The Tour is a live recording album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, released July 28, 1998. The album was recorded from two shows in Los Angeles at the Universal Amphitheater during her Share My World Tour in 1997-1998 in the U.S.
Critical reception
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Jancee Dunn wrote that The Tour "deftly captures the energy and exuberance" of Blige's live shows while calling the singer "a commanding, self-assured performer" who "plays her audience like a damn fiddle".[4]Entertainment Weekly critic Matt Diehl said while the arrangements were occasionally overwrought, Blige compensated with passionate vocals and impressive covers of classic soul songs, "blending motifs into each other like an expert DJ".[1]Robert Christgau deemed the record Blige's "de facto best-of" in The Village Voice;[5] he explained in 2003 why it remained his favorite album of hers:
"Not for its slightly gauche show band, or even for its concentrated song selection and bonus covers. More for its hype man cheerleading like the nameless subaltern he is and the high-pitched cheers he works up; for Mary missing notes, or claiming she's getting fat and then not worrying about it anyway. In this context, deathless nonpoetry like 'I know that I was wrong for all that carrying on/But are you gonna hold it against me?' carries weight."[6]
