Before she discovered she could attract an audience by just wearing clingy costumes and swimsuits, Mariah attracted potential record buyers with a deathly ability to reach those high notes without the threat as though someone was strangling her during those oh-so-emotional ballads....I never did like Mariah Carey though.
Fans will flock to hear her cover of Phil Collins’ ‘Against All Odds’ without the added Westlife (depends which version of the album you get....), which I find serenely dull and akin to superior karoake as she hits and recreates note-for-note seemingly perfectly. Better than the original? I hate Phil Collins and thus no worthwhile comment can be passed through my lips on that particular track.
‘Ex-Girlfriend’ is very dancey and occasionally has you wondering what the words are....pity my occasional poor hearing then....I couldn’t make any of it out through the MIDI acoustic guitar and programmed percussion.
‘How Much’ features the obligatory sample from Tupac Shaker and added Usher. It’s as though she has no faith in her ability to mix it with the hip-hop crowd and hired a bunch of fiery mercenaries to do the work for her whilst she entertains the more feeble-minded among us with her hot pants and tight tops (I’m easily amused....).
An eclectic mix of Missy Elliot, Da Brat, N’Sync, Snoop Doggy Dogg, 98 Degrees, Joe and others make their presence felty (and that’s no spelling mistake).
‘Heartbreaker’ goes over familiar ground with those inferring to ‘Dream Lover’ and ‘Fantasy’ won’t be disappointed to know they’re indeed right.
Cold calculated explotative pop? Hmmm....the jury is still out on that one, perhaps. Although may I like to remind you, there is a formula that is inherent in here from ‘Daydream’ and the R’n’B inflicted ‘Butterfly’, and I’m inclined to say yes.
The highest note she reaches on any one of these fourteen tracks is probably on ‘Bliss’ although on ‘Can’t Take that Away’ she goes up and down the scales quicker than Vanessa Feltz....surprisingly passable stuff. ‘After Tonight’ is as quietly powerful as Mariah gets and I liked that.
Probably responsible for the emergence of Jennifer Lopez as a seemingly credible musical artist with the direction of hip-hop mixing in with the ballads....supposedly giving everything to everybody (which means the audience is expected to like their boy bands, ballads and their hip-hop....what about us, guitar rockers? Tsk, tsk, I ask you....America is so shallow and all that).
Mariah Carey fans will generally not be disappointed BUT those expecting the old style ballads of yore such as those from ‘Music Box’, may have missed the point of all those music videos and recent album efforts, she does now (I love ‘em).
I’m thoroughly cynical and it takes a lot to impress me. In the long run, this does not....
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Rainbow, Mariah Carey's seventh studio long-player, is something like a concept album. Its ... more
theme is the various stages of the "emotional roller coaster," as she puts it, of her divorce and subsequent rebound. Carey continues to walk the line between st...
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Rainbow, Mariah Carey's seventh studio long-player, is something like a concept album. Its ... more
theme is the various stages of the "emotional roller coaster," as she puts it, of her divorce and subsequent rebound. Carey continues to walk the line between st...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
May 26th, 2001
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