Moodring [Ltd. Ed. w/Calendar]

1	My Love Is Like...Wo 3:29
2	Fallen 3:34
3	Why You Gotta Look So Good? / Lloyd Banks 4:39
4	Step 3:15
5	Sophisticated Lady 3:51
6	No Sleep Tonight 4:12
7	Anatomy 10n1 4:35
8	Hurry Up 4:29
9	Things Come & Go / Sean Paul 3:57
10	You 4:08
11	After the Rain 3:57
12	Late 4:44
13	Whatever Bitch 4:20
14	Taste This 4:36
15	Take a Picture 3:29
16	Free Fallin' 3:54
17	Real Compared to What Bonus Track 3:58

Barnes & Noble

With R&B divas Beyoncé and Ashanti also releasing highly anticipated albums during the summer of 2003, Mya could have found herself lost in the shuffle. But three years after her sophomore album, Fear of Flying, Mya proves that she's in a class by herself with the beguiling Moodring. Filled with emotional testimonies, funny anecdotes, and raw lyrics, Moodring displays Mya's complex persona -- her ability to show vulnerability even as she flaunts her sexuality. On the energetic, Missy Elliott–produced first single, "My Love Is Like...Wo" (which is based on rapper Black Rob's 1998 hit "Like Whoa"), Mya playfully brags about her "assets" with blunt lyrics like "My ass is like wo," and on the frisky "Anatomy 1 on 1," she shows just how in tune she is with her sensuality. While she makes savvy use of samples from the Pharcyde on the super-mellow "Fallen" and from Rick James on the sassy "Sophisticated Woman," Mya shines alongside two notable collaborators: DJ Clue, who produced her hit "The Best of Me (Remix)," adds his Midas touch to "Hurry Up," and reggae mega-star Sean Paul joins her on the Janet Jackson-reminiscent "Things Come and Go." On the cheeky, house music–inspired "Whatever B*tch," Mya playfully dismisses her haters, while her whimsical cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin' " finds her musing on life's unpredictable nature. The musically diverse Moodring gives fans an extended look into Mya's ever-changing moods. LaShieka Purvis

All Music Guide

With all the emotional and stylistic range that an album called Moodring should present, Mya comes up with her best and most varied set of songs yet. The album's biggest highlights are almost completely different from one another, demonstrated right from the beginning; the opener, the strutting, boastful, Missy Elliott-produced "My Love Is Like...Wo" is immediately followed by the yearning, elegant "Falling." The constant changes of direction can be a little jarring on the first couple plays, but they eventually become one of the album's charms. Even the two expectedly strong Jam & Lewis productions, the blissed-out "Anatomy 1On1" ("Let's make a child") and the stressed-out "Late" ("Should've been more careful when I let him rock my boat") are at two ends. Most surprising of all is "Whatever Bitch," a stage-ready booty track in which Mya shows off her foul-mouthed catty side. Two big (mis)steps back threaten to kill her momentum, however, and they both come at the very end of this very long album: the bloodless cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" is worse than you could possibly imagine, and the awkward inclusion of "Real Compared to What," the soft drink ad that originated as a civil rights/Vietnam protest song, was a very bad idea. Andy Kellman

Vibe

With her third album, the D.C.-born siren aims the spotlight squarely on her sexuality. Dimitri Ehrlich

Blender

The title promises that the music, like a mood ring, will reveal everything. James Hunter