Прорыв Мэри Джей Блайдж: Альбом, изменивший всё.

The Breakthrough is the seventh studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was released by Geffen Records on December 20, 2005. Initially expected to be released in 2006, it switched release dates with Blige's first greatest hits album Reflections (A Retrospective) (2006) after fruitful collaborations with a host of songwriters and record producers, including 9th Wonder, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bryan Michael Cox, J. U. S. T. I. C. E. League, Raphael Saadiq, Chucky Thompson, Cool & Dre, Ron Fair, and will. i. am, prompted Blige and her label to shift material from Reflections to The Breakthrough. The album was released to positive reception from music critics, who considered it a return to form for Blige after 2003's Love & Life. Commercially, it opened to her biggest first week sales in the US yet and became her third album to debut at the top of the Billboard 200. The album reached triple Platinum status in the US and sold more than 3.1 million copies. Internationally, it entered the top ten in Switzerland, and the R&B charts in both Australia and United Kingdom. The Breakthrough received numerous accolades, earning Blige her first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album category at the 49th awards ceremony. Four singles were released in support of the album. Lead single "Be Without You" became a top three hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as Blige's highest charting single since 2001's "Family Affair," while international follow up "One," a duet with Irish rock band U2 on their 1991 song, enjoyed major commercial success throughout Europe, reaching number one in Austria and Norway as well as the top ten on most other charts. From June to September 2006, Blige promoted The Breakthrough in her The Breakthrough Experience Tour, which visited several cities throughout Canada and the United States.

Blige embarked on several live performances and appearances to promote the release of The Breakthrough. At the BET Awards 2005, she performed with rapper The Game during his performance of "Hate It or Love It" on June 28, 2005. In October 2005, she sung a medley of "You're All I Need to Get By" with Method Man, "I'm Goin' Down", "Real Love", and "Can't Hide from Luv" on BET's 25 Strong: The BET Silver Anniversary Special. In November 2005, Blige was honored with the V Legend Award at the 2005 Vibe Awards. On December 21, 2005, the singer was interviewed and performed on The Tyra Banks Show, singing a rendition of "Can't Hide from Luv." On December 31, 2005, Blige sung a medley of "Family Affair", "Can't Hide from Luv", and "Be Without You" on New Year's Eve with Carson Daly. On February 8, 2006, Blige performed "One" with U2 at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. In April 2006, she performed "Be Without You" and "Enough Cryin" on Saturday Night Live. At the 2006 BET Awards, Blige sung a medley of "Be Without You" and "Enough Cryin." From July 14, 2006, to September 10, 2006, Blige embarked on The Breakthrough Experience Tour. Letoya Luckett and Jaheim were opening acts during the tour. On December 4, 2006, Blige performed "Enough Cryin" and "Take Me as I Am" at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, where she won nine awards. At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, on February 11, 2007, Blige performed "Be Without You."

The Breakthrough was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 20 reviews. Andy Gill of The Independent deemed it perhaps "her best, the most vivid realisation of her gripping, confessional style." David Browne believed The Breakthrough marked a return for Blige to her dramatic strengths, writing in Entertainment Weekly that the music's "messy sprawl of conflicted emotions feels true to her fierce, prickly personality (not to mention life itself)." Stylus Magazines Thomas Inskeep viewed it as a "return to form" for Blige, calling it her "finest full length since '99's Mary," while Rolling Stone journalist Barry Walters said that unlike with her previous albums, The Breakthroughs ballads genuinely stand out. Prefix critic Norman Mayers found that The Breakthrough "zips confidently through its sixteen tracks. The album's first two thirds is so well paced that the eleventh track seems to come around before you can catch your breath. The musical palette is a blend of contemporary Kanye West–style productions and classic mid tempo soul." Andy Kellman from AllMusic said each song proved Blige had been given her "best round of productions" since the mid 1990s. Los Angeles Times critic Natalie Nichols credited the producers for "adeptly weaving beats and live instruments, vocals and rapping, melody and rhythm in configurations alternately stark and lush." Steve Jones of USA Today wrote that "Blige balances her trademark edginess with the personal happiness she has found in recent years" and her producers "give her compelling musical backdrops". A 2023 review from Pitchforks Clover Hope called it "an unofficial marker of a more self actualized Mary J. Blige" as well as "so self referential that it almost does function like a greatest hits record the label wanted". Spin journalist Tom Breihan felt the production's "awkwardly programmed drums and cluttered synthetic arrangements" generally failed to give her a conducive space for an effective performance and left "the songs' chin up aphorisms ringing false." John Murphy from musicOMHs found that like Blige's "previous albums, The Breakthrough is overlong and spoilt by too many producers sticking their oar in. One of these days she'll produce a tight, focused album that's worthy of her wonderful voice – The Breakthrough isn't it, but there's enough good moments to keep her legions of fans more than happy." In his lukewarm review for Vibe, Dimitri Ehrlich noted that "even cameos by today’s hottest rappers can’t shake Blige's nostalgic flair."

+Year end lists for The Breakthrough Publication Accolade RankRef. (Reference) Associated Press The 10 Best Albums of 2006 2 The Village Voice Pazz & Jop 122

"No One Will Do" contains excerpts from "I Swear I Love No One but You", written by Bunny Sigler and performed by the O'Jays. "About You" contains samples from "Feeling Good", written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse and performed by Nina Simone. "Gonna Breakthrough" contains samples from "The Champ", written by Harry Palmer and performed by the Mohawks. "Good Woman Down" contains excerpts from "Heart Breaking Decision", written by Robert Aries, Freddie Jackson and Meli'sa Morgan and performed by Morgan. "Take Me as I Am" contains samples from "A Garden of Peace", written and performed by Lonnie Liston Smith. "Can't Hide from Luv" contains excerpts and a sample of "I Wanna Be Where You Are", written by Arthur Ross and Leon Ware and performed by Michael Jackson. "MJB da MVP" contains excerpts from "Rubberband", written by Ron Baker, Allen Felder and Norman Harris and performed by the Tramps. It also contains resung lyrics from "All Night Long", written by James Johnson, "Remind Me", written by Patrice Rushen and Karen Evans, and "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", written by Roy Ayers.