Go Get It

Artist: Mary Mary
Label:
Genre: Contemporary, Gospel

With the release of their new album, Go Get It, Mary Mary offers supporters the first (but certainly, not last) compilation of the duo’s lauded career.

At first glance, one wonders why a new album is coming out just a year after the GRAMMY-nominated Something Big hit stores. In many ways, Go Get It could be viewed as a companion piece to Mary Mary’s self-titled original reality series, which is currently airing each week on WEtv. Aside from the album artwork mirroring the TV program’s imaging, viewers have been privileged to watch the recording process for the album’s lead single and title track, almost like a “making of” moment.

Whatever the reasons, it’s the consumers who make out like bandits with the release of Go Get It. The new album has two new tracks – the hard-hitting, high-energy “Go Get It,” and the throwback-tinged mid-tempo “Sunday Morning.” The project’s remaining 11 tracks are remixed and remastered versions of some of the greatest hits of Mary Mary’s now 12-year recording career.

By way of “oldies-but-still-goodies,” Go Get It features some of the sister duo’s most beloved tunes. Songs like “Shackles” and “Can’t Give Up Now,” from the debut album, Thankful (2000), remind us of the powerhouse vocals and fun musicality that first drew our attention to sisters Erica Campbell and Tina Campbell. The wise inclusion of songs from their sophomore project, Incredible, such as “God Bless” and “Little Girl,” demonstrates their musical growth and consistent brand of high-energy tracks and hard-hitting vocals.

Listeners are also offered solid crossover hits like “God In Me,” and “Walking,” both of which highlight the fact that Mary Mary has never really been a duo isolated to the gospel marketplace, but that their reach is cross-format, cross-genre and even cross-generational.

If Go Get It is lacking, it is because there were way too many “great hits” to condense into one 13-track album. With a music catalogue as prolific as Mary Mary’s, one can’t help but wish that the group’s first compilation project featured two discs instead of one.

Longtime fans might be sad to see that some treasures from the duo’s earlier career didn’t make the cut. Songs like the melodious and playful arrangement of “What a Friend” and the heartfelt “One Minute” are absent, as are successful lead singles like “In the Morning” and “Heaven,” from the Incredible and Mary Mary albums, respectively.

Instead, the pair opts to feature some possibly lesser-known tunes, such as Thankful’s “Good to Me,” which featured a then-bourgeoning Destiny’s Child, or the witty “Dirt,” from The Sound. To that end, Go Get It reads a bit like an “in-case-you-missed-it” project.

But that’s not a bad thing.

If you did, in fact, “miss” it, Go Get It offers a great opportunity to catch up and never miss it again. And if you’re a diehard fan who hasn’t missed a thing, Go Get It is still a loving and carefully crafted reminder of just who Mary Mary is.