Mariah Carey - review

When the folks at Def Jam decide to announce Mariah Carey’s new album with such hyperbole as, “The Return of The Voice!”, it’s definitely time for all good-thinking folks to head for the hills - or at the very least place the glassware into a secure location.

The Emancipation of Mimi is a take-no-chances affair, and Mariah has enlisted such musical heavyweights as Nelly, Snoop Dogg and Janet Jackson’s boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri to fortify the album.

It opens with the upbeat, r’n’b, radio-friendly single ‘It’s Like That’, a slinky blending of pop vocals and dancefloor beats, designed to catch the ear of both mainstream and urban markets. Only the appearance of the pointless Fat Man Scoop in the closing minutes of the song messes up the brilliance of this track as a comeback worth noting.

Taking the mood down a little, ‘We Belong Together’ is a super smooth ballad that sees Mariah chastising herself for allowing a romantic break-up. It is the embodiment of a mellow, late night groove that’s been carefully crafted - as well it should be with ten writing credits!

‘Shake It Off’ has more of a hip-hop flavour, awash with honeyed backing vocals. For an album being sold so heavily around “The Voice”, Mariah certainly seems to be reluctant to give it a full-lunged performance here, keeping that famous larynx in reserve ‘til the fade out, in which a snatch of that famous octave-challenging wail can just about be heard.

No such reserve is in evidence on the Whitney-esque, old style power ballad, ‘Mine Again’ where Mariah unleashes those vocal gymnastics that inspired the subsequent generation of musical shriekers like Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson. It is bombastic and old-fashioned, with Carey roaming up and down the scales, as if in search of decent melody. If there is one hidden in this song, it certainly needs emancipating.

There can be no accusation over the hip and trendy credentials of The Neptunes-produced ‘Say Somethin’. Easily the best track on the album, it’s a genius slice of dancefloor funk of the kind that Prince might have written for Sheena Easton or Sheila E. Snoop Dogg lays down a vocal whose simplicity works in effective contrast to Mariah’s poppier, more elaborate vocals. For once, the diva sounds as if she has let her hair down and is having a fun, carefree time in the studio.

If Def Jam have any sense, this should be a single release as it has crossover smash written all over it.

Keane West and Mariah’s composition, ‘Stay The Night’, despite all of its busy production - the urban leanings, the scratches - is patently verging on the bland as a track. Unfortunately in an effort to disguise or distract, Mariah over-compensates with a series of unpalatable yelling. Warning: this is not a track to sample with a hangover.

The hip ‘Get Your Number’ is a hefty dose of old skool brought smack up to date. Over a faithful backing of Imagination’s ‘Just An Illusion’, the Atlanta-based rapper Jermaine Dupri takes the lead, with Mariah strangely relegated to providing the silky backing vocals.

Resembling a Destiny’s Child album ballad, ‘One and Only’ is distinguished by the level of high-pitched off-the-scale warbling that will make you the delight of every dog in your neighbourhood. Again for the return of “The Voice”, Mariah seems absent for much of the track as Twista takes rapping duties.

The most traditional of Carey fare would be ‘Circles’ – the kind of big number that Mariah was belting out in the mid-90s. What is fascinating is how a singer like Mariah can have such a strong public image – the Demented Diva, the Barking Belter – and yet her music remains consistently depersonalised.

Ironic that on an album concerned with emancipation, which the sleeve notes helpfully inform us means “to free from restraint, control”, “to free somebody from restrictions or conventions” or “to release from care, responsibility and control”, that very little sense of the real Mariah is revealed. Other than having a fine set of pipes, the performances release next to nothing of Ms Carey and what she thinks and feels.

The final tracks get bogged down in a mire of bland, unmemorable slop. The piped stadium audience and the Diana Ross-style speeches in ‘I Wish I Knew’ alleviate the mood of pedestrian r’n’b briefly in a frisson of campness.

Nelly’s guest appearance in ‘To The Floor’ attempts to add some ‘In Da Club’ darkness to the mix, but it remains an utterly unconvincing duet.

‘Fly Like A Bird’ finishes off the album with a 70s-retro vibe to her inspirational vow, “Keep your head to the sky / With God’s love you’ll survive’. The well-delivered brass section gets lost in Mariah’s hilarious, overwrought duelling with the assembled gospel choir. It’s nothing if not loud.

Ultimately, Mariah Carey is the Marmite of Music – people are firmly in the love or loathe camps. The Emancipation Of Mimi will only serve to entrench these positions.

Mimi was the childhood nickname for Mariah and supporters will celebrate Mimi’s freedom from the restraints of unsupportive record companies. On the other side, the nay sayers are more likely to think of the character Mimi from the opera La Boheme who dies of consumption, a lucky escape from having to endure this album. Anyone for Marmite?

Originally published 11 April 2005

Both Marmite and Mariah raced back into vogue....