RECORD REVIEWS || Stronger With Each Tear

‘Stronger With Each Tear’

Mary J. Blige (Matriarch/Geffen)

Grade: A-

Mary J. Blige just keeps getting better.

On “Stronger With Each Tear,” the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul takes the esteem-building, female-empowerment lyrics she has been cultivating in recent years to the next level by taking more chances with her musical surroundings.

The elegant touch of Ne-Yo adds some bounce to “I Feel Good,” while the disco horn flourishes brighten the mood of “Good Love,” which also makes good use of a T.I. cameo. “I Love [Yes I Do]” gets a space-age disco vibe from producer Polow Da Don, while Rodney Jerkins strips away everything but a clap track and a few bloops and bleeps to let Blige shine on “The One.”

Of course, Blige wouldn’t drop a new joint without a big, midtempo R&B ballad and “Stronger” has its share of amazing ones.

“I Am,” the current single, has smash written all over it, delivering in the way that “Be With You” did while embodying Blige’s newfound balance of self-esteem and devotion. “Each Tear” is just as grand, the kind of broad, potent anthem that Alicia Keys needed for her album. “You’re not defined by your pain, so let it go,” she sings. “You’re not a victim, you’re more like a winner. You’re not in defeat, you’re more like a queen.”

It’s such a thrill to hear Blige thrive on “Stronger With Each Tear,” using her struggles to not only inform her passionate delivery but to inspire her fans as well.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

‘Graffiti’

Chris Brown (Jive/Zomba/Sony Music)

Grade: D

Fans seldom expect more than a good hook and a pretty face from their teen pop stars — but they don’t expect brutal beatings, either. That’s why “Graffiti” — Chris Brown’s third album, and his first since assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in February — merits special scrutiny. Especially coming just two weeks after Rihanna’s “Rated R,” a surprisingly deep album of minor-key revenge and power-chord catharsis. “Graffiti” deals candidly with Brown’s regrets in “So Cold” and “I’ll Go,” two piano-ballad highlights built on melodic introspection and thoughtful chord progressions. But then sincerity fades: The rest of the CD skirts the topic entirely, instead favoring crass club come-ons and heinously inappropriate, womanizing braggadocio. At the end of the day, it’s clear that while Rihanna has grown as a person and an artist, Chris Brown only halfway bothers trying to fake it.

— Jakob Dorof, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘waking up’

OneRepublic (Interscope)

Grade: C+

Despite a monster hit with “Apologize” in 2007, the Colorado quintet named OneRepublic has gotten somewhat lost in the shuffle as its front man, Ryan Tedder, has become increasingly renowned as a solo songwriter for Leona Lewis, Beyonc , Jordin Sparks and others.

Tedder should have saved some better material for his home team’s second release. The opening track, “Made for You,” is one of Tedder’s trademark turbo-ballads, a song that tugs at your heart while kicking your caboose.

But the pickings get pretty thin after that. The more ambitious songs, such as the anthemic “All the Right Moves” and the importunate “Everybody Loves Me,” are undeniably catchy, but they also sound pretentious. Not nearly as pretentious, though, as “Missing Persons 1 & 2” and the title track, which seem to be Coldplay knockoffs.

Ah, the curious case of OneRepublic, a band that can flirt with brilliance and blandness — in the same song.

— David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘The State vs. Radric Davis’

Gucci Mane (Asylum)

Grade: B

Radric Davis, aka Gucci Mane — the toast of Atlanta’s Dirty South — never lets murder raps or rapper vendettas stop the party ball from rolling. “I don’t turn around no more,” declares Mane on “Worst Enemy,” referring with stoic drawl to his past legal problems and feuds. “I look at what’s in front of me / I’m focused on the future / yesterday is history.”

That’s as ruminative as the Dirty Southerner’s ever been. Throughout his career, the bling-loving Mane managed to turn diamonds and pearls into poetry without sounding trite. The slow-motion “State” is no different; its low-grooving beats and sizzling synth ambience allow Mane and guests such as Lil Wayne, Keyshia Cole, and (too many) more to wax rhapsodic on matters of excess. The smoky soul of his teaming with Usher, “Spotlight,” is particularly obsessive while retaining elegant finesse and funk. Still, cuts such as “Worst Enemy” and “The Movie” show Mane thinking long and hard about who he needs to be now that he’s outrun his troubles. “Heavy” is the best of these thought-provokers, as Mane blends the usual boasting with disgust at and distrust of egoism. That’s progress as golden as any bling.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings’

Hank Williams (Time Life)

Grade: A

This gold mine of a collection picks up where last year’s initial “Unreleased Recordings” set left off. It’s three more CDs of 1951 performances by Hank Williams and his band, the Drifting Cowboys, from his morning radio show on Nashville’s WSM.

Once again, the recordings are remarkably clean and provide a revelatory portrait of the country immortal as he plays his own hits, songs from his Luke the Drifter persona, and numbers he never recorded. It’s everything from stark, despairing balladry to uplifting gospel and sentimental parlor songs. You also hear him bantering with the show’s announcer, Uncle Louie Buck, adding to the loose, lively vibe.

Unlike last year’s collection, each disc on “Revealed” includes a complete 15-minute show. They consist of two numbers sung by Williams, one of them a spiritual; a brisk instrumental by the band; and ads for the show’s sponsor.

The time-capsule quality of it is fascinating, but the startling immediacy and bracing timelessness of the music is even more so.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Mudvayne’

Mudvayne (Epic)

Grade: B-

“Feel life slipping away? Stand in the corner and scream with me,” invites Mudvayne singer Chad Gray on the band’s new single, “Scream With Me.” That pretty much sums up the Midwest nu-metal outfit’s approach and appeal on “Mudvayne.”

Mudvayne is all about catharsis, with guitarist Greg Tribbett simply providing the churning riffs to get everyone worked up so that Gray can scream. The most effective song to explain all the angst, though, is the quietest one.

“Dead Inside,” with its acoustic guitar and minor-key harmonies, shows how solid hooks are what keep the band’s fans happy, er, raging.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday