Known for a life of drama as well as amazing music, Mary J. Blige has been a constant and bold presence on the urban scene since the early Nineties, earning the title ‘Queen of hip hop/soul’ along the way. It was only a matter of time before the soul diva brought out a Greatest Hits collection, showcasing the best of her seven studio albums, over a period of 16 years in the industry.

Despite being an extremely impressive selection of MJB hits, the tracks here could have been more carefully chosen to reflect the songs that Mary’s fans have grown to love her for. I was really looking forward to revisiting early classics that I’d grown up listening to, such as ‘You Remind Me’ and ‘Changes I’ve Been Growing Through’, as well as banger ‘All Night Long’. But they are notably absent here, as is ‘What’s the 411?’ the title track of her debut album which first introduced the Notorious BIG to the world. Other omissions include 1997’s ‘Everything’ as well as the exceptional cover of Aretha Franklin’s classic ‘Natural Woman’, which she recorded between albums for the TV show ‘New York Undercover’, some 10 years ago. This somewhat unfortunate fact means that comparably poorer songs such as ‘Not Gon’ Cry’ and ‘I’m Goin’ Down’, the melodramatic Rose Royce cover taken from Blige’s ‘My Life’ album, are included at the expense of better ones.

We do get a few genuine moments of nostalgia however, with the up-tempo ‘You Know’, ‘Be Happy’, as well as the Method Man collab, ‘I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By’, which won them a Grammy back in 1996.

Other stand outs include the George Michael hit ‘As’, the Dr. Dre-produced 2001 dance floor classic ‘Family Affair’, a new version of ‘My Life’, as well as tracks from her latest album, such as the brilliant ‘One’ (with U2), and possibly one of 2006’s biggest tunes, ‘Be Without You’ - a song so powerful and poignant it could well be her greatest.

The album ends on a reflective note, with latest single ‘MVP Da MVP’, which features 50 Cent over the beat made famous by The Game. Going through all her biggest albums and touching on what was going on in her life while she was recording/releasing them, Mary emerges triumphant and proves that throughout all the heartache and struggles, both in the industry, in the public eye and personally, she has remained on top, a strong woman if ever there was one. This is also cemented by other powerful manifestations of Mary’s inner strength that are on here, such as ‘No More Drama’ and ‘911’, which are sung with striking emotion and depth, demonstrating her vocal chords to brilliant effect.

A striking thing about this album is the amount of new material present; eight tracks out of the 18 are actually recent offerings. Only one or at best, two, tracks are taken from early work from her six studio albums prior to the release of ‘The Breakthrough’. Thus, perhaps a slightly misleading picture is painted when the disc is presented as a retrospective (as the title suggests) spanning over her entire career. Despite this, the album is a welcomed addition to my Mary collection, if mainly for the new material on here. All in all, this is an incomplete yet adequate selection of MJB classics, certain to do really well over the Christmas period.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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