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Remy

The Big Mariah Carey Review

Mariah Carey — The Voice — has seen ups, she has seen lows, and I’m not even talking about her personal life here. I still remember the first time I came into contact with “Mariah Carey.” Sure, I knew her songs before that moment, but didn’t realize it was the Mariah Carey. We had her compilation album, “#1s,” and the first song I played off it was track 16, “Vision of Love.” Instantly I was addicted to her voice, the musical style and the fabulous ad-libs. I obviously got brainwashed by the album, because till this day I’m addicted.

It wasn’t until the disaster movie “Glitter” came out (on my birthday, by the way) that I really got into buying albums. Suddenly I discovered all new sides, all new variations in her voice and writing. What I also still remember is where I was when the news was brought out that she basically had a mental breakdown. I was in the car with my father, on my way to the stables, just turning right on a road that had a construction bump in it. My memory is terrible, but I do remember all that.

That level of addiction is horrifying, when you consider I don’t even remember half of what I did yesterday! Anyway, enough with the flashbacks. I made a list today of every (studio) album she has made since her debut in 1990, ranked them according to release date, and added my opinion about the album as whole and what I thought of the individual songs.

It took me four freaking hours to compile this list… Sure, it looks all very easy and stuff when you look at it, but trust me, it wasn’t. I had to build a HTML table, style it, had to constantly go between Safari and iTunes to see what ratings I gave the songs, then had to comment on the individual songs, etc. So you better read everything, or else!

Mariah Carey discography
“Mariah Carey”
(Columbia) 1990
A very strong debut album, indeed. “Vision of Love” remains one of her best songs to date. My only problem with it is that it’s not really that challenging. It has highs, but not enough. Overall it’s kind-off a “great, but not fabulous” album.
# Name Stars
1 “Vision of Love”1
2 “There’s Got to Be a Way”
3 “I Don’t Wanna Cry”
4 “Someday”
5 “Vanishing”
6 “All In Your Mind”
7 “Alone In Love”
8 “You Need Me”
9 “Sent from Up Above”
10 “Prisoner”
11 “Love Takes Time”
“Emotions”
(Columbia) 1991
On “Emotions” Mariah goes jazzy and gets all soulful. It’s a style that really suits her and which keeps surprising you time after time. The overall theme is, of course, love, but with a 50/50 balance between “I love you” and “I once loved you, now get the hell away.”
# Name Stars
1 “Emotions”
2 “And You Don’t Remember”
3 “Can’t Let Go”
4 “Make It Happen”
5 “If It’s Over”
6 “You’re So Cold”
7 “So Blessed”
8 “To Be Around You”
9 “Till the End of Time”
10 “The Wind”
“MTV Unplugged”
(Columbia) 1992
Live-recording of studio album songs, from “Mariah Carey” and “Emotions”. It also includes the Jackson 5-cover “I’ll Be There,” which features the Mariah-protege Trey Lorenz. I generally like the way they tuned down the songs, and it is the first piece of proof that Mariah still has a great voice when singing live.
# Name Stars
1 “Emotions” (from “Emotions”)
2 “If It’s Over” (from “Emotions”)2
3 “Someday” (from “Mariah Carey”)3
4 “Vision of Love” (from “Mariah Carey”)
5 “Make It Happen” (from “Emotions”)
6 “I’ll Be There” (with Trey Lorenz)
7 “Can’t Let Go” (from “Emotions”)
“Music Box”
(Columbia) 1993
A very pop album. I don’t have much to say about “Music Box” and that may be the problem; it’s good, but doesn’t transcend above good. “Hero” and “Without You” are without a doubt two of the best ballads Mariah Carey has ever made, but the rest of the tracklist remains a safe choice.
# Name Stars
1 “Dreamlover”4
2 “Hero”
3 “Anytime You Need a Friend”
4 “Music Box”
5 “Now That I Know”
6 “Never Forget You”5
7 “Without You”
8 “Just to Hold You Once Again”
9 “I’ve Been Thinking About You”
10 “All I’ve Ever Wanted”
11 “Everything Fades Away”
“Merry Christmas”
(Columbia) 1994
Every artist has the need to do a Christmas album, and I don’t mind. “Merry Christmas” is one of the most-sold holiday albums ever, and… well, I have to say, why is it? I mean, it’s Mariah Carey, so the Voice is definitely there. But some of the songs are painfully cheesy. Of course, the gigantic Christmas hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (a Carey original, mind you!) is on there and “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” matches it perfectly, but overall the album doesn’t get to me.
# Name Stars
1 “Silent Night”
2 “All I Want for Christmas Is You”6
3 “O, Holy Night”
4 “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
5 “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)”
6 “Joy to the World”
7 “Jesus Born on This Day”
8 “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”
9 “Hark the Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)”
10 “Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child”
11 “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
12 “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Anniversary Mix)”7
“Daydream”
(Columbia) 1995
“Daydream” is the overall-best written, produced and sung album Mariah Carey has made to date. There is no strong commercial sound on the album, everything is pure Mariah. She even wears clothes on the album cover, now that is saying something. Well, that album cover maybe defines the whole album, now that I think about it. Just look at it. She’s pure, no heavy makeup, her hair all-natural, no revealing clothing, no focus on *certain objects*. And that is what “Daydream” is. An all-natural Mariah Carey.
# Name Stars
1 “Fantasy”
* “Fantasy (Bad Boy remix)” (feat. Ol’ Dirty Bastard)8
2 “Underneath the Stars”
3 “One Sweet Day” (with Boyz II Men)9
4 “Open Arms”
5 “Always Be My Baby”10
6 “I Am Free”
7 “When I Saw You”
8 “Long Agp”
9 “Melt Away”
10 “Forever”
11 “Daydream Interlude”11
12 “Looking In”12
“Butterfly”
(Columbia) 1997
According to Mariah Carey herself, this is her favorite album. It’s definitely an interesting one, I’ll give her that. I don’t hate it, but to say I think it’s a favorite, that’s going to far. She has her “first” experimentation with urban R&B here, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Overall, some of the songs seem to sound the same, but it has certain exceptions, like “My All” and the mystical “The Beautiful Ones.”
# Name Stars
1 “Honey”
2 “Butterfly”13
3 “My All”
4 “The Roof”
5 “Fourth of July”
6 “Breakdown”
7 “Babydoll”
8 “Close My Eyes”
9 “Whenever You Call”14
10 “Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)”
11 “The Beautiful Ones”15
12 “Outside”
13 “Honey (So So Def Radio Mix)”
14 “Honey (Def Club Mix)”
“Rainbow”
(Columbia) 1999
“Rainbow” is in my opinion, without any doubt, the “worst” Mariah Carey album, it may even be “worse” than the weirdly-sung Christian songs on “Merry Christmas.” The urban vibe I don’t understand, the lyrics sometimes totally without sense, and yet, it still has produced two songs I love: “Heartbreaker” as one of my favorite uptempo MC songs and “Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)” (the solo version) with one of my favorite endings. She takes the whole urban pop style a bit too far here, in my opinion.
# Name Stars
1 “Heartbreaker” (feat. Jay-Z)16
2 “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)”
3 “Bliss”
4 “How Much”
5 “After Tonight”
6 “X-Girlfriend”17
7 “Heartbreaker (Remix)”
8 “Vulnerability (Interlude)”
9 “Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)”18
10 “Crybaby”
11 “Did I Do That?”
12 “Petals”
13 “Rainbow (Interlude)”
14 “Thank God I Found You”
15 “Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)” (feat. Westlife)19
“Glitter”
(Virgin) 2001
The reason this album didn’t score, was because it’s incoherent. It has some beautiful songs, but no general overall style. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are two of the best producers of all-time in my mind, but they should’ve gone with ONE style, and not several. They could’ve also stayed away from people like Ja-Rule and Eric Bénet. Even still, like I said, I does contain some nice songs, including my all-time favorite of Mariah Carey, “Lead the Way.”
# Name Stars
1 “Loverboy (Remix)”20
2 “Lead the Way”21
3 “If We”22
4 “Didn’t Mean to Turn You On”
5 “Don’t Stop (Funkin’ 4 Jamaica)”
6 “All My Life”
7 “Reflections (Care Enough)”
8 “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life”23
9 “Want You” (with Eric Benét)
10 “Never Too Far”
11 “Twister”24
12 “Loverboy”
“Charmbracelet”
(MonarC/Island) 2002
Many people considered this a large improvement over “Glitter,” yet I’m sitting here and saying, “Really?!” It’s an okay album, but it doesn’t extend further than “okay.” It’s like they sat down and decided to do a mediocre-produced, mellow-styled album that doesn’t go crazy or push-boundaries, just to help people forget about “Glitter” and it’s over-the-top production and crazy-ass-styled musical themes. Furthermore, this album has one really annoying thing: Mariah seems to be constantly stuck in that damn whistle-register. It’s lovely, SOMETIMES. When she deploys is on a constant base it gets really annoying, and on this album it frequently does.
# Name Stars
1 “Through the Rain”25
2 “Boy (I Need You)” (feat. Cam’ron)26
3 “The One”
4 “Yours”
5 “You Got Me” (feat. Jay-Z & Freeway)
6 “I Only Wanted”
7 “Clown”
8 “My Saving Grace”
9 “You Had Your Chance”
10 “Lullaby”27
11 “Irresistible (Remix)” (feat. Westside Connection)28
12 “Subtle Invitation”29
13 “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”30
14 “Through the Rain (Remix)” (feat. Kelly Price & Joe)31
15 “Sunflowers for Alfred Roy”32
16 “There Goes My Heart”
17 “Got a Thing 4 You”
18 “The One (So So Def Remix)”
“The Emancipation of Mimi”
(Island) 2005
Mariah made a damn good comeback with her second Island Records album, and we all have Jermaine Dupri to thank. He grabbed her ass off the urban-mess-of-over-production and gave her shelter, a bath and some cough-syrup to clear up that damn whistle-register that had gotten stuck in her throat. “Emancipation” is totally different in terms of usage of style, not different in style per-se. It just works on this album, and it didn’t on “Rainbow” and “Charmbracelet.” Still, not all issues have been resolved: some songs are over-sung and some are still over-produced.
# Name Stars
1 “It’s Like That”33
2 “We Belong Together”34
3 “Shake It Off”35
4 “Mine Again”36
5 “Say Somethin’” (feat. Snoop Dogg)37
6 “Stay the Night”38
7 “Get Your Number” (feat. Jermaine Dupri)
8 “One and Only” (feat. Twista)
9 “Circles”
10 “Your Girl”
11 “I Wish You Knew”
12 “To the Floor” (feat. Nelly)39
13 “Joy Ride”
14 “Fly Like a Bird”40
15 “Sprung”41
16 “Secret Love”42
17 “Makin’ It Last All Night (What I Do)” (feat. Jermaine Dupri)
18 “Don’t Forget About Us”43
19 “So Lonely” (feat. Twista)44
20 “We Belong Together (Remix)” (feat. Jadakiss & Styles P.)45
“E=MC²”
(Island) 2008
If “The Emancipation of Mimi” was the return to sanity for Mariah, this album is the return to greatness for her. I was worried how the album would turn out — thought she was going to go all “Rainbow” on my ass. Then she released “Touch My Body” as first single, with a video in which she flashes me her underwear a thousand times, and that made me really worried. Thank god the album is fabulous. Mariah has found her voice again, rediscovered the best way to do ballads and finally settles down on a style. No “thick urban” layer here, it’s all basically R&B/pop with some dance and hiphop influences. To best describe it: it’s the old Mariah Carey in a modern jacket. (And considering it’s Mariah, it’ll probably be a size 0 jacket, even though, *cough*cough*, she doesn’t fit into a size 0.)
# Name Stars
1 “Migrate” (feat. T-Pain)46
2 “Touch My Body”47
3 “Cruise Control” (feat. Damian Marley)48
4 “I Stay In Love”49
5 “Side Effects” (feat. Young Jeezy)50
6 “I’m That Chick”51
7 “Love Story”
8 “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time”52
9 “Last Kiss”
10 “Thanx 4 Nothin’” (slightly-feat. Jermaine Dupri)53
11 “O.O.C.”
12 “For the Record”54
13 “Bye Bye”55
14 “I Wish You Well”56
15 “4real4real” (feat. Da Brat)57
16 “Heat”58
OVERALL
This list is ranked according to best-to-”worst”. The stars do not correspond with the album song stars, these are for overall production, writing, style, etc.
# Album Stars
1 “Daydream” (1995)
2 “Emotions” (1991)
3 “E=MC²” (2008)
4 “Butterfly” (1997)
5 “Music Box” (1993)
6 “Mariah Carey” (1990)
7 “MTV Unplugged” (1992)
8 “The Emancipation of Mimi” (2005)
9 “Glitter” (2001)
10 “Charmbracelet” (2002)
11 “Merry Christmas” (1994)
12 “Rainbow” (1999)

Footnotes

  1. Debut single and first Billboard Hot 100-number one; brilliantly crafted, with a perfect built-up and the very first showing of her range. [↩]
  2. This live recording is not as good as the original album version. [↩]
  3. It’s better than the original album version. [↩]
  4. “Dreamlover” is a very, very good four-star song. I just can’t give it five-stars because it doesn’t have that last little bit of spark. [↩]
  5. “Never Forget You” isn’t a bad song, but it seems a little bit generic. [↩]
  6. All the other cheesy songs on “Merry Christmas” get a free-pass because of this one jewel. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is definitely of my favorite Christmas songs ever, and one of the most-brilliantly produced too. [↩]
  7. This remix totally missed the point, in my opinion. [↩]
  8. This remix was featured on her “#1′s” compilation album, and it was the first version of “Fantasy” I had heard. Immediately I loved it, because it is perhaps one of the best urban songs she has done. Later when I heard the original album version, I decided the “Daydream” version is superior, but only slight. Both are stellar songs. [↩]
  9. Without doubt one of the best songs ever. [↩]
  10. For a long time I had graded “Always Be My Baby” as a four-star song, but then simplicity and the subtle built-up has put it into the five-star category. [↩]
  11. I know it’s basically a compilation song of other songs on the album, but it clocks in at 3:04 and it’s so fabulously crafted that I mark it as an “original song” instead of as an interlude. [↩]
  12. Heart-wrenching. [↩]
  13. It has a weird vibe, where I find the chorus brilliant and the verses too softly sung. But still, overall “Butterfly” is great. [↩]
  14. She sings alone on the album version. I first came into contact with this song on “#1′s”, and basically hated the duet with Brian McKnight. The album version is slightly better. [↩]
  15. One of my favorite Mariah Carey songs ever. A cover of the original Prince song, but with a lot more vibe to it. [↩]
  16. The beat of this song is so addictive, and even though I usually find guest-raps as bridges terrible annoying, Jay-Z pulls it off as a good addition to the song. Also, one of the best (and most-expensive) music video’s she has made (with Brett Ratner). [↩]
  17. “X-Girlfriend” is a nice song, but sounds a little bit too early-Brandy to me. [↩]
  18. This is such a tease song. It begins quite boring, with her voice stuck in whistle-register. And at the end she blows it all away. [↩]
  19. Any song featuring Westlife is automatically destroyed. [↩]
  20. The remix is definitely an improvement over the already fabulous original, but I do have to say that I don’t have much tolerance for the music video. Girlfriend, you should’ve bought yourself some clothes! [↩]
  21. Originally recorded for “Butterfly” and it shows. This is basically her last-released song that she did with mastermind Walter Afanasieff (they are now not on speaking terms, which annoys me to hell), and it’s my all-time favorite. It has a very simple structure, but two FABULOUSLY-FABULOUS ad-libs, which each last for several beautiful seconds. The last ad-lib takes some 21 seconds. Yeah. [↩]
  22. The last couple of seconds on this song… make you ears bleed. [↩]
  23. The production is all over the place, but somehow it remains a hot mess, and not a sad one. [↩]
  24. This is a close four-star. “Twister” is such a chalkboard-scraping song, and somehow it’s also “nice.” [↩]
  25. I have serious issues with the use of her whistle-register in this song. When I first heard the single, I got flushed with rage. “WHY MARIAH, WHY?!” I still don’t love the abuse of her whistle-register in “Through the Rain,” but I now accept it because at the end of the song she leaves her safety-box and FINALLY breaks through the whistle-register. That is when the song becomes a five-star one. [↩]
  26. Talk about having issues with a song. I love the musical style of “Boy (I Need You),” but on the other hand it’s a song about basically nothing. It has no emotion, no inspiration, nothing. The only reason I’m giving it four-stars is because I like a nothing-song once in a while, and because first single “Through the Rain” is so filled with emotion I’m giving it a free-pass. [↩]
  27. Only bad thing about this song is the abuse of the whistle-register. I’m ready to forgive her in this particular song, because I love the relaxed style. [↩]
  28. I have only one question for this song: why? [↩]
  29. This is, together with “Through the Rain,” the reason this album has any influence on me. It’s such a different style for her; jazzy, sassy. [↩]
  30. This is a “possible five-star” song. It could’ve been better if… MARIAH’S VOICE WASN’T STUCK IN WHISTLE-REGISTER MODE ALL THE FREAKING TIME! I’m sorry, it annoys me so! [↩]
  31. A totally useless and pointless remix. [↩]
  32. A bore, that’s what it is. I know it’s a song about her father, but it just doesn’t emote anything. [↩]
  33. It sure is. “It’s Like That” was a great choice as “comeback single,” because it showed the world that Mariah finally understood how to deploy her original pop and soul style, in combination with her desire to be urban and R&B. Sure, its a song about nothing, but the playfulness of it all gives it shine. [↩]
  34. Basically one of the best “I’m Back, Bitches!” singles ever. It has a touch of genericness and “We Belong Together” is a bit formulaic, but Mariah pulls it off because of the way the song is built-up. Her voice literally breaks-out of several years of “depression.” [↩]
  35. I know, this song has “Why Mariah?” all written over it, but I’m willing to give it five-stars because, why not? It’s playful and so addictive! Jermaine did good with this one. [↩]
  36. “Mine Again” may just be the worst ballad Mariah has ever produced. Period. [↩]
  37. I hate Pharrell Williams, but this song somehow stays nice because of Snoop Dogg. He’s a good combo with Mariah, somehow. [↩]
  38. I love this song because of the drama in her voice. Nothing that is stuck in whistle-register here! [↩]
  39. Totally pointless. [↩]
  40. Even though I’m an atheist, I can appreciate the inspiration that this overly Christian song has. The “live” audience adds so much to the song, and Mariah sounds great. [↩]
  41. Don’t know this song? It’s a Japanese bonus track, and it’s playfulness (a recurring theme on this album) of the song makes my day! “Sprung” is very different from what Mariah has done before and it rocks my world every time. [↩]
  42. If she didn’t use half-way-whistle-register-singing on the chorus I would’ve given this song five-stars. But she does. [↩]
  43. Basically all-formula this song. It’s still a good one, I have to admit, but “Don’t Forget About Us” doesn’t have anything new going for it. [↩]
  44. Twista can ruin any song. [↩]
  45. Why? [↩]
  46. Without the talentless T-Pain this song would’ve rocked my house, but it’s too bad he is in the song. The computer-modification of Mariah’s voice I actually don’t mind, it makes a damn good R&B/dance song. [↩]
  47. This song goes into the history books as the “Song That Scared Remy Overkempe to Hell.” Seriously, if the whole album was like this song I would’ve killed myself. On it’s own it’s not a bad song; it’s about nothing and very formulaic, but I can forgive Mariah for it because the singing is very relaxed and that makes it into a great “I’m bored” song. [↩]
  48. Who would’ve thought Mariah and reggae-influences work together? It’s a lovely song, and Damian Marley totally pulls the guest-rap off. [↩]
  49. My instant-favorite of the album. It shows that Mariah can still do a fabulous, soft ballad. If only it was one minute longer so that we can hear her ad-libs in full… [↩]
  50. Her voice sounds weird in this one, but I forgive her for it because she finally has the nerve to sing loudly about her abusive former marriage with Tommy Mottola. [↩]
  51. Playful. About Nothing. Yet has great beat. Five-stars. [↩]
  52. “I’ll Be Loving’ U Long Time” contains one of the nicest uptempo Mariah beats in recent history. [↩]
  53. A great song because of the ending. Not a fabulous song because it’s way too short. [↩]
  54. “For the Record” is a ballad in a different way. It has very clear lyrics, very easy sung and still remains great. The midtempo style is just lovely. [↩]
  55. Now, this song, in contrast to “Sunflowers for Alfred Roy,” does know how to emote something about the lose of someone you love. The third act/ending of the song is greatly sung. [↩]
  56. See what I said about “Fly Like a Bird” from “The Emancipation of Mimi.” [↩]
  57. I love it when Da Brat, Mariah’s BFF, features on (remixes of) Mariah Carey songs. They go well together and even though “4real4real” lacks any inspiration or addictive beat, it still goes well because of the collaboration. [↩]
  58. A totally different song, that Mariah has never done before. Basically it’s a song that tells “ho’s to get away from Mimi’s man, because she’s the only one.” Brilliant. It is a little bit short, though, my only rough point with it. [↩]

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