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Mariah's Charmbracelet
Monday 17 February 2003
After that debacle with her last label, Virgin Records, Mariah Carey had no choice
but to come up with her best work ever for her Island debut. She not only had to rise
after the failure of her film Glitter, there were also those nasty talks about a
nervous breakdown and worse of all, the dissolution of her very new relationship
with Virgin. She was paid $28 million to end the contract. Certainly not a bad
amount for getting booted out but can you just imagine what moves like that can
do to the self-esteem of an artist like Mariah?
So here she is now with a new label, Monarch on Island and a new album titled
Charmbracelet. Her blurb on the cover puts her old ghosts to rest. "I still believe
that after every storm eventually a rainbow appears. This album is like a charmbracelet
I'm passing down to you. Here's my story..." I do not know how much of her story she
tells through the songs but she sounds as great as ever and if her intention is to
tell everybody that she is back, whole and sound, then it can be rightly said that
she succeeds very well.
The first cut is titled Through the Rain. Composed by Mariah with Lionel Cole, the
song tells about the triumph of the human spirit against great odds. If you have seen
the moving music video, then you must already know by now that it is about an
inter-racial marriage that worked. Could Mariah be telling the love story of her
parents? On the other hand though, Through the Rain also sounds like something
that somebody who survived a crisis could be singing to the world.
"And when the wind blows and shadows grow close/ don't be afraid/ there's nothing
you can't face/ and should they tell you you'll never pull through/ don't hesitate/
stand tall and say/ I can make it through the rain/ and stand up once again/ and
I'll live one more day/ and I can make it through the rain/ oh yes you can/ you're
gonna make it through the rain."
Through the Rain is a total winner and works exceedingly well as the album's carrier
single. I know that it is seen by some as too mushy, overproduced and blatantly
commercial but I am sure we all agree that the song works. Can you imagine how many
people around are getting badly needed ego boosters just by hearing the strains of
that hook-filled chorus. Yes, they too, like Mariah, can make it through the rain.
I grant that Charmbracelet is not Mariah's best. It does not compare to those albums
she made for Sony during her early years like Vision of Love or Emotions or the monster
seller Music Box, that produced one number one seller after another like Hero, Dreamlover,
One Sweet Day and many others. But take note that Charmbracelet is so thoroughly
pleasing. All those trills, sighs, whispers, every emotional embelishment her fans
greatly adore are present in huge doses in the album.
The other songs that make up Charmbracelet are Boy (I Need You) featuring Cam'ron,
The One, Yours, You Got Me featuring JayZ and Freeway, I Only Wanted, Clown, My Saving
Grace, You Had Your Chance, Lullaby, Irresistible, Subtle Invitation, Sunflowers for
Alfred Roy, and a lovely cover of the Def Leppard goodie Bringin' on the Heartbreak.
(The Philippine Star)
Many thanks to MariahC.nu.
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