The Id

1	Relating to a Psychopath 4:48
2	Boo 4:25
3	Sexual Revolution 4:45
4	Hey Young World, Pt. 2 4:03
5	Sweet Baby / Erykah Badu 3:49
6	Harry 3:10
7	Gimme All Your Lovin' or I Will Kill You 4:45
8	Don't Come Around / Sunshine Anderson 4:37
9	My Nutmeg Phantasy / Angie Stone 4:55
10	Freak Like Me 3:38
11	Oblivion 2:49
12	Forgiveness 5:17
13	Blowin' Up Your Speakers 1:08
14	[Untitled Track] 4:17

Barnes & Noble

Macy Gray's ubiquitous soulful rasp has been called an acquired taste, but it's a taste that's been acquired by millions since the release of her first album, 1999's multi-platinum On How Life Is. So does her follow-up, The Id, do justice to a debut so rife with personality and musicality that it practically needed a new genre to house it? The answer, in the form of another devilishly rich fusion of funk, soul, and rock, is a resounding yes, as Gray sets her frank spiels on sex, relationships, and insanity to irresistible, hook-spiked tunes with billowing choruses. She addresses the nasty with a feminist tang on forthright songs such as "Sexual Revolution" and the funky jam "Harry," where she asserts her desire to maintain a purely sexual, no-strings-attached liaison. She looks at the flip side of that coin on "Boo," on which she examines a dysfunctional relationship and concludes, "If this is love/It's a good thing you don't hate me." As if responding to folks wondering about her wacky persona, Gray relishes her kookiness -- lyrically on the bouncy, rock-driven opening track "Relating to a Psychopath" and the lushly arranged "Freak Like Me," and musically on the carnivalesque "Oblivion." She gets a little help from her friends on a couple of winning tracks: the reggae-tinged revamp of Slick Rick's rap classic "Hey Young World Part 2," which features the rapper, and the soulful first single "Sweet Baby," with Erykah Badu on backing vocals. For Gray -- and at this point in social history, most of her fans -- the world is an unstable, chaotic place, but music and love are the balm for all ailments. As she sings on the affirmative chorus of "Sweet Baby," "Life is crazy/But there's one thing I'm sure of/That I'm your lady/Always baby/And I'll love you now and ever." Lydia Vanderloo

All Music Guide

Macy Gray's throaty, somewhat strangled growl was a large reason why listeners were captivated by her debut album. They also loved the way the classicist songwriting was wrapped in fresh, colorful grooves and an idiosyncratic personality, sexy in its bohemian funkiness. On How Life Is became a word-of-mouth smash as much with the traditional urban R&B audience as it was with suburban college kids and NPR listeners, which left her with the freedom to do what she wanted on her second record, The Id. Here, Macy Gray lets her freak flag fly, almost to the detriment of everything else. Layers of overdubs are piled onto the record -- endless backing vocals, bubbling drum machines, loops, glistening synths, and gurgling guitars -- giving the record the appearance of a widescreen '70s soul fantasia filtered through postmodern hip-hop. Unfortunately, it's more appearance than reality, since there's not enough structure to support what the record wants to be. It often sounds good, often like a bright, contemporary take on Riot- and Fresh-era Sly Stone, but plays better in small doses. Over the course of the album, there's just too much effort in demonstrating Gray's "freakishness," culminating in the Germanic stomp of "Oblivion," and she just doesn't seem to have that much to say outside of cheerleading for "freaks" like her. So, it's an uneven second album, but there are moments that live up to the debut, such as "Sexual Revolution," "Boo" and, best of all, the Erykah Badu duet "Sweet Baby," easily the highlight of the album. There are just not enough of them to make this an entirely successful sophomore effort. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone

The Id is not unlike Gray's brilliant 1999 debut, On How Life Is, filled with upbeat funk and mellow soul and exquisitely crafted songs about love and sex, with a little violence and a lot of humor. But she's really come into her own with psychedelic disco-soul anthems like "Sexual Revolution." Toure

Blender

A conceptual bacchanal of sweat-drenched lust, channeling the salacious spirit of Al Green before Jesus washed his mouth out with soap. Erik Himmelsbach