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Big (album)

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Big
Studio album by
Macy Gray
ReleasedMarch 21, 2007 (2007-03-21)
Recorded2006
Genre
Length43:47
Label
Producer
Macy Gray chronology
Live in Las Vegas
(2005) 		Big
(2007) 		The Sellout
(2010)
Singles from Big
  1. "Finally Made Me Happy"
    Released: February 20, 2007
  2. "Shoo Be Doo"
    Released: March 2007
  3. "What I Gotta Do"
    Released: June 26, 2007[1]

Big is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Macy Gray. It was released on March 21, 2007, by Geffen Records. It is Gray's first studio album in four years. The album debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200, selling 23,000 copies in its first week.[2]

Three singles were released from the album: "Finally Made Me Happy" (a collaboration with Natalie Cole), "Shoo Be Doo", and "What I Gotta Do". The latter was included on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. Music from this album was also featured in the I Love New York season one reunion. The album's cover art was widely illustrated on iPhone ads and featured on the first boxes of the iPod Touch.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic62/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Blender[5]
Digital Spy[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[7]
The Guardian[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
PopMatters5/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Slant Magazine[12]
Yahoo! Music[13]

Big received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 62, based on 17 reviews.[3]

Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music called Gray's Big "the worthy follow-up to her On How Life Is debut," praising the contributions from the guest artists and the restraint of her signature musical persona. He added that the lack of radio hits on the record may prevent Gray's career from rebounding, but said that "Whatever the commercial outcome though, no one can say that this is anything other than a supreme return to form."[13] John Bush of AllMusic noted how the quiet storm production from will.i.am made Big "the slickest album of Gray's career," but said that it brings into better focus the vocal quirks of her personality throughout the track listing, concluding that "It'll be interesting to see if past Macy Gray fans are willing to follow her into adult contemporary territory, while those who might like the new direction will be able to alter their perceptions of her."[4] Jon Dolan, writing for Blender, said that Gray's "confessional blues-rasp" is better utilized on more mature tracks like the Fergie collaboration "Glad You're Here", saying that "It's 'licious, but in a classy way."[5]

Rob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly highlighted "Shoo Be Doo", "What I Gotta Do" and "Okay" as great showcases for Gray's "fascinating cracks and warbles" but said that, "Much of Big is either boring or forced, as when Gray launches into "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" for no discernible reason."[7] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani felt that Gray's vocals were lacking compared to the featured artists surrounding the album, saying that "she struggles to reach and sustain notes that should be comfortably within her range."[12] Mike Joseph of PopMatters gave feint praise by calling it "a perfectly serviceable adult-soul album", saying that the upbeat tracks capture Macy's old personality better than the ballads. He added that, "While Big shows flashes of the irrepressible spirit that made Macy's first two albums fun to listen to, there are many more instances of uninspired, boring music designed to capture a middle-of-the-road audience."[10]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Finally Made Me Happy" (featuring Natalie Cole)
4:02
2."Shoo Be Doo"
  • Gosselin
  • White
  • Fair
4:04
3."What I Gotta Do"
  • Hinds
  • Caleb Speir
  • Jeremy Ruzumna
  • Josh Lopez
  • Jason Villaroman
  • Gosselin
  • White
  • Fair
3:08
4."Okay"
  • will.i.am
  • Timberlake
4:09
5."Glad You're Here" (featuring Fergie)
  • Hinds
  • Joe Solo
  • O'Neil
  • Meldal-Johnsen
  • Trevor Lawrence
  • will.i.am
  • Fair
2:54
6."Ghetto Love"
  • Hinds
  • Adams
  • Moses
  • Mike Shapiro
  • James Brown
  • Betty Jean Newsome
will.i.am3:08
7."One for Me"
  • will.i.am
  • Fair
4:09
8."Strange Behavior"
  • Hinds
  • Farrell
  • Speir
  • Shapiro
  • Gray
  • will.i.am
3:35
9."Slowly"
Fair3:54
10."Get Out" (featuring Justin Timberlake)
  • Timberlake
  • will.i.am
4:01
11."Treat Me Like Your Money" (featuring will.i.am)
  • will.i.am
  • Noiztrip
3:27
12."Everybody"
  • Hinds
  • Board
  • Pajon
  • Tim "Izo" Orindgreff
will.i.am3:16
International bonus tracks[14][15][16][17]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."AEIOU"
  • Gray
  • Moses
  • O'Neil
  • Meldal-Johnsen
Damon Elliott3:15
14."Breakdown" (featuring Romika) (UK and Japan only)
  • Gray
  • Gosselin
  • White
  • Speir
  • Josh Lopez
  • Gosselin
  • White
3:36
15."Me with You" (Japan only)
  • Gray
  • Meldal-Johnsen
  • Farrell
  • Kiilu Beckwith
 4:01
iTunes Store bonus track[18]
No.TitleLength
13."So Much"3:23

Sample credits

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Big.[19]

  • Macy Gray – vocals (all tracks); production (tracks 1, 8); backing vocals (tracks 4, 10); executive production
  • Jay Anderson – backing vocals (track 6)
  • Davis Barnett – viola (track 4)
  • Dawn Beckman – backing vocals (tracks 2, 6, 7, 11, 12)
  • Giuliano Bekor – photography
  • Printz Board – trumpet (tracks 1, 8); keyboards (tracks 2, 5, 11, 12); Rhodes (track 12)
  • Jeff Chestek – string recording (track 4)
  • Natalie Cole – additional vocals (track 1)
  • "Angry" Mike Eleopoulos – recording engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 9)
  • Scott Elgin – engineering assistance (track 3)
  • Ron Fair – production, string arrangements, string conducting (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 9); Pro Tools, recording engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 9, 12); piano solo (track 2); additional piano, Wurlitzer (track 3); organ (tracks 3, 5); piano (track 5); harmonica (track 9); executive production
  • Mike Farrell – keyboards (tracks 7, 8)
  • Fergie – additional vocals (track 5)
  • Ghislaine Fleischmann – violin (track 4)
  • Paloma Ford – backing vocals (tracks 6, 8, 9)
  • Nick Fournier – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 11, 12)
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
  • Larry Gold – string arrangements (track 4)
  • Jared Gosselin – production (tracks 2, 3); programming (track 3)
  • Gravillis Inc. – art direction, design
  • Jeremy Gregory – backing vocals, vocal arrangement (track 3)
  • Bernie Grundman – mastering
  • Keith Harris – percussion (track 2); drums (tracks 2, 4, 7, 12); Rhodes (track 5); keyboards (tracks 7, 11); piano (track 12)
  • Tal Herzberg – recording engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 9, 12); Pro Tools (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 8–10, 12)
  • Victor Indrizzo – drums (tracks 1, 3, 5, 11)
  • Tim Izo – saxophone (tracks 1, 12); flute (track 5); clarinet (track 7)
  • Eric Jackson – guitar (track 2)
  • Jaycen Joshua – mixing engineeringassistance (track 2)
  • Gloria Justen – violin (track 4)
  • Ryan Kennedy – mixing engineering assistance (tracks 8, 10)
  • Padraic Kerin – recording engineering (track 4)
  • Sarah Killion – mixing engineering assistance (track 6)
  • Emma Kummrow – violin (track 4)
  • Mike Lett – backing vocals (track 3)
  • Josh Lopez – guitar (track 3)
  • Jennie Lorenzo – cello (track 4)
  • Tony Maserati – mixing (tracks 8, 10)
  • Glen McIntyre – backing vocals (track 6)
  • Justin Meldal-Johnsen – bass (tracks 1, 2, 7, 9, 11)
  • Peter Mokran – mixing (tracks 3, 5, 7, 9)
  • Dean Nelson – mixing engineering assistance (track 1)
  • Peter Nocella – viola (track 4)
  • Noiztrip – production (track 11)
  • Cassandra O'Neil – organ, piano (track 1); keyboards (track 3)
  • George Pajon Jr. – guitar (tracks 5–7, 9, 11)
  • Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing (track 2)
  • Jack Joseph Puig – mixing (track 1)
  • Montez Roberts – engineering assistance (track 4)
  • Dan Rockett – guitar (track 10)
  • Jeremy Ruzumna – keyboards (track 3)
  • Rafael Serrano – mixing engineering assistance (tracks 4, 11, 12)
  • Mike Shapiro – percussion (tracks 2, 9); drums (tracks 6, 8, 10)
  • Caleb Speir – bass (tracks 3–5, 8, 10)
  • Justin Timberlake – drums (track 4); backing vocals, keyboards, production (tracks 4, 10); guitar (track 10)
  • Igor Szwec – violin (track 4)
  • Doug Tyo – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 6, 8–10, 12)
  • Jason Villaroman – recording engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 9, 10–12); programming (tracks 8, 10)
  • Dave Way – mixing (tracks 4, 6, 11, 12)
  • Eric Weaver – mixing engineeringassistance (tracks 3, 5, 7, 9)
  • Khalfani White – backing vocals (track 12)
  • Phillip White – percussion (track 2); backing vocals, production (tracks 2, 3)
  • will.i.am – production (tracks 1, 4–8, 10–12); recording engineering (tracks 4, 6); programming (tracks 5, 6, 11, 12); keyboards (track 6); executive production
  • Ethan Willoughby – recording engineering (track 4)
  • Frank Wolf – recording engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 9, 12)

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[20] 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 63
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[22] 57
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[23] 38
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24] 56
European Albums (Billboard)[25] 99
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 28
French Albums (SNEP)[27] 149
Italian Albums (FIMI)[28] 33
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[29] 54
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 87
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 38
Taiwanese Albums (Five Music)[32] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 62
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[34] 11
US Billboard 200[35] 39
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[36] 14

Release history

[edit]
Region Date Label Ref.
Japan March 21, 2007 Universal [37]
Netherlands March 22, 2007 [38]
Italy March 23, 2007 [39]
Australia March 24, 2007 [14]
France March 26, 2007 [40]
Germany March 27, 2007 [15]
United States
[41]
United Kingdom April 2, 2007 Polydor [16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Urban AC – Week Of: June 26, 2007". Radio & Records. Retrieved August 6, 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ Hasty, Katie (April 4, 2007). "McGraw Leads Seven Top 10 Debuts Onto Billboard 200". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Reviews for Big by Macy Gray". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 22, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Bush, John. "Big – Macy Gray". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Dolan, Jon. "Macy Gray : Big Review". Blender. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  6. ^ Zendle, Miriam (March 27, 2007). "Macy Gray: 'Big'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on May 2, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2008.
  7. ^ a b Brunner, Rob (March 30, 2007). "Big". Entertainment Weekly. No. 927. ISSN 1049-0434. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  8. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (March 30, 2007). "Macy Gray, Big". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  9. ^ Nichols, Natalie (March 25, 2007). "Odd charm works only so long for Macy Gray". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  10. ^ a b Joseph, Mike (April 13, 2007). "Macy Gray: Big". PopMatters. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  11. ^ Christgau, Robert (March 30, 2007). "Macy Gray: Big". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
  12. ^ a b Cinquemani, Sal (March 18, 2007). "Macy Gray: Big". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  13. ^ a b Gennoe, Dan (April 16, 2007). "Macy Gray – 'Big'". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  14. ^ a b "Macy Gray Store – Big". Getmusic. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  15. ^ a b "Macy Gray | Big" (in German). Universal Music Germany. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  16. ^ a b "Big: Macy Gray". Amazon (UK). Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  17. ^ "Big [Limited Low-priced Edition] Macy Gray CD Album". CDJapan. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  18. ^ "Big by Macy Gray". iTunes Store (US). January 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  19. ^ Big (liner notes). Macy Gray. Geffen Records. 2007. B000857602.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "ARIA Urban Album Chart – Week Commencing 2nd April 2007" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (891): 18. April 2, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2011 – via Pandora Archive.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Macy Gray – Big" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  22. ^ "Albums : Top 100". Jam!. April 1, 2007. Archived from the original on April 8, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 15.Týden 2007 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  24. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Macy Gray – Big" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  25. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 16. April 21, 2007. ISSN 0006-2510.
  26. ^ "Macy Gray: Big" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  27. ^ "Lescharts.com – Macy Gray – Big". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  28. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Macy Gray – Big". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  29. ^ ビッグ | メイシー・グレイ [Big | Macy Gray] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on July 24, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  31. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Macy Gray – Big". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  32. ^ "Western Weekly Top 20, Week 14, 2007" (in Chinese). Five-Music. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  34. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  35. ^ "Macy Gray Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  36. ^ "Macy Gray Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  37. ^ "Big" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  38. ^ "Big, Macy Gray" (in Dutch). bol.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  39. ^ "Macy Gray – Big" (in Italian). IBS.it. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  40. ^ "Big: Macy Gray" (in French). Amazon (France). Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  41. ^ "Big: Macy Gray". Amazon (US). Retrieved December 8, 2018.
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