but will probably get amped up with a good remix in the near future. It’s not a banger but it’s definitely a grinder.

Blige will probably have another hit on her hands and few fans, new or old, will complain. She has enough potential singles on this album to carry her through the first half of 2010 and most are better than what’s dominating the radio now. Hopefully the catchier material doesn’t overshadow the true gems-especially “Color”. That track and the other highlights prove that Blige is still a powerful force in hip hop when she wants to be. And she seems to be fine choosing when to shine and when to take it easy. Good for her.

Buy:
Stronger withEach Tear

TAGGED AS: Mary J Blige