Track Listing

1. When I See You
2. It Ain't the Money
3. She Ain't Right for You
4. Things That Made Me Change
5. Come Together
6. She Don't Write Songs About You
7. Jesus for a Day
8. My Fondest Childhood Memories
9. Happiness
10. Speechless
11. Screamin'
12. Every Now and Then

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145383 in Music
• Released on: 2003-07-15
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

The Trouble With Being Funky
Not to say that Macy Grey cannot produce a great ballad but this triple threat singer,songwriter and producer just seems so much more at home throwing down her gritty,quirky singing to incredibly funky songs such as the brightly catchy "When I See You","Come Together" and the speedy,horn fueled jazz funk extravaganza of the closing "Every Now And Then".She also gets a little reflective on the midtempo funky soul groove "She Don't Write Songs About You".Unfortunately this albums loses a lot of steam especially in the case of "It Ain't The Money" which Macy totally spoils in an effort to "reach the youth market of 2003" by adding a clever but contrived rap by Pharoahe Monch;Macy Gray has more then enough ability to stand on her own without the presense of rappers and this is made no more clear then on her lastest (and somewhat superior) album Big.The rest of the album is good but points out Macy's other slight flaw of trying to be too musically diverse and eclectic.Considering her freakish persona,borrowing heavily from her 70's counterpart Betty Davis Macy sounds very good on the ska inflected "My Fondest Childhood Memories" and the too beat heavy string ballad "Jesus For A Day" but are just too bogged down by her ambition rather then having it be a help to her sound.Sadly the rest of the remaining songs on this album (again) focus on hip-hop beats "for the kids" (to quoate Miles Davis referring to his very Macy Gray-sounding classic On the Corner) and soul balladeering trying hard to replicate the sound of her breakthrough hit "I Try" from five years earlier.So four classics out of twelve isn't bad and nothing on this album is truely awful.But fans totally intolerant of contempory-hip hop-disguised-as-retro R&B might want to steer clearly.Otherwise a potent musical experience awaits you.

4.5 stars
The Trouble With Being Myself is definitely Macy Gray's best work to date. This is seriously one of my favorite albums. It is excellent. Songs like "Screamin'," "Speechless" and "My Fondest Childhood Memories" are superb, as is the rest of the album. The lyircs on here are such an improvement from her past works, too. Yeah, some of them are still very strange and freaky, but a lot of them are deep and relateable. I highly recommend buying this album. It's really a shame because this was her least successful release, but it it her best.

Soul for your Soul
Macy Gray sadly would suffer a slight decline in her popularity, a common problem with some whose debut to critic's can never be bested in their eyes. Macy continued to release new music in her own distinct vein with 2001' "The Id" & this, 2003's "The Trouble With Being Myself". Though the critics finally "got" this record, beyond her fans, Top 40 radio had moved on from the neo-soul movement, & one of the most promising soul singers fell into obscurity sales wise.

I myself was one of the few who purchased this great album back in 2003, & continues to spin it today. This album to me is what we need more of in RnB: original, yet accesible beats & melodies, a voice that no one can forget, & thought-provoking lyrics. This record gives that & more.

"When I See You" opens the album with a fresh slice of funk, finding Macy still knows how to party & make that feel good music. Another highlight is "Jesus For A Day" which I really can't put into words, but can only say 'wow'. I also enjoyed "Things That Made Me Change" & "Speechless" which found Macy dealing with many introspective issues as with on her debut, but with the idiosyncratic nature of her sophmore follow-up.

I like how Macy adrresses the idea of love as something tangible, but that once you have it, you have to be able to hold onto it without losing what you "grabbed" it for in the beginning. She seems to channel the up's & down's of romance well through song.

I recommend this to any Macy Gray fan who never got a chance to listen to this underrated album, which combines what made both of her previous efforts great.