CD REVIEWS

Mary J. Blige, "Growing Pains" (Geffen)

On her eighth album, Blige continues the ascent from Queen of Hip-Hop Soul to the People's R&B Diva. Building on the ardent self-revelation of 2005's "The Breakthrough," a celebration of the artist's hard-won happiness, "Growing Pains" traverses desires and dramas that reveal the awkward but unavoidable reality of the album's title. If finding peace of mind was tough, hanging onto it is a real trick.

Hats off to Blige for her willingness to train a light on the blatant contradictions that define us, especially in relationships, and particularly in a genre littered with airbrushed emotions. The album's first two singles are commanding anthems: the rousing "Work That" and the jubilant "Just Fine." Then Blige slips into a needy slow-jam. "I want you to rescue me," she pleads in "Feel Like a Woman." Revealing her weaknesses is Blige's stock-in-trade, and on these 16 tracks she aimed to paint a full portrait -- bumps and bruises included.

Among Blige's co-writers and producers are Tricky (of "Umbrella" fame), the Neptunes, the Norwegian hit machine StarGate, Ne-Yo, Andre Harris and Vidal Davis. She has guests, too: Ludacris on "Grown Woman," on which she infuses sensuality with fierce pride, and Usher on "Shake Down," a whimsical come-on. The idea that we have to learn to live without clarity may be Blige's most arresting, and galvanizing, message. "No one really knows anything about it," she sings on "What Love Is," sounding more determined than confused. 5311

JOAN ANDERMAN, BOSTON GLOBE

Sebastian Bach, "Angel Down" (MRV/Caroline)

On his second solo album, the former Skid Row lead screamer picks up the hard rock/heavy metal pace. "Angel Down" is a solid, hooky, aggressive set that proves the equal of Skid Row's best disc (1991's "Slave to the Grind"). But the selling point is the return of Axl Rose, who harmonizes on three tracks that could have crawled off an old Guns N' Roses album. One of them is a faithful cover of Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle," but the keeper is the catchy "(Love Is) A Bitchslap," a song that would have been all over MTV's "Headbanger's Ball" in the late '80s. Bach remembers when hard rock had style, agile musicianship and a sense of humor. 5312

Carol Barnett, "The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass," VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Monroe Crossing, directed by Philip Brunelle (Clarion)

Barnett manages to honor both the classical choral tradition and the improvisatory impulse of bluegrass music in her contemporary rendition of the mass. Poet Marisha Chamberlain creates lyrics giving each of the sections of the Catholic liturgy (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, etc.) a contemporary interpretation. She also intersperses verses of a bluegrass ballad elucidating a joyful spirituality. In the performances of the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and the bluegrass band Monroe Crossing, both traditions are in good hands, with formality and jubilance well balanced in this life-affirming celebration.

The second half of the CD features the Ensemble Singers in more familiar repertoire: 10 selections by composers acknowledged by the National Endowment for the Arts in its choral initiative. Works by Ned Rorem and William Bolcom rub elbows with such local luminaries as Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, Aaron Jay Kernis and Randall Thompson. It's hard to imagine a more idiomatic performance of this survey of contemporary choral masters. 5313

WILLIAM RANDALL BEARD

Bach "Magnificat"; Handel "Dixit Dominus"

No Christmas release better illustrates the evolution of musical tastes in the 21st century than this deft French blend of masterly devotions. Gone are the belted declamations of opera divas and the tweeted supplications of early-music specialists. In their place comes a contemplative alliance of widely varied artists brought together by Emmanuelle Haim's enlightened diversity. Check out "Suscepit Israel" in Bach's "Magnificat" for a designer fusion of big-house soprano Natalie Dessay, baroque mezzo Karine Deshayes and castrato imitator Philippe Jarousky -- an object lesson in classical multiculturalism with very few flaws except in one male's intonation. Handel's "Dixit," in his early Italianate style, offers fewer stylistic contrasts, inviting the soloists to weave in and out of a fine-tuned, never too-loud chorus until all are united in "Gloria Patri." The antidote to maestro-portrait superstore vanities, this is organic, free-range musicmaking that feels natural, intimate and magnificently self-restrained. 5314

NORMAN LEBRECT, LONDON EVENING STANDARD