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DANCE FOR ME
Mary J. Blige
(MCA-Universal)
This limited-edition dance remix collection of some of Blige's best songs -- only 40,000 copies will be available in Canada -- features the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" hooking up with such remix royalty as Thunderpuss and Junior Vasquez.
The best of the bunch show off her hair-raising voice while adding booty-shaking beats worthy of some dance-floor sweat.
Highlights include the church bell-ringing, tempo-changing No More Drama -- the title track from her last studio album -- which has now been stretched to a whopping nine minutes, 18 seconds courtesy of Thunderpuss; the heavily percussive He Think I Don't Know (Hqz Club remix); Junior Vasquez's fun and frothy, heavy-on-the-synth remix of Your Child; Al B. Rich's dreamy, electronic grooves on Never Been, and a piano-and-harp version of Give Me You.
The problem with the rest of the songs is that they were so strong and danceable in the first place that it's hard to improve on them. In that weaker category are disco versions of Family Affair with vocals that sound too fast (remixed by Spanish Fly), and the similarly mishandled Everything (Curtis + Moore remix) and Dance For Me (remixed by G-Club).
Blige is now working on a studio album. (More on Mary J. Blige)
Track Listing
1. No More Drama (Thunderpuss remix)
2. Family Affair (Spanish Fly Remix)
3. Everything (Curtis & Moore Remix)
4. Rainy Dayz (Thunderpuss Remix)
5. He Think I Don't Know (Hex Hector Remix)
6. Your Child (Junior Vasquez Remix)
7. Never Been (al B rich Remix)
8. Dance For Me (G-Club Remix)
9. Give Me You (Extended Nino Radio Mix)
10. Let No Man Put Asunder