The Sound (Mary Mary album)

Production

As with other Mary Mary recordings, Warryn Campbell (known as Baby Dubb) assumes production over the album and the duo co-writes many of the songs on the album. The album was engineered by Bruce Buechner & mixed by Rob Chiarelli.

The Sound saw Mary Mary explore more genres, with fewer songs containing their signature contemporary R&B sound. The songs "Forgiven Me" and "Dirt" feature elements of pop rock. The duo also covers a traditional gospel song, "It Will All Be Worth It". The Sound covers their famous R&B/hip hop sound with songs such as "Superfriend" and "God In Me". The group also experiments with 1960s pop on the title track. Finally, the duo also incorporated dance-pop music in their lead single "Get Up". The latter tracks on the album are primarily worship ballads.

Another difference between The Sound and the duo's previous efforts is the vocal structure. On previous recordings, each group member would sing a verse and take turns on the bridge. However, on songs such as "Get Up", the duo harmonizes both of the verses and bridge together, only ad-libing on the final chorus. On Superfriend, each member alternated lines and shared one verse while harmonizing on the bridge. On other songs, one member sings both verses (Tina on "Boom" and Erica on "Forgiven Me") and the other repeats the pre-chorus.

The entire album is recorded to give the listener the illusion of listening to a radio station. The album employs inter-track drops and frequent station IDs (WMBR/MyBlock Radio).

Walmart exclusive with DVD

"The Sound" was released exclusively at Wal-Mart with a limited edition which included a DVD with 55 minutes of footage of the making of "The Sound", and backstage look on what the group will be doing in the future. There are plans of a deluxe edition of the record being released in the future.

Critical reception

Reviews of The Sound were very positive, Soultracks said: "what's surprising about their newest disc, The Sound, is how Mary Mary can sound so new -- and maybe even better -- five records into their career."

Awards

In December 2008, The Sound was Grammy Award-nominated for the 51st Grammy Awards of 2009 in the category "Best Gospel Album". The album's first single "Get Up" also received two Grammy nominations for "Best Gospel Song" and "Best Gospel Performance," of which it won "Best Gospel Performance." At the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010 the duo won another Grammy for Best Gospel Song for God In Me. The album was also nominated for a Dove Award for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year at the 40th GMA Dove Awards. The song "Get Up" was also nominated for Country Recorded Song of the Year.

Leftover tracks

Singles

The lead single, "Get Up", was released digitally on July 15, 2008. The song is currently active on the charts, garnering radio play mainly on Urban, Urban Adult Contemporary, Rhythmic, Gospel and Dance radio formats. In the U.S. it has so far peaked at #5 on the Hot Gospel Songs, #12 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay, #30 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play, and #6 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. The song has not been officially released outside of the U.S., although the album will be given a full release in the UK.

A music video for Mary Mary's next single "I Worship You" has been released through several online channels. The video appeared for sale on iTunes in January 2009. An additional single "God In Me" featuring Kierra Sheard has been released to radio and is gaining airplay in both hip-hop and R&B formats. According to a bulletin post on Sheard's official MySpace page, an internet contest to appear in the music video for "God In Me" was announced in December 2008.

"God In Me" has so far peaked at #68 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and #1 on the Gospel Songs chart. The song has been a major success, and became the first song since their debut single "Shackles (Praise You)" to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. So far the song has also spent 76 weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It reached the Top 10 of the chart in its 42nd week, the longest climb to the top tier in the survey's 67-year history. It also was the #1 for Hot Gospel Songs and Hot Dance Club Play charts.

The Sound was released on October 21, 2008 in the US. The Sound sold 37,000 copies in its first week debuting at #7 on the Billboard 200 charts, becoming Mary Mary's highest charting album (their third self-titled studio album Mary Mary debuted at #8). Other chart positions include #2 on the US R&B chart, #1 on both the gospel and CCM charts.

The lead single "Get Up", while very successful on many charts (particularly the component charts), still failed to match the success of their debut single "Shackles (Praise You)".