The Trouble with Being Myself (CD - 2003)

Personnel includes: Macy Gray (vocals); Marsha "Songstress" Ambrosius (vocals); Pharoahe Monch (rap vocals); Lukas Haas (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Victor Indrizzo (guitar, drums); Mark Ronson, Dallas Austin (guitar, programming); Arik Marshall, Jinsoo Lim, Beck (guitar); Tracy Wannomae (bass clarinet); Printz Board (trumpet, flugelhorn); Tom Rawls (trombone); Jeremy Ruzumna (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Chamberlain, Farfisa organ, synthesizer, programming); Zach Rae, Adam McDougal (synthesizer); Justin Medal-Johnsen (bass); Scott Breadman (percussion); DJ. Kilu Grand (programming, turntables); Rick Shepherd (programming); Traci Nelson, Bobby Ross Avila, Audra Cunningham-Nishita, Fanny Franklin, Sy Smith, Chino Smith (background vocals).

Producers: Macy Gray, Dallas Austin, Darryl Swan, Killu Beckwith, Dave Way.

Recorded at Paramount Recording Studios, Royaltone Studios, and Ameraycan Recording Studios, Hollywood, California; O'Henry Sound Studios, Burbank, California.

This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.

This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.

From her debut, Macy Gray has been too eccentric to qualify as a straight pop singer, but far too inconsistent to be truly called a great artist -- except, of course, when considering her glorious whiskey-soaked voice. Her third album, The Trouble With Being Myself, is more of the same, a set of sub-standard songs with drowsy chord progressions, humdrum lyrics, and loose-limbed but musically comatose backing from her studio group (heavy on the Hammond organ). Gray still wields her hoarse yet tuneful voice like a genius, hitting every note she wants despite the cracks and never letting it sound overly contrived. Unfortunately, she also continues to be the victim of chart-focused, overly market-tested arrangements that never break out of the mold of soulful, organic R&B and pop. The single "When I See You" is pleasant but clearly a song that required no heavy lifting, and the most intriguing setup on the record -- "It Ain't the Money" featuring Pharoahe Monch and Beck -- is surprisingly desultory as well. (Monch's raps are uncharacteristically awkward, and Beck clumsily plays a stoner Timbaland with his background vocals.) After the unrepentant ego on display with her second album, The Id, the title here (as well as the cover shot, of Gray crouching in the corner of an abandoned house with a mistrustful look on her face) apparently speaks to the fact that Gray's been persecuted for being "different." But the commercial and critical indifference that greeted The Id wasn't due to a lack of acceptance, but to a set of songs that was utterly average. That same lack of distinction plagues The Trouble With Being Myself. Blessed with a voice that immediately announces itself, Gray still hasn't found a musical personality to complement it. ~ John Bush

With her third album THE TROUBLE WITH BEING MYSELF, Macy Gray continues down a path whose stylistic roots spring from both the Parliament-Funkadelic and Hi Records camps. As much a storyteller as she is a singer, Gray tucks into tales of unrequited love (the lush "She Ain't Right For You"), quests for higher fulfillment (a Gamble & Huff-flavored "Jesus For a Day"), and darkly tinged reminisces of growing up (the Farfisa-pumped "My Fondest Childhood Memories.")

The unconventional singer also shines when she eases into a mellower groove, be it the tranquil aura of "Happiness" with its neat mix of acoustic guitar, children's chorus, and unobtrusive beats, or "Speechless," the kind of mid-tempo soul number sure to register favor with fans of producer Willie Mitchell's work. Other songs fitting in more with the Ohio native's quirks include an off-kilter "Every Now and Then," with its odd, Phish-like time changes, and the loping "It Ain't the Money," featuring co-writers and guest rappers/vocalists Pharoahe Monch and Beck. minimize