Mariah Carey - The Emancipation Of Mimi

Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to believe otherwise, I'm resigned to the fact that the best of Mariah has been seen.

"It's Like That" is a banging Club track, helped no doubt by the brilliance of Sir Morales. "We Belong Together" should go down as one of her all-time great tracks, it's that good. But the rest of the album, while nice, is filled with ultimately forgettable cuts. A collection of stale RNB tracks that have been done before (and better), and limp ballads that wander endlessly. A real shame, cos she's clearly still got it. Tracks 1 and 2 prove that. But the output is simply not good enough for an artist of her high standards.

I have to disagree with the previous comment posted here. While it's true that some of Carey's material has been thin on depth in the past, it's incredibly foolish to think her huge success over the years has been gained purely through good luck - Neither was "Vision of Love" a "stroke of luck" - but a masterfully written, produced and crucially - delivered - pop ballad that in it's day was incredibly original. Unfortunatley this kind of attack on Mariah Carey is not a one-off [Just ask Madonna who very publically crucified Carey and her success during "Fantasy"'s strong hold on the US charts]. It's an attack that is usely launched by people who have never given a Mariah record the time of day, because if they did whilst they may not sing her praised but at least they would be able to see her strong talent that she has made so abudantly clear to the millions around the world who DO give her the time of day. And what of Carey's recent surge back into the publics hearts and ears with this very album? Well, the haters won't tell you that but the fact is this diva is well and truly back.

No matter how DE LUXE ms. Carey might seem, she left the impresion of 'expendable asset' long ago - aside her vocal range or any of the talents IF she ever got them when it comes to terms of making music. A stroke of luck since 'Vision of Love' has changed in favour of beating around the bush, producing dull soul-whatever-crap-songs and Mariah Carey, if only she had a proper chance, wouldn't fall so cheap - but that's business, not music. And the word 'emanicipation' hardly means anything in such context.