Track Listing

1. No One Will Do
2. Enough Cryin
3. About You
4. Be Without You
5. Gonna Breakthrough
6. Good Woman Down
7. Take Me As I Am
8. Baggage
9. Can't Hide From Luv
10. MJB Da MVP
11. Can't Get Enough
12. Ain't Really Love
13. I Found My Everything
14. Father In You
15. Alone
16. One

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1875 in Music
• Released on: 2005-12-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Nobody knows heartache like Mary J. knows heartache. But as she releases her seventh disc, perhaps more important is that nobody understands better how unquenchable our thirst to hear what it sounds like can be. The Breakthrough, contrary to run-up rumors, is no retrospective or greatest-hits package. Rather than reheat, Blige and producers Dr. Dre, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Will.i.am tasked themselves with stirring a river of hurt into some of the highest-caliber hip-hop/soul to hit the airwaves since she burned up the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack with "Not Gon' Cry." Cameos alone could sell this disc: Brook, Jay-Z, Raphael Saadiq, and Bono step up. But it's the trademark ragged-edged soul of its star that shines brightest throughout the 16 tracks. "A love that tears you down ain't really love," a laid-bare Blige reminds us on "Ain't Really Love," after dedicating "Good Woman Down" to "my troubled sisters." Somewhere in between, she leaves absolutely no room for doubt that she just can't be without her baby ("Be Without You"). It's an exhilarating, love-affirming moment on a CD jammed full of them (check out "Can't Get Enough," with its echoes of a pleading Curtis Mayfield). Blige, never far from the thoughts of the lovelorn, didn't need a breakthrough, but anybody with an ear for artful confession will be glad she's given us The Breakthrough anyway. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

soultrychef
THIS CD IS HOT!!! I GOT THE GROWIN PAINS ALONG W/THIS ONE...I WAS LATE ON GETTING MY MARY STUFF. THIS IS A MUST BUY AS IS THE GROWING PAINS CD! EVERY SINGLE SONG IS HOT EVERY ONE! MARY IS MY GIRL AND THESE LAST 2 (THIS & GROWING PAINS) ARE THE BOMB!

ok
I got this cd because of the big hit, but the rest of the cd is just ok. I think she has good messages in the music she puts out but, something is missing....as someone can write a song about anything sometimes and it sounds good and you feel it. She needs to find some more creative people to work with to make me feel her message and not put me to sleep.
I am feeling her new single for the 07 but, I am not going jump up and down in anticipation of the new album.

Globalaza
Beautiful cd cover that promises sophistication, quality and a certain regality. Some of the tracks deliver, most don't. Now, I am a big MJB fan. In fact, I have just about every cd she has done since "What's the 411?" days. But, this cd, like so many others fools me with one or two songs I just can't get enough of put on a cd that I consider largely forgettable.

The track "I Found My Everything" is a haunting, soulful, masterpiece of a song that is reminscent of the days of Aretha Franklin in the late 60s and 70s. NO one will be unmoved listening to this song. It is a superb in its souring vocals, short and focused background singing, and amazingly expansive instrumentation. If only it were one of many.

Unfortunately, none of the other songs appeal as much. It is not a disappointment to die hard MJB fans, but it is doubtful this cd will bring new fans. It is not truly a Breakthrough.