Fab new album ushers Carey back into light
Well all right, Mariah. The Emancipation of Mimi (Island), Mariah Carey's latest album, delivers a near-seamless collection of radio-ready songs. It's sure to get the golden butterfly back on top. As a long-time Mariah fan, I've suffered through the dark days of rumored breakdowns, video outrageousness, high-profile breakups and a disastrous feature film. All of a sudden, the diva who owned the '90s sales records with most No. 1s found herself struggling on the charts and fast becoming yesterday's news. Through the Rain, the dramatic ballad from her 2002 CD Charmbracelet, marked her official "return" from the dark days. But this album is the real comeback.
News flash: The Emancipation of Mimi is fantabulous. Mariah fans will flock, flock, flock. However, her latest work will go further than satisfying the already loyal. It should deliver a new, fresh audience and perhaps restore part of the fan base she's lost. Radio beats such as It's Like That and We Belong Together, are already getting good spins and plenty of requests from local listeners. They take us, along with Mariah, back to her roots - when she was just a girl with a good voice and danceable songs.
If she gets some good rotation there could be many singles on her new CD. My predictions include Shake It Off and To The Floor, a hot dance number layered in a Nelly rap. Conspicuous yet merciful in its absence is the almost circus-style high-octave act long associated with Mariah. It was an act old fans such as I grew to tolerate.
My first listen of We Belong Together on the radio told me right away Mariah was the singer, as her voice is unmistakable. Yet, to get through the whole song with only the faintest glimmer of that hair-curling octave surge... Well, it made me wonder if Mariah were indeed the vocalist. To my delight the entire album follows a similarly restrained, less-is-more attitude when it comes to the high notes, rising judiciously if at all.
While Charmbracelet presented Mariah with an acceptable return to the limelight, The Emancipation of Mimi should make the limelight sparkle like a Caribbean sun. I'm looking for places to go in the car, so I can keep listening to the CD. Well done, Ms. Carey. (The Sun-Sentinel)
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