Mary J. Blige: Dance For Me : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

For the past few years, the reigning queen of hip-hop soul has been slowly expanding her turf to include house music, through sleek, propulsive dance remixes of some of her biggest hits. Long obtainable only through import and promo-only DJ singles, these cult items are now available in a limited-edition CD. The good news is that it's a great workout soundtrack, full of pounding and energetic grooves. The bad news is that little of it is very imaginatively interpreted. Most of the remixes -- such as Junior Vasquez's dated retooling of "Your Child" -- simply edit Blige's original vocals and then slot them over bombastic, beat-heavy tracks that heavily recall recent remakings of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey tracks. Still, the wistful funkiness of the disco-tinged "Give Me You" and "Everything" make this collection worth owning for Mary completists.