Stronger with Each Tear

Blige started working on her ninth album while she toured with Robin Thicke in 2008. In an interview with Rap-Up magazine she said:

The album represents who and what I am right now. I'm a stronger human being after all the growing pains. It's about life, love, change, strength—mostly really knowing who you are and being confident in that.^[6]

The album was initially titled Stronger, after the song "Stronger", which Blige recorded and released as the lead single from the soundtrack Music Inspired by More than a Game from the LeBron James' documentary More than a Game.^[7] However Rap-Up later revealed that the album had been re-titled Stronger with Each Tear.^[2]

Music journalist Robert Christgau described the Stronger with Each Tear as containing "midtempo love vows." The Irish Times said that with the album, Blige "dabbled" in contemporary music trends of the time. Album opener "Tonight" has "atmospheric" qualities. Lead single and track two, "The One" with Drake, features auto-tune vocals. Track four, "Good Love" with T.I., was called "groovy" and a "surprising" hit. "I Am," track five, is a "classic Blige" hip-hop/pop single that "perfectly captures the album’s overall mood." Track 10, "Kitchen," has a "strong melody" a gospel piano. Track 11, "In the Morning," has a Motown sound. From the motion picture Precious, album closer "Color" (alternatively titled "I Can See in Color") resembles a retro "old-style" of soul with electric piano instrumentation and a gospel backing.^[4][8][9]

The album was originally scheduled for US release on November 24, 2009^[10] but this was pushed back to December 15, 2009^[11] which would have put Blige's album in a chart battle with Alicia Keys' album The Element of Freedom. The album was pushed back once more to December 21, 2009. Australian media outlets revealed that the album's international version would have an altered track listing, containing a duet version of "Each Tear" with the Australian artist Vanessa Amorosi.^[12] There are also four other versions of the track performed by the Italian singer Tiziano Ferro and the UK singer Jay Sean, Rea Garvey and K'naan.^[13][14][15]

After a number of appearances to promote the song "Stronger" for the soundtrack Music Inspired by More than a Game, Blige formally began the album's promotion in America by premiering the second single "I Am" at the American Music Awards (2009). The following day she appeared on the Lopez Tonight show for an interview and encore performance of "I Am".^[16] Blige also appeared on The Jay Leno Show, The Today Show, and was also on a special shown on BET named Words & Sounds With Mary J. Blige. She was on a taping of The View.^[17] On April 21, 2010, Blige appeared on American Idol's charity telethon, Idol Gives Back to perform her cover of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" with Orianthi and Randy Jackson on guitars.^[18]

On April 13, 2010, Blige appeared on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show where she performed "Each Tear" and her version of "Stairway to Heaven."

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[31]
Chicago Tribune	[32]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	B[33]
The Irish Times	[9]
Los Angeles Times	[34]
Rolling Stone	[35]
Spin	6/10[36]
The Times	[37]
USA Today	[38]

Close

Stronger with Each Tear received generally favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 based on twelve reviews.^[39]

Andy Kellman from AllMusic called "Stronger with Each Tear a "very good Blige album, if not quite a classic. One of her briefest sets, it is tremendously (almost studiously) balanced between all the ground she has covered so well before. That's no criticism, though, since most of the songs are easily memorable and display so much range."^[31] Boston Globe critic Sarah Rodman found that the album was a "reminder that Blige gets stronger with each album", further noting: "The queen of hip-hop soul splits her loyalty between three masters with the agility of a gymnast, but she manages to hold a mood with seamless transitions between each."^[40] Similarly, Billboard wrote: "Like fine wine and Brett Favre, some things just get better with time [...] Blige has never been in better voice-or more adventurous."^[41]

Margaret Wapplerf from The Los Angeles Times felt that Stronger with Each Tear finds Blige "as in touch with that resilient truth as ever, her personal discoveries bound in slick but never alienating packaging."^[34] USA Today editor Steve Jones remarked that the album "finds the now-mature Blige happy, confident and ready to have some fun." While he felt that the "upbeat songs don't lend themselves to the emotional torrents that used to flow from her regularly," a "stellar list of producers and songwriters [...] give her plenty of radio-friendly beats in keeping with the album's overall positive vibe."^[38] BBC Music critic Daryl Easlea called it a "body of work that is one of the strongest in R&B. Although Stronger with Each Tear may not be one of her greatest works, it ensures that Blige remains as relevant as any of her more recent contemporaries."^[1]

In a mixed review, Jon Pareles from The New York Times wrote that Blige's "chosen producers are masters of what might be called algorithm-and-blues: crisply digitized grids of beats and hooks [...] The arrangements are often supremely clever, but the songs can also be busy and bloodless, and they’re built for adequate voices, not commanding ones. Often they tend to treat vocals as one more neatly placed sound effect."^[42] Mikael Wood from Spin magazine wrote: "Blige has spent the past decade effecting a slow transformation from R&B's queen of pain to the closest thing the genre counts to Oprah Winfrey [...] It's hard to believe this is the same woman who once felt the need to announce she was done with drama. Yet despite the conviction that those track names suggest—and despite solid writing and production contributions from A-listers [...] it feels less vital than 2005's terrific The Breakthrough or 2007's Growing Pains [...] The result is minor Mary—strong by many standards, a bit tepid by hers."^[36] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau offered the description, "plainspoken, low-drama, midtempo love vows, with attempted glamour relegated to the cover shoot", while naming "Tonight" and "I Am" as the record's highlights.^[8]

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 332,000 copies. It also went to number one on the R&B chart.^[43][44] Blige is the ninth woman in SoundScan's 18-year history to see at least three albums all debut with an opening sales week of 300,000 or more.^[45] Stronger with Each Tear had sold 726,100 copies in the United States by April 2010,^[46] and was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 6, 2011.

In the UK, it debuted at number 33 on the main albums chart in its first week^[47] but dropped out of the top forty on its second week.^[48] On the UK R&B Chart it debuted at number four^[49] and fell nine places to number 13 in its second week.^[50]

Following the album's US release, "We Got Hood Love" charted at 82 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart from strong digital downloads. Album track "I Feel Good" entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 83 on the issue dated February 6, 2010, and later reached a peak of 68. "Good Love" featuring T.I. entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 59 and peaked at 58.^[23][51][52]

Notes

• In the US, "Each Tear" is a solo song, but on international versions feature Jay Sean except for in Italy where it features Tiziano Ferro; Vanessa Amorosi for Australia; Rea Garvey for Germany; and K'naan for Canada.
• ^{^[a]} signifies co-producer(s)
• ^{^[b]} signifies vocal producer(s)
• ^{^[c]} signifies additional producer(s)

Sample credits

• "Tonight" contains elements of "Rapper Dapper Snapper" as written and performed by Edwin Birdsong.
• "I Love U (Yes I Du)" contains a sample of the recording "Let the Dollar Circulate" as performed by Billy Paul.