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Stronger With Each Tear

EMAILPRINTby Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige reviews
75
7.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 12 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
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Album Info

Label: Matriarch/Geffen

Release Date: 21 December 2009

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): R&B, Soul, Pop

Summary

The latest album for the R&B singer features guest performers Drake, T.I., and Trey Songz as well as a song from the film "Precious."

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

The New York Times

"I Can See in Color" is the culmination of an album on which Ms. Blige straps herself into the contemporary R&B machine, then grapples her way out.

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80

Boston Globe

The queen of hip-hop soul splits her loyalty between three masters with the agility of a gymnast, but she manages to hold a mood with seamless transitions between each.

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80

Billboard.com

Throughout Stronger With Each Tear, Blige solidly reinforces why she endures as a fan favorite.

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80

BBC Music

Although Stronger with Each Tear may not be one of her greatest works, it ensures that Blige remains as relevant as any of her more recent contemporaries.

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75

Los Angeles Times

Stronger with Each Tear might not have the raw emotionalism of some of her earlier work but it's clearly a polished performance from a woman who's 100% comfortable in her own skin, healed wounds and all.

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75

Entertainment Weekly

A hip-hop soul hymnbook full of inspirationals. There's so much feel-goodness, you might long for the drama of yore.

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75

Chicago Tribune

Stronger With Each Tear, her ninth studio release, continues a string of releases that play like self-empowerment pep talks garnished by pop assembly-line producers.

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70

All Music Guide

Stronger with Each Tear is a very good Blige album, if not quite a classic.

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70

Rolling Stone

Blige's experiment works in the context of her album.

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60

musicOMH.com

Stronger With Each Tear, as with most R&B albums, attempts to cover all bases and as such feels a little all over the place. Thankfully, there's enough here to cover the cracks that appear when she's taken out of her comfort zone, which, as much as it shows diversity, seems an odd place to want to leave when the results are often so spectacular.

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60

Spin

The result is minor Mary--strong by many standards, a bit tepid by hers.

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50

Slant Magazine

Blige's frequent problems with pitch control [on "I Can See in Color"] mar what should have been the album's finest moment. Instead, the song is just indicative of the larger problem with Stronger: None of the elements that actually work ever manage to do so at the same time.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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