Mariah Carey Album Review!
Mariah Carey. Yes, I remember 1990, when her debut album appeared and went multi-platinum. A full decade before hip-hop and guest rappers sprouted like duckweed on her albums. And before she did the ritual cover song per album, not that I mind that, as long as it's done properly. She was a breath of fresh air while I was at college. And that piercing high note she hit didn't annoy me at all. I was enthralled.
From the moment I heard the opening majestic keyboard, I waited with baited breath, wondering what the deal was with "Vision Of Love", and when I heard that voice, a rich, soulful vocal that could reach gospel-like power, I instantly stopped wondering. And how ironic that a religious song like this could spend weeks atop a normally secular chart. People were apparently attuned to the chorus and her voice.
Mariah then tackles poverty in America and apartheid in South Africa in the soulful but danceable "There's Got To Be A Way", which calls for "We Are The World"-type compassion and change initiated by human unity. That gospel-like backing vocals enhance this song, which could've been a single if not for the serious message.
"I Don't Wanna Cry" will make you cry if it hits you in the right frame, namely a blue heart. "I know we swore it was forever/but it hurts too much to stay around" she sings with poignant resignation. That sultry whisper and lowered register on the final title lyric was brought to my attention by Eric Andrews, my colleague extraordinaire, for which I say thank you once again. Yes, it is, isn't it?
The engaging R&B dance number "Someday" was the current single played before I finally decided to take a risk and get this album. Janet Jackson or Taylor Dayne could NOT make this song theirs. It's Mariah's fair and square.
Then, three wonderful songs that really showcase Mariah's vocals. The piano ballad "Vanishing" gradually builds up in tempo to become another gospelish song, with that famous Mariah-high note at one part. "All In Your Mind" is in the same vein, and is an affirmation of love and that any misgivings is all in... well. When she sings "You'll feel my emotions if you look in my eyes", given how she looks, I'll believe it.
"Alone In Love" makes my heart sigh whenever I hear it. Another song that could've been a single, she makes this tender song of being lonely and lost twice over. Gosh, "slowly fall apart without you/cry away the hours/'till the morning light"... where are those pills again?
A brief rock guitar intro sort of close to Eddie Van Halen opens "You Need Me" and it is heard after the bridge. Nile Rodgers, definitely. She is more assertive in this song, addressed to a soulmate: "Baby, you can turn around and leave/but I know that you'll keep coming right back to me." That's followed by "Sent From Up Above", which comes close to filler, but has a sitar-sounding synth.
The upbeat "Prisoner" is a Taylor Dayne-type song--heck, even Rich Tancredi does keyboards here--and is another assertive song, where she sings "I won't be a prisoner of your love."
Mariah is tearfully kicking herself in "Love Takes Time" after treating a loved one wrong. A Whitney-type song of how it takes a long time for healing, there's a ray of hope, however dim, in the bridge, where she sings her lungs out:
Even with the Bodyguard coming out two years later, it was clear that Whitney Houston was being eclipsed by this newcomer. Indeed, when their duet "When You Believe" came out in 1999, guess whose voice I loved better? I simply adore the ballads better, but the whole album's got a consistent sound of rich R&B/gospel/pop hybrid that just comes together, thanks to Rich Tancredi's keyboards, and arrangements by Ben Margulies and Walter Afanasieff.
posted by Rockster Fan at 12:07 PM
