At the end of 2005, Mary J. Blige's career was supposed to be
anthologized. The singer had her way, however, and one of her best
studio albums came out instead. In retrospect, her previous album,
2003's Love & Life, was awkward; the P. Diddy collaborations, likely intended to recapture the magic the duo put together on What's the 411? and My Life,
didn't always pay off, and Blige was about to become a wife, so the
songs steeped in heartbreak and disappointment weren't delivered with
as much power as they had been in the past. The Breakthrough
also contains some of the drama that fans expect, despite Blige's
continued happiness, but it's clear that she has gained enough distance
from the uglier parts of her past that she can inhabit them and, once
again, deliver those songs. The past does play a significant
role in the album, as in "Baggage," where she apologies to her husband
for bringing it into their relationship. "Father in You" sounds like a
note-perfect facsimile of a classic soul ballad, rising and falling and
twisting with a sensitive string arrangement, but the lyrics are pure
Blige, acknowledging the ways in which her husband has made up for the
absence of her father. On the nearly anthemic "Good Woman Down," she
sees a less matured version of herself in young women and uses her
experiences to advise. She jacks the beat from the Game's
"Hate It or Love It" for "MJB da MVP," where she reflects on her
career, thanks her supporters, and reasserts her rightful position as
the soul hip-hop queen. It's one of several tracks to beam with a kind
of contentment and confidence that Blige has never before possessed.
Take "Can't Hide from Love," where she's such a force that Jay-Z
dishes out a quick introduction and knows to stay out of the way for
the remainder of the track, or the glorious "I Found My Everything,"
her "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." Beat for beat, the album
features the best round of productions Blige has been handed since the
mid-'90s. Apart from only a couple lukewarm tracks and a poorly
recorded version of "One" with U2, it is completely correct.
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