tjhassecrets's Full Review: Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey
So, last night, on a complete whim, I reviewed/slaughtered Mariah Carey's 2008 E=MC2. The morning after, with my head a little clearer, I thought I'd go back to the start of Mariah's career, because if I couldn't find my dance party on her latest effort, maybe I could find it on her previous works. What a better place to start than her debut record, the self-titled Mariah Carey, released in 1990, quite the tricky year for music. There has never been quite a drop-off in artists than from 1989 to 1990-- something radically shifted the way people were listening to music and countless acts fell to the waist side. Mariah represented the new. Out with the old and in with the cheezy house ballads. I've tended to avoid Ms. Carey's music, because you have a 80% chance of any given single being one of said ballads, but I can't deny that she's had some great dance songs; and that is what I'm looking for. And if I can't find my catchy dance songs, then I want ballads that are actually special.
THE GOOD
This is Mariah without pretense, which is the best thing about this record. Over the past 20 years, Mariah Carey has developed this biting ego that makes me just wanna slap the shit out of that girl. She was never all that great, but she has this attitude that she invented music just because she was born with a nice voice. But just look at the album cover her 1990 debut: she looks vulnerable. She looks so young and real. Stripped. Almost caught in the headlights. It's also evident that Mariah is throwing her heart into each and every track, even if I can't necessarily like the bulk of them. The big-time hit from Mariah's debut record was, of course, Vision of Love, which is one of the few Mariah ballads that I really like. It has that 90s production, of course, but what makes it great is that it was released in an odd part of the 90s. This sound on this track was stolen and reworked by countless rnb singers in the 90s, but the fact that it came out only sixth months after the 80s was over says a lot. Arguably, Mariah invented the 90s the same way Madonna and Cyndi Lauper invented the 80s. There are plenty of ballads to go around, to, but aside from Vision, the only one that I can get into is the Selena-soaked All In Your Mind, at least, until the end where a high-pitched bird call starts coming into play. Oh, wait, that's Mariah voice sounding like a robot.
The one track from Mariah Carey that gets me going is Someday, which is the perfect pop song. It's built on hard synth beats with a slight newjack twist, but really, the production could be whatever. What stands out is the way Mariah shows off her vocal skills on such a simple song. The entire track is comprised of perfect melodies and catchy hooks, as she quietly heeds: "The one you gave away will be the only one you're wishing for." It's the kind of attitude that Paula Abdul wishes she had. This was, as a kid, the only Mariah Carey song I remember really loving, repeating my mother's cassette over and over again until it was physically impossible to do so anymore. I've since lost the tape, but this song has stuck with me.
THE BAD
Blah. Just like her latest effort, there's a whole lot of generic going on here. Mariah Carey can sing. It's very clear by her impressive staying power that she is a very good vocalist. The problem is that, rather than writing and singing songs that are good at heart, they serve more as shells that showcase her voice. First and foremost, there has to be something that make me want to listen-- like a hook or a unique melody. The problem is that all the ballads focus on her vocals rather than on being really enjoyable, and I'm more into enjoyable music than I am functional music.
The most laughable tracks here are worse than any of her ballads, though. There's Got to Be a Wayis a complete Janet Jackson rip-off and an utter joke. In 1989, Janet released the Earth-shaking Rhythm Nation 1814, that concentrated on heavy themes like homelessness, prostitution, illiteracy, education, and child abuse, and she did it in a very intelligent and clever way. It was the complete package: vocals, production, lyrics, hooks, beats, fun, seriousness. With Mariah's Xerox-ed copy of Janet Jacksons's style, though, she made one of the worst songs of her career. The beat is boring, and the lyrics are damn-near unintelligible, because she sings them like she's on Novocain. It was nice try (and being nice here), sweetheart, but this sounds like the desperate attempt that it so surely was. A lot of people tried to do Janet Jackson in the 90s, but none of them even began to reach her level. Then, they ran her over in the new millennium.
JUDGING I enjoyed Mariah's debut a lot more than I did her latest effort, but I don't like that she used her voice to keep her afloat rather than creating something enjoyable. Had this album been in the clever vain of Someday and showed off her voice subtly, maybe critics at that time wouldn't have accused her of being the product of a good synthesizer-- that and maybe I'd be able to rate this higher.
Vision of Love (4 Stars) There's Got to Be A Way (1 Star) I Don't Wanna Cry (2 Stars) Someday (5 Stars) Vanishing (2 Stars) All In Your Mind (3.5 Stars) Alone in Love (2 Stars) You Need Me (3 Stars) Sent From Up Above (2 Stars) Prisoner (1 Star) Love Takes Time (2 Stars)
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