Macy Gray : Releases >>
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The Very Best Of Macy Gray >>
Big >>
For a while there, the helium-voiced Macy Gray seemed to be coasting instead of crashing down the walls between funk, rock, and R&B the way scads of breathless music pundits once said she would. That was before will.i.am and a handful of other skillful knob-twisters entered her life. Now, multi-genre destruction and utter domination once again seem possible: Big, as its title suggests, is a huge record--bold in all the right places and subdued where it needs to be; scruffy around the edges but slick below the surface; at once nonchalant and reckless to the bone. Gray, in her way, is a vocal Timbaland--it's tempting to think she's too imposing to make a random-seeming hook-up work, but she stretches her singular gift around pretty much any collaborator a producer can throw at her, and with style to burn. On Big, those tossed on for the challenge include Natalie Cole, who lights up opener "Finally Made Me Happy"; Nas, who gives up the grit likably on "Ghetto Love"; and Fergie, who coos efficiently throughout "Glad You're Here." As vibes go, the one given off here is cool, casual, and slightly crazy--all Macy, in other words. She does her thing up right, and she does it Big. --Tammy La Gorce
On How Life Is >>
Macy Gray's debut is the kind of album that lends itself to comparisons: Bill Withers (he of "Lovely Day" fame), for the rapturous, laid-back funk vibe; Lauryn Hill, as a fellow nouveau-soul-diva who's not willing to let something as silly as genre-lines let her stop from appropriating a great sound; Liz Phair, from her Exile in Guyville days, for the stark, honest, everyday take on relationship politics; Lenny Kravitz, for pure iconoclastic self-confidence; and, yes, Billie Holiday for the sheer sound of her voice (youngish, raw, slightly otherworldly, but strangely powerful). One album into her career, it's unfair to ask Lady Gray to live up to most of the above--no matter what the diva in question might have to say about it--so accept On How Life Is on its own terms. Eminently danceable and groovy without a single clunker and though some songs ("Why Didn't You Call Me", "I've Committed Murder" and "Do Something", on which Gray sings "..and I'm the latest craze") are more equal than others, the album is well worth its share of hype. --Randy Silver
The Id >>
The ID is a multi-coloured, chocolate coated, wide flared, jumping pumping epic. Once a surprise hit, Macy Gray is now near the top of the soul tree (where she remains a strange fruit among a bunch of soundalikes). Her debut album On How Life Is came from seemingly nowhere to be loved by millions. This follow-up has to contend with much greater expectations. But she doesn't disappoint. The opening track "Related to a Psychopath" is perhaps the album's best, a mixture of 60s and 70s funk that'll have you grinding in the streets. If that doesn't, then "Sexual Revolution" will ("So many things to do before I die"), a saucy butt-shaking hymn to acting out your fetishes. Slick Rick's sing-song vocal on "Hey Young World II" is a perfect compliment to Macy's trademark mixture of gasp and squeak, but other guests, such as Erykah Badu and Mos Def, seem overwhelmed by Macy's larger-than-life presence. Lyrically she's strong, at times hilarious ("You're role model's in therapy") and much improved from the (relative) simplicity of debut tracks such as "I Try" and "Why Didn't You Call Me". Tracks such as "Boo" and "Freak Like Me" couple clever wordplay (she trained as a screenwriter) with the same anthemic quality. On occasions she loses the plot, particularly on "Oblivion" which sounds like it's written and performed by Oompa-Loompas, but this is, on the whole, an excellent follow-up to a brilliant debut.--Jake Barnes
The Trouble With Being Myself >>
Macy Gray's third album, The Trouble with Being Myself, finds TLC producer Dallas Austin at the studio helm. Cutting a lush, uplifting path with silky smooth harmonies, infectious funk-fuelled rhythms and "that" voice, it takes sex, death, relationships, happiness and more sex as its themes du jour. The death of her stepfather during recording has certainly left its mark.
On "My Fondest Childhood Memories" she sings of being 10 and catching the babysitter "sexing" her father, then at 12 a plumber "plunging" her mother, while on "Screamin'" she admits to "Crying because I miss my father" before hollering "All my troubles go away when you are on top of me".
Unusual collaborators include Beck, who provides guitar and (uncredited) backing vocals on the marvellous Prince-meets-rap splendour of "It Ain't the Money". "Happiness" finds Macy's kids (one of whom is named Happy) lending vocal support. Unhinged and swinging freely, The Trouble with Being Myself trembles with harmonious heartbreak, seething soul and furious funk. Following the mixed reception of her second album, she now seems musically on track, emotionally out there and up for the long haul. --Christopher Barrett
Big >>
The Id >>
The ID is a multi-coloured, chocolate coated, wide flared, jumping pumping epic. Once a surprise hit, Macy Gray is now near the top of the soul tree (where she remains a strange fruit among a bunch of soundalikes). Her debut album On How Life Is came from seemingly nowhere to be loved by millions. This follow-up has to contend with much greater expectations. But she doesn't disappoint. The opening track "Related to a Psychopath" is perhaps the album's best, a mixture of 60s and 70s funk that'll have you grinding in the streets. If that doesn't, then "Sexual Revolution" will ("So many things to do before I die"), a saucy butt-shaking hymn to acting out your fetishes. Slick Rick's sing-song vocal on "Hey Young World II" is a perfect compliment to Macy's trademark mixture of gasp and squeak, but other guests, such as Erykah Badu and Mos Def, seem overwhelmed by Macy's larger-than-life presence. Lyrically she's strong, at times hilarious ("You're role model's in therapy") and much improved from the (relative) simplicity of debut tracks such as "I Try" and "Why Didn't You Call Me". Tracks such as "Boo" and "Freak Like Me" couple clever wordplay (she trained as a screenwriter) with the same anthemic quality. On occasions she loses the plot, particularly on "Oblivion" which sounds like it's written and performed by Oompa-Loompas, but this is, on the whole, an excellent follow-up to a brilliant debut.--Jake Barnes
Sweet Baby feat. Erykah Badu >>
On How Life Is >>
Sexual Revolution [CD 1] >>
