Mariah Carey Connection

I CAME prepared to give Mariah Carey’s E=MC² the sledgehammer treatment, but this might just be her strongest album ever so the sledgehammer will have to stay in the tool shed for a while.

Truth be told, after Glitter, I sort of ignored Carey’s albums at music stores. I felt that Charmbracelet and even the lauded The Emancipation of Mimi were too pretentious and the attendant singles caught her trying too hard to impress. But with E=MC², Carey has definitely returned with a bang.

You have to get over the fact that she’s moving away from pop/R&B and crossing further and further into hip-hop territory. If you can accept this slight change in direction, you’ll agree that the queen of 1990s pop is back!

Just to illustrate this point, her first single, Touch My Body, hit No.1 on the charts after less than two months of airplay and became the most downloaded song a week after it was released. This moved her to second place in music history for the most No.1 singles (18), surpassing Elvis Presley.

Unlike Glitter, most of the songs here are great. Some are filled with emotion while others give you a chance to shake that little behind. And, best of all, she has kept her signature whistle to the bare minimum.

I absolutely adore Migrate on which she collaborated with T-Pain. It has a nice rhythm that just makes me want to groove. I also fell for Side Effects, featuring Young Jeezy. If you ever want to dedicate a song on radio to that good-for-nothing ex-whatever of yours, be sure to pick this one. Let it do the talking for you!

But I was most impressed by Bye Bye and I Wish You Well, two songs that really stirred my emotions. By the end of Bye Bye, you’ll definitely be filled with memories of a lost loved one while I Wish You Well will pick you up if you’re down in the dumps.

So, people, don’t give up on Ms Carey for she’s in the middle of another winning streak!

Source: The Malaysia Star