- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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At least half a dozen cuts will vie for slots on a future best-of.
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BlenderPractically every song sounds as though we've heard it before--because, well, we have. [Sep 2003, p.122]
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'Love & Life' suggests "the queen of hip-hop soul" is truly now at the top of her game.
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It's an easy listen, enjoyable on the surface with deeper meanings you're willing to dig.
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Entertainment WeeklyBlige, despite her signature heartache-inducing voice, cannot save love fromher heavy-handed songwriting. [5 Sep 2003, p.75]
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The album often revisits the troubled vibe of her early days, in sound if not lyrically.
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A celebratory respite from the hopelessness; a retreat for those who really have trekked past the drama.
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Q MagazineMuch of Love & Life... is a procession of syrupy ballads with added self-help litanies. [Nov 2003, p.113]
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Love's greatest strength is the same as its predecessors': Blige's simmering vocal intensity and the way it slowly boils over into cathartic exultation.
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VibeIt's the songs of sadness and anger that work best.... But her club-anthem ambitions fall short here. [Oct 2003, p.180]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 21
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Mixed: 3 out of 21
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Negative: 4 out of 21
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Dec 9, 2013
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carlosNov 23, 2005makes me sick, album bout nothing ups about love banal!!!!!!!!!!!11
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omarihMar 3, 2004This is a classic from the intro to the ending Mary does what she does best let you into her life and gives you something to think about