After what we did the other night, I wanna be with you for all my life, and I'm so glad you're a freak like me!

(Singles are italicized, recommendations are in red.)

Macy Gray's second studio album is not called The I.D., it's called The Id. Though I wouldn't blame you if you got it confused. The lack of proper grammar on the album's cover threw me off at first too. An Id is a psychological term which is defined as, in the album's disc tray insert as "the part of the psyche that is the source of instinctual impulses and demands for satisfaction". The definition is then followed by a quote by Macy herself. It reads, "What you do before you think. The real you...unedited." Both the definition and the quote (which seems to be Gray's own personal continuation of the definition) hold true to the theme of the album. The emotions on the album are all over the place, but it makes for an intense album!

1. Relating to a Psychopath - Not the best way to open up the album, but it's a decent song.

2. Boo - An intense song about love. Macy sings about all the "b*****s on [her] a**" and how "If this is love // It's a good thing // You don't hate me!"

3. Sexual Revolution - In this one, Gray isn't feeling lovey, she's feeling frisky, and it really shows here! It starts off slow, but it eventually picks up into what turns into just an average song at best.

4. Hey Young World Part 2 - I like this one! It's an inspirational song to children. I'm not too familiar with Slick Rick's original version, but his appearance on here is nice!

5. Sweet Baby - This is such a great song. It was the lead single off the album, which is why I'm surprised the album didn't sell better than it did!

6. Harry - I never really liked this one. It's got a good rock-'n'-roll vibe, but the gospely voices of the background singers just really ruin it. They sound so out of place!

7. Gimme All Your Lovin' Or I Will Kill You - At first you just want to laugh this off as a silly humorous joke (in vein of "I've Committed Murder" from her debut album), but after a while it becomes excessively violent. So excessively violent to the point where it's creepy. A good kind of creepy, I think.

8. Don't Come Around - A sad little breakup song about the heartbreak of remaining friends with your ex. It's the most normal song on the album (alongside Sweet Baby), and it's a very good listen.

9. My Nutmeg Phantasy - This one's strange but you just have to accept it for what it is. I really like it though!

10. Freak Like Me - You'd think this would be a really explicit and in-your-face track, when in reality it isn't. It's more balladish, and it has that little hint of '70s funk!

11. Oblivion - I can honestly say, hands down, this is the freakiest song I have ever heard. It's got carnival / masquerade type backing music, and it's just so out of place on this album. It's refreshing, so I like it, but it's just plain freaky!

12. Forgiveness - Strange beat, and Gray sounds somewhat intoxicated or hypnotized in this one, but the message that we all need forgiveness is great.

13. Blowin' Up Your Speakers - I don't really see the purpose in this one. It's just an instrumental of random instruments...

14. Shed - Though not mentioned on the album's artwork, it's available on all editions of the album. It's nothing special, but it's good. It almost reminds me of "Rather Hazy" from her debut album.

Don't Leave Me Waitin' Longer, Why You Wanna Make Me Long For Ya?

(Singles are italicized, recommendations are in red).

If there's any pop star who made the stealthiest, most gradual transition from wholesome, sweet teen to freaky and flirty free bird, Britney Spears would be the one. With her 1999 debut album, ...Baby One More Time, Britney came across as a sweet moral-driven teenage girl. That slowly changed in 2000 with her second album, Oops!...I Did It Again, which showed us a slightly more provocative Spears gracing the album's cover with her midriff, and a little more adult lyrics. By 2001, the sweet teen that once was Britney Spears was long gone and abandoned in order to make way for the new, grown-up, more risque Britney, and there was no looking back from there. With the release of Britney, we show a more mature Britney, who at this point in time was not completely trashy or tacky. She was just Britney trying to find out who she was as an adult and as an entertainer. It's not a complete mess, but it's one of my least favorite pre-breakdown Britney albums.

1. I'm A Slave 4 U - The debut single that shocked critics and fans alike! This steamy, sexy track manages to keep things semi-classy, yet addictive. From the moment the first line is spoken "I know I may be young // But I've got feelings too", it's clear that Britney wants us to know one thing: she's grown up, but she's still young.

2. Overprotected - Another song about growing up and being free. Britney talks about how she feels so overprotected. It's not the greatest song here, but it's not the worst.

3. Lonely - As if one didn't learn from Oops!..'s "Don't Go Knockin' On My Door", an angry Britney howls that she's moved on and she will not take you back. I like to think of this one as Don't Go Knockin' On My Door, Part 2.

4. I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman - Does the title not tell it all? It's a pretty song, and the message is clear that she's grown enough to make her own decisions, but still needs time to learn from her mistakes.

5. Boys - The beat and music for this song is... different, and I was in love with this song for that reason for a really long time. Looking back on it now and listening to it again, while I enjoy it, I can't say I enjoy it as much. Still recommended, though. I enjoyed the Co-Ed remix with Pharrell much better.

6. Anticipating - This is probably the best song on the album. It's all about going out and having fun with your friends, and that's what life at this age should be about.

7. I Love Rock 'n' Roll - It's a different style for Britney. I don't hate it, and it's a welcomed addition. Very fun song. On an interesting side note, by this point in her career, Britney had at least 1 cover song on each of her three albums.

8. Cinderella - Here's another song I used to love, but now I'm just not a fan. It's a good listen, but there's better on the album.

9. Let Me Be - Like a few other songs from this album, the title says it all: go away! You don't know the real me! It's not very angry, just Britney calmly telling the listener to leave well enough alone.

10. Bombastic Love - This is another unique song. It sounds like a typical pop song but at the same time it doesn't. Either way it's great.

11. That's Where You Take Me - A sweet ballad that will surely make your heart melt. I'm lovin' it.

12. What It's Like To Be Me - Her then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake partially wrote and produced, as well as provided backing vocals on this somewhat average song. Take it or leave it.

Non-North American Bonus Tracks:

1. When I Found You - It's okay, but when it's sequenced after That's Where You Take Me (as it is on international Special Editions), the message and themes of the two songs lose their meanings and things just start to sound repetitive. Either way, this song is just somewhat bland to begin with.

2. I Run Away - This one's a little weird. Her voice is too "airy" and "whispery" here.

3. Before The Goodbye - This is the best out of all 3 bonus tracks, though that's not saying much. This one's a tad bland too. I'm beginning to see why these three tracks weren't included on all editions of the album!

Ha Ha, Hoo Hoo, Thought You'd Get the Money Too

(Singles are italicized. Recommendations are in red.)

When this album was released in 2001, I was just turning 9 years old, so it's understandable that "All For You" was one of the VERY few Janet Jackson songs I was familiar with (actually, aside from "Doesn't Really Matter", I think it was the only Janet song I was familiar with). I was curious, and decided I would give this album a go. Despite all of its many releases and re-releases, the original edition that first came out is probably still my favorite one.

1. "Intro" - A typical album intro, in which Janet and her friend are talking, and ends with the friend telling Janet she sounds like Fran Drescher. This results in Janet mimicking Drescher's nasally laugh, segueing into the second track.

2. "You Ain't Right" - An angry song where Janet sings about an ex-BFF that turns out to be a backstabber.

3. "All for You" - The album's first (technically second) single. We all know it, we all love it, the end.

4. "2wayforyou" (Interlude) - A weird interlude that I still don't really fully understand to this day.

5. "Come On Get Up" - I loved this song upon first listen. It's just something about the beat, the chorus, and all its energy that just really gets me everytime.

6. "When We Oooo" - This song's pretty weird and hypnotic at the same time. You're thinking 'whoa, this song's weird!', yet at the same time you just can't turn it off.

7. "China Love" - Another song I don't understand at all. I don't like it, and could definitely do without it. It's so strange to the point that it's eery.

8. "Love Scene (Ooh Baby)" - I'm not sure if when I listen to this I'm still shaken by the strangeness of the previous track, but this one is still kinda weird. It's sexual, but still just...weird.

9. "Would You Mind" - This steamy, overtly sexual song got the album banned in Singapore! It's so sexual that on the clean version of the album, it's omitted completely. Janet goes into explicit detail about what she's gonna do to her lover when she sees him, and leaves NOTHING to the imagination. It's dirty, but it's a guilty pleasure.

10. "Lame" (Interlude) - Janet proclaims "You men - and you might wanna get this on tape - you men are just lame at times! I'm tellin' you! *Sigh* See..."

11. "Trust a Try" - This is a new direction for Miss Jackson. And I like it. It's got a hard rock feel and Janet tells her lover that they need to trust each other. The title's a bit weird, as it's just a segment of the main line of the chorus, and not the whole line. I would have simply called it "Trust" or even "Give Trust a Try". To each his own, I suppose.

12. "Clouds" (Interlude) (featuring Carly Simon) - I suppose this is a prequel, intro - or whatever you wanna call it - to the next song.

13. "Son of a Gun [I Betcha Think This Song Is About You]" (featuring Carly Simon) - Janet cleverly (and angrily) incorporates Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" into one of the angriest songs on the album.

14. "Truth" - This is another strange song. It's just not typical Janet.

15. "Theory" (Interlude) - Hey! How about a break from recording? No? Okay, onto the next song!

16. "Someone to Call My Lover" - Hey everybody! Janet's desperate! Or horny! Yeah, it's probably a combination of both. Janet fantasizes about her dream guy on one of the stronger songs on the album. Great choice for a single.

17. "Feels So Right" - A sweet song about fate and love. It's nice, peaceful and relaxing.

18. "Doesn't Really Matter (Album Version)" - Technically the first single off the album. For the album version, it's slightly different in the beginning and incorporates dance breaks in the middle.

19. "Better Days" - An optimistic Janet explains her turn in attitude, most notably reflected in her previous album, "The Velvet Rope". She tells the audience that she's "About to change my vibe / Today the sun's gon' shine / 'Cuz I made up my mind / That today will be the start of better days".

20. "Outro" - Janet asks the producer what he thinks of the album. He likes it, and Janet says that she hopes everyone else will.

BONUS TRACKS:

1. "Who" - I'm not too familiar with this one (heard it a few times, not too many though), it's good. (Available on Japanese pressings.)

2. "Son of a Gun (The Original Flyte Tyme Remix featuring Missy Elliott)" - The version of the song that was released as the single. (Appears as track 20 on the Limited Edition, which uses the clean version of the original album, but omits the P. Diddy remix with Missy AND Diddy.)

3. "Son of a Gun (P. Diddy Remix featuring P. Diddy and Missy Elliott)" - This time, P. Diddy AND Missy lend their vocals. Missy's verses are the same. (Appears as track 20 on the clean version of the album.)

4. "Son of a Gun (P. Diddy Remix featuring Missy Elliott)" - Same as above, but removes Diddy's vocals. Oddly enough, this one runs longer. (Appears as track 21 on the Limited Edition.)

You're tellin' all your friends, "She's a bad, bad b***h!"

(Italicized titles are the album's singles. Titles in red are the ones I recommend.)

By the end of the year 2000, you could say that I was still stuck in the '90s. I was 7 years old, and all of the albums I bought I was still buying on cassette tape. For Christmas 2000, I got my first two CDs - Now 4 and Now 5. The following month, Jennifer Lopez's sophomore album, J.Lo was released, and her first single "Love Don't Cost a Thing" was playing on radio stations everywhere for months after. May 2001 came, and around my birthday I was brought to the mall, and for some odd reason was brought into the record store there, Tower Records. My grandmother had come with us, and she told me I could pick out two CDs. The first CD I chose was Aaron Carter's Aaron's Party...Come Get It, and I walked up and down the aisles looking for another one. I came across this one, as I recognized "Love Don't Cost a Thing". I picked it, and we were outta there. Interestingly enough, the first two pressings of the album came with a Limited Edition bonus disc, both of which were different from the other. I'm not sure which one came first, but one of the bonus discs had two tracks - "Pleasure is Mine" and "Amor Se Paga Con Amor (Spanish Version of Love Don't Cost a Thing)". The other bonus disc came with only one track, called "Can't Believe This". The version I originally got came with the two-track Limited Edition bonus disc (I recently found out about the second LE bonus disc, hunted down a used copy and purchased it - $3!). Soon, this became one of my favorite albums for the next few years. For the sake of the good ol' days, here's my album review for this oldie but goodie:

1. "Love Don't Cost a Thing" - Everyone's heard this one. This pop-ish song about not having to impress Jenny with money or fancy things sends out a good message to those hopeful guys out there. I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, though. This song's almost 10 years old and there's a good chance that this song is no longer applicable to J.Lo's life anymore. I mean, come on. Look at her now.

2. "I'm Real" (featuring P. Diddy) - Lopez's then-lover reminds listeners on multiple occasions throughout the song, that Jenny is indeed, "a bad, bad bitch". It's a catchy song that finds Lopez telling listeners that "what you get is what you see". No strings attached.

3. "Play" (featuring Christina Milian) - This track finds Jennifer aggressively demanding that the DJ at the party she's at "play [her] motherf*****g song!". It's an excellent, feel-good party song in which Christina Milian lends her vocals to the chorus. She also wrote the song!

4. "Walking on Sunshine" - Eh. Not the best track off the album, but not the worst. It's fun to dance to, but the beat gets somewhat boring after a while, and the lyrics sort of bland, though there's worse on the album.

5. "Ain't It Funny" - The fifth track on the album is definitely different from anything else I've heard before. It's a song about fate and finding an unexpected love. You can definitely hear the latin influence on the track. I love it.

6. "Cariño" - ...And Jenny Lo brings it back down to mediocre again. This song is just average at best. I'm not sure if it's the repetitiveness of it that bugs me, or if it's the Spanglish aspect of the track. In case you were wondering, the title translates to "Affection", which is what the song's about.

7. "Come Over" - Jennifer gets a bit naughty here! On one of the more slower songs on the album, we hear Lopez begging her man to "Please come over", and "Don't keep me waiting / Anticipating" because it's "Love I am saving / for you", plus a few sexual innuendos.

8. "We Gotta Talk" - "Ooh / Baby come and talk to me / Together we can work this out / We got a love thing we're talkin' about". Simple, yet catchy. Another highlight of the album, about trying to save a romance.

9. "That's Not Me" - When listening to tracks 8 and 9 back-to-back, one could argue that this could serve as the sequel to the previous track. By this point, Lopez is fed up with her man's cheating, lying and overall laziness, and she's done trying and done giving it her all. Another great song.

10. "Dance With Me" - This is what I'm talking about! Jennfer tells the listener to basically leave all their cares behind and get on the dance floor. It's an interesting song with unique lyrics and a catchy beat, yet another one of the album's higher points.

11. "Secretly" - I'm not a huge fan of ballads, so in my eyes, this one's pretty forgettable. Lopez sings to a guy about how much she wants him, and her strong attraction to him.

12. "I'm Gonna Be Alright" - An empowering track about mustering up the strength to leave your lover, although you don't want to, but you know he's no good for you. I know that the Trackmasters Remix (from her J to tha L-O! The Remixes album) was released as a single, but it's essentially the same song, with a different beat.

13. "That's The Way" - This is a song unlike any other I have heard before. And I like it. In this one, J.Lo tells a guy that she can give him anything and make him happy as long as he stays faithful to her. One of my favorites off the album.

14. "Dame" (featuring Chayanne) - Strange. Very strange track if I do say so myself. The title translates to "Touch Me", so if you don't speak Spanish it's pretty obvious what the song's about. If you do, then more power to ya.

15. "Si Ya Se Acabo" - Very latin-inspired. I punched the song's title into Google translator and it came up with "If Already I Am Finished". Hmm. I like the track, but I find it strange that J.Lo chose to end the standard edition of the album with TWO Spanish tracks. One would have been fine.

BONUS TRACKS:

1. "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" (featuring Ja Rule) - Though both the original version of the song and this remix were released as singles, this was probably the more successful of the two. This sounds like a totally different song -- different beats, different lyrics, and different chorus. Not complaining, though. Still a good song. (This track is available on current U.S. pressings of the album, with the Parental Advisory sticker on it as track 16, but it's also available on the clean versions of the album. Also appears as track 18 on UK, Portuguese, and Australian pressings of the album, after "Pleasure is Mine" and "I'm Waiting".)

2. "I'm Waiting" - A nice song where J.Lo lays down the law. She tells her lover that he needs to man up and confess his love for her, because the feelings are mutual. (Available on Japanese pressings of the album as track 16, and as track 17 on UK, Australian, and Portuguese pressings, after "Pleasure is Mine".)

3. "Amor Se Paga Con Amor" - The Spanish version of "Love Don't Cost a Thing". (Available on Latin American pressings of the album as track 16. For a short time, this was available on U.S. pressings of the album, on a second disc as track 2, along with "Pleasure is Mine".)

4. "Carino (Spanish Version)" - Self explanatory. This is a little better than the Spanglish album version. Having the song in just one language made it more powerful for some reason. (Available on Latin American pressings of the album as track 17.)

5. "Que Ironia" - The Spanish version of "Ain't It Funny". The Spanish version of the song still proves to be just as good as the English version. (Track 18 on Latin American pressings.)

6. "Pleasure is Mine" - J.Lo tells her lover to "Stop playin' / Delayin' the divine"...if you catch my drift. (Track 16 on UK, Australian, and Portuguese pressings of the album. Also track 1 on the out-of-print, two-track Limited Edition U.S. bonus disc that includes "Amor Se Paga Con Amor".)

7. "Can't Believe This" - On this ultra rare, hard to find track, Jennifer tells her lover that she is appalled by his cheating and that she's fed up with it. This is not to be confused with her 2005 song "(Can't Believe) This is Me". Ironically enough, they also have the same exact running time. (Appears as the ONLY track on an extremely rare, out of print U.S. bonus disc - not the same one that has "Amor Se Paga Con Amor" and "Pleasure is Mine".)