Macy GrayBIGGeffen RecordsThree out of five stars
Macy Gray’s album BIG actually is big — a big disappointment! It’s sad. I really had high hopes for this album, but Gray just doesn’t have it anymore.
She loses the emotional fire of her Grammy Award-winning moments in 1999 and 2000 and produces this new record, which has as much flavor as a rice cake. BIG feels more like another album demanded by record companies to meet quotas.
The album isn’t all bad, though. Guest artists such as Natalie Cole and Fergie lend their voices to “Finally Made Me Happy” and “Glad You’re Here,” arguably the best songs on BIG.
But by receiving help from pop star producer Will.i.am and Justin Timberlake, Gray sacrifices the style that brought her fame to match the more mainstream, overly produced music of today. Gray’s raspy voice still sets BIG as unique in the R&B world, but doesn’t sound as fresh as her album How Life Is.
Gray works to mimic the vintage sound of orchestral instruments first utilized by 1960 producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the minds behind “Stand by Me.” Unfortunately, the violin background didn’t quite pull off the mood I think BIG was looking for. Instead, it was a bit kitschy.
The hackneyed lyrics in BIG add insult to injury by stripping this stricken album of any personality. If it weren’t for the big namers, it probably never would have made it to first base. No guy will, either, if he buys this for his girlfriend.
Some songs — “Glad You Were Here” and “Shoo Be Doo” — are worth not changing the station, but not much more than that.