Growing Pains (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Growing Pains
Type = studio
Artist = Mary J. Blige


Released = Start date|2007|10|31
(see release history)
Recorded = 2007
Genre = R&B, soul, hip hop soul
Length = 65:03
Label = Geffen
Producer = Neff-U, Dejoin, Tricky Stewart, Jazze Pha, Bryan-Michael Cox, Dre & Vidal, The Neptunes, Stargate, Charles Harmony, Ne-Yo, Syience, Kuk Harrell (Vocal Production), Eric Hudson, Sean Garrett
Reviews = * "Allmusic" rating|4|5 [http://wm08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:axftxzehld6e link]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (B) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20164937,00.html link]
*"Digital Spy" rating|3|5 [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a85756/mary-j-blige-growing-pains.html link]
*"PopMatters" rating|8|10 [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/52285/mary-j-blige-growing-pains/ link]
*"Rolling Stone" rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/17442159/review/17477459/growing_pains link]
*"Slant" rating|3|5 [http://slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1251 link]
*"USA Today" rating|3|4 [http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2007-12-17-blige-pains_N.htm link]
Last album = "Reflections - A Retrospective"
(2006)
This album = "Growing Pains"
(2007)
Next album =
Misc = Singles
Name = Growing Pains
Type = studio
Single 1 = Just Fine
Single 1 date = October 16, 2007
Single 2 = Stay Down
Single 2 date = March 2008

"Growing Pains" is the eighth platinum studio album by American R&B/soul singer Mary J. Blige. The album was released on December 18, 2007 (see 2007 in music) on Geffen Records. "Growing Pains" was ranked #29 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. [Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007). "Growing Pains" top the Billboard 200, charting at #2. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601851/the_top_50_albums_of_2007/29 "The Top 50 Albums of 2007"] "Rolling Stone". Retrieved 2007-12-20]

History

"It's not reliving where I been. [The album is] just based on where I am", Blige told MTV News on October 22 on the set of the video for her new single, "Just Fine".

Critical reception

Reviewers' response to the album was mostly positive, currently holding a score of 76 (out of 100) on music review aggregation website Metacritic. Some critics, however, were unimpressed by the album's overly familiar themes. [BLENDER, [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4908 "Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains"] , blender.com, December 18, 2007.] The "All Music Guide" gave the album four out of five stars and called "Growing Pains" "a mature, polished, and utterly professional set of well-crafted songs. Blige, as always, is in great vocal form: her clear, distinctive voice carries the record..." [All Music Guide, [http://wc02.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:axftxzehld6e~T1 "Growing Pains"] , allmusic.com, December 27, 2007.] While "UrbanMusicReviews.com" said that "Both vocally and lyrically, Mary J. impresses on "Growing Pains"." [Urban Music Reviews, [http://urbanmusicreviews.com/reviews/mary-j-blige-growing-pains/ "Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains"] , urbanmusicreviews.com, December 18, 2007.] Robert Christgau awarded the album 3 1/2 stars (out of 5) in the December 13, 2007, "Rolling Stone" and in his Consumer Guide

Chart performance

"Growing Pains" sold 629,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart [Brandi Hopper, [http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/13309 "Mary J. Blige Sells 629K On The Billboard 200, Jahiem & Lupe Fiasco Surprise"] , sohh.com, December 27, 2007.] and number one on the R&B chart.Fact|date=January 2008 In its second week the album climbed to number one on the Billboard 200 with 204,000 copies sold. [Katie Hasty, [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003690553 "Blige Topples Groban, Radiohead Debuts Early"] , Billboard.com, January 2, 2008.] In the UK, the album entered the charts at Number 6, making it her highest charting album there since No More Drama in 2001 with first week sales of 21,755. The album has sold 1,545,175 copies in the US to date.

Track listing

Release history

References