tjhassecrets's Full Review: Emotions by Mariah Carey
Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, or maybe I really do want to like Mariah Carey. Regardless of the catalyst, I keep giving Mariah the benefit of the doubt and continually give her another lost chance. After the snore-fest of E=MC2 and the flavorless Mariah Carey, I made the conscious decision to give every Mariah record a shot until I find at least one album I can give a 4 star rating. To date, though, nothing has tickled my fancy in such a way. Now going in chronological order, I put on Mariah's sophomore (sophomoric?) release Emotions, which has been panned by most critics and fans being the most rushed album in her back catalogue. Personally, I feel like most of Mariah's music has that feeling to it, but my issue with Emotions isn't the dated vibe so much as the robotic overtones. I don't mean that there's some robot theme with Mariahtron 2000 a la Janet's Discipline-- I mean that Mariah's voice has no soul at all on any of these songs, resulting in a Britney-Miley robotic effect that makes her sound like she's not a real person.
THE "GOOD"
I'm not quite sure what to put here, really. Not a single song stands out or grabs me the way it should. To be honest, aside from the somewhat catchy title-track, I haven't a clue what the singles are what I'd chose them to be. The dancy-track Make It Happen is one of the few on this album that I feel as potential, but it's stuck on what's considered to be a lost cause. Mariah's presence lacks here (oddly), but I can deny that I think it's a nice little song. The problem, though, is that I'd like to hear another artist's take on this record-- maybe Janet Jackson or Tiffany. But if the only good thing about this album is this mediocre dance jam, then I'd say that's really disappointing. I hope she doesn't think Emotions is her best work.
I suppose the best thing about this album, though, is that it keeps Mariah afloat. That is to say that she shows how much potential that she has. The sultry, jazzy The Wind has gorgeous vocals, but there's something very lifeless about its presentation as a whole. I guess the silver lining is that ...well, at least she's talented?
THE BAD
Okay, so I actually chose to write this segment first because, mid-way through the album, I was so fed up with Mariah that I wanted to give up. In fact, the only reason I didn't give up on Mariah was that even her dedicated fan base is frustrated with the sound on her second release. The biggest problem has already been cited as Mariah's robotic vocals that just don't sound real to me. I know the woman has a set of chops, but there's something in the mixing and her lack of real fire that make her sound fake. Then again, the production doesn't do her any favors. This drippy early-90s sound doesn't do much for anybody's voice, but there were times when Mariah's singles had a good balance of cheeze and sincerity. Emotions, ironically, is devoid of true emotion and of true innovation. The dance tracks aren't memorable and her vocal flourishes just get in the way. Most of these songs sound like Ace of Base B-Sides, complete with hopping piano segments and chimes. You're So Cold is an excellent example of this.
With every Mariah album, I have to take the ballads with a grain of salt. While they aren't my thing, it's a signature theme with this woman. Why not? She's a great singer. What irks me is that very few of her ballads have anything very special about them. On this album specifically, she mumbles and trips over the words so that you can't really hear them, even under the sparse and weak instrumentation (or lack thereof). So Blessed may have an pleasant chorus melody, but her voice is singing at a level that just sounds very forced, much like most of her ballads-- at least the ones on Emotions. And while I have your attention to the album title, can we please discuss how not a single song has any emotion at all? I feel like Mariah is a secondary presence on her own album, and that is sad. If you can't overpower 90s production, then you need to seriously re-evaluate why you're in the music business at all.
JUDGING At this point, I just wonder why I'm bothering to review Mariah at all. I keep hoping and praying that I'll be pleasantly surprised-- or at least disgusted-- but I keep getting the same old, same old from this woman. I'm looking forward to reviewing her later work, because I know there are a couple of single I really liked from that era. But as far as her early work is concerned, I'm not impressed-- certainly not by Emotions.
Emotions (2 Stars) And You Don't Remember (1 Star) Can't Let Go (1 Star) Make It Happen (3 Stars) If It's Over (1.5 Star) You're So Cold (1 Star) So Blessed (1 Stars) To Be Around You (1 Star) Til the End of Time (1 Star) The Wind (2 Stars)
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