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List Price: $13.98 | | Label: Geffen Records
Salesrank: 6287
Released: December 12, 2006 |
| Our Price: $8.54 |
| Used Price: $1.40 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Reflections - A Retrospective Track Listing:
1. Reflections (I Remember)
2. We Ride (I See the Future)
3. You Know
4. King & Queen - Mary J. Blige, John Legend
5. No More Drama
6. Family Affair
7. Real Love
8. No One Will Do
9. Be Without You
10. I'm Going Down
11. 911 - Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean,
12. Not Gon' Cry
13. My Life '06
14. Be Happy
15. I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By [Razor Sharp Mix] - Mary J. Blige, Method Man
Editorial Review:
To state that 2006 was one of the biggest years of Mary J Blige's career isn't hype. It is truth. In 2006 there was no bigger story or artist, in any genre, than Mary J Blige. Thanks to a chart-topping album, history making #1 single, galvanizing television appearances and a sold out tour, 2006 became the 12-month span in which the multiple platinum selling, Grammy winning Queen of Hip Hop Soul scaled new creative, personal and commercial heights. So after all of those dazzling achievements what does Mary J do to top it? Simple. She rewards her fans by recording yet another classic in the making - REFLECTIONS - A RETROSPECTIVE.
A much anticipated and long awaited collection Reflections -A Retrospective not only gathers together all Mary J's timeless greatest hits but features FOUR NEW GREATEST HITS TO BE - the first of which is the hot single "We Ride (I See The Future"). Spanning the entirety of Mary J's spectacular 15-year career Reflections- A Retrospective is more than a greatest hits collection. It's a soulful shout out to Mary J's loyal fans, and a celebration of the year when one of R&B's most influential singers "broke through" bigger than ever.
Released on December 20th, 2005, Mary's 7th cd The Breakthrough debuted at #1, and sold an astonishing 727,163 copies its first week: making it not just the best opening week for a solo R&B female artist in SoundScan history but the biggest opening week of 2006 to date. Period. Yet even more explosive than The Breakthrough's success was the album's lead off single "Be Without You". Written and produced by BRYAN MICHAEL COX and JONATA AUSTIN (the same creative team responsible for "We Ride (I See The Future"), "Be Without You" had the #1 spot on the Billboard R&B charts on lock; and stayed there for a record breaking 15 straight weeks. "Be Without You" was not only the biggest hit of Mary's already brilliant career, it entered the history books by becoming the longest-running No. 1 song on the R&B chart since it was reintroduced, after a brief hiatus, in 1965. You'd have to go back to 1949 to find a #1 song with as lengthy a chart run as "Be Without You."
The Breakthrough was equally dominant. The emotive CD was the recipient of universal critical acclaim, with Vanity Fair declaring, "...she's still the Queen..." USA Today stating "Another Blige `Breakthrough' ...Blige still touches souls..." and the Boston Globe hailing the cd as "...a start-to-finish triumph."
Fans also felt The Breakthrough's power. Following Mary's stellar performance on the 2006 Grammy Awards, (dueting with U2 on their ballad "One"), The Breakthrough recaptured the top spot on the Billboard 200. Along with that electrifying appearance -which the St. Petersburg Times declared was "chills-inducing" - Mary also performed on the finales of "Dancing With the Stars" and "American Idol", "Oprah", and the ABC soap "One Life To Live".
RON FAIR, Chairman of Geffen Records says of Mary's success "Mary J. Blige has reached the defining moment of her life - as a vocalist, as a songwriter, and as a human being. Her new album "Reflections- A Retrospective" is an essential collection of songs that solidifies Mary as one of the greatest recording artists of all time. Anyone who has ever suffered loss, experienced pain, been in trouble, gave love or been loved, can find themselves in the music of Mary J. Blige."
With her landmark 1992 cd What's The 411 Mary J Blige became R&B's standard bearer, setting both its sound and style. Since that debut Mary has earned 3 Grammys, had 7 multi platinum albums, lent her support to a slew of high profile charities and earned the unqualified respect of fans, critics and her fellow performers. With a soulful power that knows no equal, Mary J Blige owned 2006 and the Queen continues her reign with Reflections - A retrospective.
Description of Reflections - A Retrospective:
Mary J. fans are about as likely to put up with chain-pulling as the queen of hip-hop soul herself--which is why a good many of them have been quick to point out that this disc, exceptional as it is, doesn't quite equal a greatest hits package. Where among these favorites are biggies such as "Love @ 1st Sight," "You Remind Me," "Your Child," and "Dance for Me"? The answer is it doesn't much matter. Because Reflections, as its name suggests, is a mere dip in the Mary J. memory pool--a meatier hits package is likely on the way. There's no time like the present, then, for rolling with the latest on offer from R&B's reigning bruised-hearted lady. Threaded through evergreens like "Family Affair," "Not Gon' Cry," and "No More Drama" are four new tracks, not a one of which is a throwaway: "We Ride (I See the Future)" coasts on attitude and a hand-clappy beat; "King & Queen," a duet with John Legend, seems spun from some ecstatic fantasy; "You Know" breaks itself down to a dizzy-headed disco vibe; and opener "Reflections (I Remember)" is a proud look back on a lifetime of heartbreak and healing. It may not be as definitive a disc as some would like, but in determining whether to buy it, take a cue from Mary J.: don't hold back. --Tammy La Gorce
Reflections - A Retrospective Reviews:
Extremely Uplifting CD 
2009-03-13 - The CD is very uplifting and encouraging. I received my shipment within a couple days and the product was in perfect condition.
Thank you very much. Will use you again in the future.
Purchased CD
2008-11-11 - Item arrived in great condition. Great price. I purchased the CD for my sister she was very pleased to have received it so quickly!!!!!!!
Reflections not Greatest Hits!
2008-03-22 - I cannot see where others are getting the idea that this was to be a Greatest Hits album. It says it is Reflections. If you truly are listening to the album, it is a collection of songs that are Mary's reflections. And as such it is a very well composed album. I first listened to it through Napster after hearing one of the songs playing in Best Buy. I then listened while on the beach at vacation and loved it so I immediately purchased from Amazon CD while on vacation. This is a REFLECTIONS album and truly good! (I will add that on Napster at the time 4 songs were not downloadable and once I got the full CD I was not as impressed with those which were mostly duets with others.)
After 14 years of chart-topping dominance, Mary J. Blige deserves much more than this hasty batch to celebrate her career with 
2008-02-13 - The younger generation's version of Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige burst upon the hip-hop/soul scene in 1992, remained on fire through the end of the decade, and continued to have a respectable and successful career into the 2000's. With her kind of success over the years (including more than 35 charting hits), she's the type of artist who should command a multi-disc anthology. What we have here instead is quite possibly the hastiest, most uninspired retrospective ever assembled for such a towering artist. The two biggest problems are that it concentrates mainly on her post-90s period, which, while decent, doesn't quite measure up to the 411/My Life/Share My World era. Another huge indiscretion is the curious omission of no fewer than 10 songs that should definitely NOT be absent from a true MJB Greatest Hits collection (i.e. Sweet Thing, Reminiscing, the original version of My Life, Seven Days, All That I Can Say, and a number of others).
If you are a MJB fan, then you will love this CD 
2007-12-27 - I listened to this on my commute and I love it! Like someone else said, it is not a "Greatest Hits" but it is a sampling of some of Mary's best songs. I am happy with it!
