Growing Pains
by Mary J. Blige
  • Record Label: Geffen
  • Release Date: Dec 18, 2007
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 33 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 33
  3. Negative: 3 out of 33

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  1. PACMusic
    Dec 24, 2007
    4
    Growing Pains

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    So in the end, it's just Mary: a superstar, clearly, but also a woman still in the process of finding herself. Even if that means she's imperfect (and, yes, a little preachy), at least it feels real.
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  2. Rolling Stone
    70
    Growing Pains is an edgier record than "The Breakthrough," but Blige has definitely lost or just outgrown the brassy urgency of her twenties.
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  3. Slant Magazine
    60
    She keeps her most salable characteristic, her emotiveness, under duress, which provides tension but no release.
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