#17 - Mariah Carey
Albums Included in Rating:
Mariah Carey (1990), Emotions (1991), Daydream (1995), Rainbow (1999)
How much do I like my favorite track on the album? 14.2 points
Vision of Love (Mariah Carey)
The lead single for a career filled with hits. Soaring belts. Classic early 90s sound. And the beginning of what we will know as distinctly Mariah sound. Harmonizing with herself. Vocal flips galore. Strategic growls. Whistle notes. Simple, yet clear melodies. Seriously, she establishes immediately that she is going to do whatever she wants and ain’t no man gonna tell her any different.
Emotions (Emotions)
Another lead single - she knows how to pick them. Heck, no one as really ever been better at it than her. Not even miss Taylor Alison Swift. It’s funky, and contains all of the formula that Mariah ever needed for success. Those whistle notes though. Damn girl.
Fantasy (Daydream)** perfect rating**
Ok I’m cheating here but the remix of this with O.D.B. (previously mentioned as part of Wu-Tang Clan) is not only my favorite Mariah song of All time but one of my overall favorites - and raised the average of this category quite a lot - earning one of two perfect scores in this category. Even if we only looked at the original, it’s absolutely perfect. There’s a reason it was sampled this year by Latto in Big Energy. It contains an absurd, even by Mariah standards, amount of riffs and ad-libs. She kinda shouts, but it doesn't matter. It's controlled and it's fricken awesome. That’s all without even mentioning the backing track, which is absolutely extraodinary, boppable and an undeniable ear-worm. Sweet sweet fantasy. How many ways can you sing it?
Heartbreaker ft. Jay-Z (Rainbow)
If you have a formula for success - some of the most pro-pop songwriting of all time + one of the most recognizable singing voices of all time + one of the most popular and recognizable rappers of all time - why not keep going back to that well over and over again? That’s what Mariah does here. I've got a really strange description for this song: the mixing gives it at times an ethereal quality. Mariah hangs out in a sort of high register a lot here, and doesn’t belt it. The wind chimes in the background. Jay Z's perfectly timed rap is only value add. Gimme your love, gimme your love, gimme your love.
How did/does this album influence my own taste in music overall? 14.4 points
I love Mariah. These four albums are great and have the distinct Mariah sound that fans look for. Any little kid who wants to sing should aspire to sing like Mariah. What’s the saying, reach for the moon and you’ll land amongst the stars? That’s Mariah - it’s obvious unlikely that you will ever sing like her, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try.
Does this album hold up since its release? 13.4 points
These albums in particular Rainbow, hold up really well. As evidenced by the recent number one and record of the year Big Energy that samples Fantasy heavily. There are some really big hits here that will continue to stand the test of time.
What percentage of the album do I listen to? 6.5 points
Here’s the thing with Mariah. At her best, she is better than almost anyone. At her worst, she is almost unlistenable, even to some of her biggest fans. That’s where on these albums her score severely is impacted.
What did/do the critics think of this album? 7.63 points
Mariah has benefited from the gift of time when it comes to the critics. She was lambasted by them in the early 90s for her absurd voice skills and they questioned her longevity and whether or not she would maintain popularity. She’s obviously proven them wrong and broken tons of records in the process.
What is the sentimental value to me of the album? 13.6 points
I love her. Especially here at Christmas time. That album is just so goddamn priceless. Sentimentality is a little lower overall, due to some of her works just not being that great.
What was the artists involvement of the production of the album - songwriting, instrumentals, vocals, uniqueness? 14.2 points
Mariah gets to basically do whatever she wants in the album creation process. Did you know that she wrote the pop-specific version of “Where are You Christmas” that Faith Hill sings in The Grinch movie? The movie version by Cindy Lou wasn’t written by her. They just knew that Mariah has “the touch”. That’s all you can say here. There’s some magic she just knows how to capture when it comes to pop music.
Overall Rating out of 100 points = 83.9 average points
(Mariah Carey = 80.2, Emotions = 83.8, Daydream = 85.8, Rainbow = 86.1)
Mariah knows her role in the world at this point is to be our Christmas Queen and that’s really just fine with me. Her voice is undeniably amazing, and what truly sets her apart is the ability to orchestrate the poppiest of pop hits and have people (like me) flocking back again… and again… and again. The interesting thing here is if I had used her whole anthology, her score would be quite a bit lower, so she benefits from me only looking at 4 of her best works. If you had to pick one album of Mariah’s to have in your repertoire, I would actually direct you to her “Remixes” album. It’s just that good. I love that she also has no shame in continuing to recycle the very sounds and motifs that made her famous.
