My Life II… The Journey Continues

Mary J. Blige – My Life II… The Journey Continues: B-Side Breakdown 70 (C-) from 10 critic reviews.

Album cover for My Life II… The Journey Continues by Mary J. Blige
Released November 21, 2011
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Mary J. Blige

My Life II… The Journey Continues

70
B-Side BreakdownGrade C- · 10 critics · 40% approval
B-Side Breakdown70Grade: C-
Approval40%4 of 10 critics scored it 75 or higher
DivisivenessBroad agreementHow close the scores are: most critics land within 18 points of each other

Critics give My Life II… The Journey Continues a B-Side Breakdown of 70 (C-), from 10 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 60 to 81.

The verdict on My Life II… The Journey Continues

4 of 10 critics liked it. A mixed reception.

020406080100Slant: 60The Guardian: 60AllMusic: 60Los Angeles Times: 63Spin: 70Rolling Stone: 70Consequence: 78musicOMH: 80The Telegraph: 80Entertainment Weekly: 81 Breakdown 70
The gist
Entertainment Weekly via Wikipediaby Adam Markovitz B- 81 2011
musicOMH via Wikipediaby Martyn Young 4/5 80 2011
The Telegraph via Wikipedia 4/5 80 2011
Consequence via Wikipediaby Siobhán Kane C+ 78 2011 “Still navigating the pain.”
Spin via Wikipediaby Peter S. Scholtes 7/10 70 2011 “For someone who heard her first hits played on the radio while still living in the projects, hip-hop soul's Queen of Pain has rarely repeated herself.”
Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Jody Rosen 3.5/5 70 2011 “Check out our album review of Artist's My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act 1) on Rolling Stone.com.”
Los Angeles Times via Wikipediaby Mikael Wood 2.5/4 63 2011 “This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links.”
Slant via Wikipediaby Eric Henderson 3/5 60 2011 “My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act 1) feels like a corrective, one which intends to restore soul back to prominence.”
The Guardian via Wikipediaby Rebecca Nicholson 3/5 60 2011 “Mary J Blige's sequal to her best album is susprisingly robust, reckons Rebecca Nicholson”
AllMusic via Wikipediaby Andy Kellman 3/5 60 2011

My Life II… The Journey Continues in Mary J. Blige's catalog

75What’s the 411? (1992): 77My Life (1994): 69Share My World (1997): 72Mary (1999): 80No More Drama (2001): 78Love & Life (2003): 65The Breakthrough (2005): 77Growing Pains (2007): 68Stronger with Each Tear (2009): 68My Life II… The Journey Continues (2011): 7070This oneA Mary Christmas (2013): 50The London Sessions (2014): 70Strength of a Woman (2017): 70Good Morning Gorgeous (2022): 7819922022
Mary J. Blige's albums by B-Side Breakdown, in release order. Above the dashed line, most critics liked it. Every Mary J. Blige album, ranked

How these critics usually treat Mary J. Blige

  • AllMusic Harsher than usual11 points below the other critics here. Usually 8 points above on Mary J. Blige's other albums (12).
  • The Guardian About usual for them11 points below the other critics here. Usually 4 points below on Mary J. Blige's other albums (7).
  • Entertainment Weekly About usual for them12 points above the other critics here. Usually 17 points above on Mary J. Blige's other albums (10).
  • Los Angeles Times About usual for them8 points below the other critics here. Usually 4 points below on Mary J. Blige's other albums (8).
  • Spin About usual for themLevel with the other critics here. Usually 3 points above on Mary J. Blige's other albums (5).
  • Rolling Stone About usual for themLevel with the other critics here. Usually 3 points below on Mary J. Blige's other albums (9).

More from Mary J. Blige

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How the Breakdown works

Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.

A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.

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