doesn't she look amazing on the cover? (The Emancipation Of Mimi - Mariah Carey)

Member Name: popscycho

Product:	The Emancipation Of Mimi - Mariah Carey
Date:	12/11/05 (404 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: its by mariah carey so you know what your getting

Disadvantages: filler,her voice can be annoying

In 2001 it looked like Mariah Carey’s career was over. Her film ‘glitter’ and its soundtrack bombed spectacularly, the publicity she needed for it overshadowed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. America, and its biggest selling female artist broke down. For the next few years Mariah Carey was thought of as mad and with the release of another album with poor sales in ‘Charmbracelet’ the writing looked like it was on the wall for her. She was being seen more as a demanding diva who ‘didn’t do stairs’ or had to have puppies delivered to her dressing room. However, with over 100 million album sales behind her and of course nobody forget Mariah actually is an exceptionally gifted singer (and writes her own hits too) all hope wasn’t lost. When somebody sells that many records and has taken part in the making of them they are going to have quite a bit in the bank.

So, Mariah pulled out all the stops. She dropped the whispy, sexy voice of ‘Charmbracelet’ and got her chest voice back in action. Take a detour around hip hop land with her purse in hand and pick up all the major hip hop biggies to collaborate with and, never one to grow old before her time, have a bit of surgery along the way…

‘The Emancipation of Mimi’ raised a few eye brows. How could the woman who sang about being a hero or spreading her wings like a butterfly even know what ‘mimi’ meant, never mind emancipation? Well, Mariah at least wanted to point out for anyone who was as clueless as she was in her album sleeve it represents the idea of being set free from control or restraint, of another even. This then brings to mind her divorce from her record boss ex-husband Tommy Mottola. And indeed Carey has pointed out that was the concept of the album. Indeed if Mottola was still her husband he would never have allowed her to work with naughty boys Snoop Dog and Nelly, or be so sexy in her videos. And she wouldn’t have to either. So, Mariah needed to make a big comeback. To be honest I knew from the very beginning I heard about her return she was going to hit the big time. She just needed the right people to work with and bring out the best in her, and make some music that people were going to enjoy listening to.

The first single and track on the album, ‘It’s like that’ sounded just like what Carey needed to headline her return. Starting with an unmistakable eastern tooting sound this song was just made for clubs. It’s about Mariah going to a club and having a good time and leaving her past troubles behind her. Mariah certainly has grown up, there’s evidence throughout the record she’s not concerned about alienating her young fan base. She tells us how she’s come to have a party, to open up her Bacardi, and, shock horror, ‘purple’ is taking her higher. I’m very surprised the media hasn’t made a huge deal about Carey telling us all she likes to ‘get lifted’ on purple haze, a type of cannabis plant. But then again what else do people do in clubs? Mariah is also well known for having an ego bigger than her octave range, and with lines like ‘ them chickens is ash and I’m lotion’, referring to chickens being headless chickens (woman with no head but a useable body) and ‘ash’ dry elbows (which she hasn’t cos she’s got lotion). Mariah, you are 35 years old, stop trying to be ‘in’ with the crowd.

So, for her second single Mariah went back to what she does best. ‘We Belong together’ is a typical Mariah Carey ballad of being all needy and screaming at the end cos she just can’t take it anymore. It starts of with a light piano intro and out comes a straight forward slow jam with Carey’s voice sounding perfectly suited to the song. The lyrics are also pretty clever, with Mariah listening to the radio reminding her of the man who walked out on her. For the end she predictably has a fit, ups to one key higher and lets her voice take centre stage. It actually sounds like she is the lost little lady in need of some comfort and the song closes with Mariah wailing into the distance. ‘Shake it off’, the third track , couldn’t be more different. It is standard RnB with Mariah confidently singing about walking out on her man who keeps on ‘playing games’. It sounds cool and slick and works, just like the previous two tracks. So far, very good, well done.

‘Mine again’ was produced by Kanye West but is one of the weaker tracks on the album. It shows that when she was getting the hip hop heavy weights in she obviously forgot to check what they were giving her in return for what she was giving them. The production is minimal, and it is here where Mariah shows this really isn’t the return of the voice after all. Her voice sounds over used, she wails and shouts rather than singing with the power and control she once had. It’s a real shame since she did have a wonderful gift, but now it just sounds so overblown and forced. To her credit however, the song ends on a high note, literally, and she shows she can still go as high as she’s famed for.

‘Say Something’ is a lot better. A collaboration with Snoop Dog, its danceable Rnb with Mariah purring to Snoop while her raps back in his no nonsense manner. This partnership works better than others, with the turn table beat swivelling in the background giving the song a more ‘spacey’ feel.
‘Stay the night’ is one of the better tracks on the album aside from the first three efforts, with Mariah singing sweetly on the verses and wailing away on the choruses( which after a while drives the listener crazy). Overall though the song sounds good. ‘Get your number’, another collaboration with Jermaine Dupri, is also a winner, with Mariah cooing before the chorus ‘I’ve got a house in Capri with my own G4 and a benz with the doors that lift up from the floor’. Aside from the summer smash ‘We belong together’ ‘One and only’ is the other standout track on the album, another joint effort with quick mouthed rapper Twista. Again its smooth Rnb and quite chilled with Carey even throwing in a little rap which actually works very well ending in a funny fusion of floating whistle notes.

With only one duff track out of eight, Mariah then goes down the same route as many and makes another few songs like ‘Mine again’ that go in through one ear and out the other with her shouting being the only memory. ‘Circles’ is just boring, and ‘Your girl’ sounds all dreamy and silly to then become all too shouty in the chorus for anyone’s liking. She just sounds like she’s being strangled and is trying to escape and sing at the same time. Awful.

‘I wish you knew’ is a little better, although having a middle aged woman singing about a guy ‘wishing he knew how she feels about him’ is just wet, schmaltzy crap. The only thing the listener will remember is the part where once again Mariah the narcissist stops the singing to talk to a made up audience sounding desperately like Alicia Keys getting them to CLAP AND CHEER when she hits her high notes. Ok Mariah, we know you can perform amazing feats with your voice but claps and cheers on the song to assert this?

‘To the floor’ sounds like a remake of ‘Get your number’, a collaboration with Nelly. And ‘Joy ride’ sounds no different to ‘Circles’, ‘Your Girl’ and ‘I wish you knew’, all dreamy, made in five minutes filler. The last track, ‘Fly like a bird’ is just what you’d expect from the end of a Mariah Carey record, and especially one about ‘freeing herself from control and restraint’, all in the same vain as previous hits ‘hero’ and ‘through the rain’. However, it works, with Carey ambling on with her whispery voice about world peace, the terrible world we live in and her love for God. She event throws in Martin Luther King’s speeches about him! And the end of the song is spectacular, with Mariah doing what she does best. With the gospel choir behind her she hits every possible note she can, wiggling, screeching, waling, and even singing with breath taking confidence convincing us all that she indeed has freed herself to the finale where she of course lets her instrument soar into the sky’s upper most heights as it flies away…

The listener is left wondering if there’s 14 tracks on the album, where are half of them, and upon finally working out what ‘emancipation’ means won’t quite understand just what Mariah has emancipated from. She’s made a record about going to a club and getting stoned, waiting for the boy she’s interested in to ‘say something’ to her making sure her number’s taken before she leaves, yet she’s longing to be with one ex but walking out on another, and still looking for her ‘one and only’. It is only in the last track she actually seems to be stepping into ‘mimi’ mode and emancipating at all. And is this ‘the return of the voice?’ Listen to her MTV unplugged album or watch her 1993 concert and you’ll agree it’s more the disappearance of it.

It’s great to see Mariah come back and be with us all again though. Whether she’s miming on every British television show she performs on, trying to get her diamond encrusted butterfly ring in the camera shot on Paul O’grady’s chat show or re-releasing the album again with a few more songs to make sure Madonna doesn’t get ahead in the sales department. And on that note, if Carey really wants her career to last any longer she needs to change her approach and stop trying to be ‘street’ making rnb with so many collaborators all the time who are just using her commercial appeal and vocal talent for a bit more cash. Even if she’s making money too her credibility isn’t getting anywhere. I’d love to see her be a bit more bonkers and not taking herself so seriously, like Gwen Stefani, and laugh at her ‘breakdown’ or jokes about her being mad or her supposed diva lifestyle. Then Mimi really would be emancipated.

Summary: better luck next time