AMG Review of Joy & Pain

Bil Carpenter
All Music Guide

Brown reintroduces Bettye Crutcher's forgettable tune, "Long on Lovin'" which wasThe best is the title tune with its churchy arpeggios and Brown's shrilly wailing of it. "Hearts Are Made to Be Loved" is a tear-jerking midtempo that Brown shrieks through as though it were a personal confession. Then, "Take It Like a Woman" finds her in a feisty mood as she breaks the news to a woman that she's taken her man from her. The remnant is pleasant, mostly in the same midtempo seventies soul style and sure to satisfy Brown's usual connoisseurs.