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The Id - Macy Gray
Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. Sonicnet
    90
    Even though one can hear echoes of everything from "The Threepenny Opera" to Bitches Brew here, the funk is in her DNA.
  2. E! Online
    83
    Musically, the album bounces from a full-on urban polka ("Oblivion") to tracks with plenty of Apollo Showtime-style organs, horns and disco and funk elements that keep the wacky tales from sounding wack.
  3. Blender
    80
    A conceptual bacchanal of sweat-drenched lust. [Oct/Nov 2001, p.104]
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  4. Rolling Stone
    80
    Gray's pipes aren't for everyone, but if you can't stomach them, I feel for you. You're missing some of the best soul on the planet.
  5. Spin
    80
    The Id, like On How Life Is before it, never seems too polished because Gray adamantly pursues her complicated pleasures, belying her image as a stoned soul picnic... [Oct 2001, p.123]
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  6. Spin Cycle
    75
    A platter of hot-buttered R&B popcorn, liberally sprinkled with salty social critique, "The Id" finds Gray getting disco-freaky while instigating her "Sexual Revolution," and playfully rapping about her kids with Slick Rick on the funky burner "Hey Young World II."
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    The tracks are brassy and effusive, swelling with horns, organs, and tasteful orchestration. At their best, they deflect attention from Gray's often irksome voice, which veers toward novelty more than a soul singer's should.
  8. Playlouder
    70
    The music itself doesn't quite have the simple accessibility and easy soul of her debut, but it's loads of fun and bursting with ideas.
  9. Dot Music
    70
    With this eclectic, eccentric approach comes a lack of cohesion and quality control.
  10. The A.V. Club
    70
    Amazingly, the disc still feels cohesive in spite of its unpredictability, aided by can't-miss crowd-pleasers like the irrepressible disco-pop blowout "Sexual Revolution."
  11. All Music Guide
    60
    Macy Gray lets her freak flag fly, almost to the detriment of everything else.
  12. Q Magazine
    60
    It is only when she tries something a little different that Macy comes unstuck.
  13. Village Voice
    60
    The Id suffers from the conundrum of all post-breakout second albums. You're disappointed either because the songs are not enough like the first one or because they're too much like the first but not quite as good.
  14. New Musical Express (NME)
    50
    But while Gray's voice is still beguiling and unique, The Id is basically Brit-award winning, corporate soul with little identity, too cosy and calculated to have any genuine depth.
  15. Mojo
    50
    The Id simply turns up the levels on what made her debut so big, in the process overshadowing the background detail that made that album so special. [Oct 2001, p.128]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.6 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. toma
    10
    i finally came across the id 5 years after it was issued and fell in love with it, as the finest post-60s psychedelic record since beck's midnight vulture (better even). totally love it, can't stop playing it. went to get a couple more of her records -- very nice, yes indeed, but the id's definitely my favourite. this is an enjoyable artist -- and i'd been put off her because paul holmes interviewed her on television making her appear like some little dimwit. but no, as an artist she's brilliant. i can't stop raving about her, and her lyrics are great too. just wonderful.… Full Review »
  2. JoseAntonioA
    8
    Clear & deep songs of life looking for a soul.
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