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No More Drama

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 12 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: MCA
Release Date: 28 August 2001
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): R&B, Pop
Summary
The sixth album from Mary J. Blige features guest appearances from Lenny Kravitz, Eve, and Missy Elliott and production work from The Neptunes and Dr. Dre.
Also By This Artist: Growing Pains Love & Life The Breakthrough
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...
E! Online
Injecting the album with plenty of soul, gospel and throwbacks to that old-school Motown sound, producers like the Neptunes, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and guests like Eve help round out what's possibly the best R&B album this year.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
The multiproducer arrangements are expansive yet warm, and Blige's pushy rasp has never sounded better.
Read Full Review >Spin Cycle
Pulling it all together is her beautifully rough voice, which has grown more precise without losing any of its raw, bluesy power.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
This is Blige's most rhythmic album ever, and even the ballads that can drag r&b down here bristle with bumping beats.
Read Full Review >Sonicnet
Because her samples are so shameless, so out in the open, what No More Drama sounds like in the end is Blige singing along to the radio: equal parts fan and artist.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
In 2001’s current crop of R&B singers, Blige’s voice is truly inimitable. It’s husky, strong, soulful and full of maturity. Make no mistake, though, this lady can still flow like no one’s business...
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
In the past, that voice has conveyed untold worlds of pain and anguish, but on Blige's fifth studio album, No More Drama, it's put to good use mining the foreign terrain of happiness, contentment, and other emotions seemingly antithetical to the soul singer's tragedy-filled milieu.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A record that occupies the exact mid-point between the ghetto sass of her Puff Daddy-produced debut and 1999's poised, soulful Mary. [Oct 2001, p.117]
Rolling Stone
At first, she sounds almost tepid in comparison to her older work, but this is music that grows in depth and feeling with each listen.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
Other than "PMS," a misguided Lauryn Hill cop, the album also gets stronger as it plays, concluding with an impressive trio of songs that show off Blige's gospel roots.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine
More than ever, Blige's harmonious state just isn't an interesting place to be: Songs like "Beautiful Day" and "Flying Away" express exuberance of the rainbows-and-flowers variety. Miserable, Blige can be penetrating and profound; happy, she comes off generic and bland.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Autumn B gave it a 10:
Ilove all of Mary J. Blige albums all them touch my life and relationship. i can't wait to see her in concert.
Tina K-S gave it a 10:
Love it more each time I listen. Fills me with emotion. Sometimes it fits too well with my mood. Scary. She is something else.
Dave A. gave it a 10:
Her best ever album!
Zoey V. gave it a 9:
It swept me off my feet coz its got everything i want in R&B Itz just Da ~B0MB~
Iesha B. gave it a 10:
i can relate to mary on almost all of these songs on the album. im really feeling mary. im sick and tired of being sick and tired. fom mary's #1 fan/look-alike.
Evel G. gave it a 10:
Fantastic, has emotion and meaning.
Yori D. gave it a 9:
the new queen of soul,r-e-s-p-e-c-t to aretha but ... move over honey!
