Although the album is entitled E-MC², it is indeed a Sweet Soul Odyessey. Upon first listen, I couldn't really hear the album as an individual because right before I listened to it, I listened to The Emancipation of Mimi. So after a few days of listening, I can properly review and speak on it as it is. A few things before the initial review, this album truly moves you in more than one way. That's the thing about it, it's full of feeling and emotion. I definitely see the theme of this album as raw emotion and it defines and seperates itself from any other album of Ms. Carey's before it. Sure, you have hot catchy songs and bangin' beats, but it's the heart and soul behind them that takes it to that next level. The feeling that exudes like liquid from the seams of the album. Vocals while impressive, take a backseat to emotion here. On to the review.
Migrate - From the very beginning, you hear the trademark sound of the returning Soul Diva driving you into the party and grandeur that is E=MC². The song smolders with a steamy feel mingled with strong bass that clearly feels like It's Like That to the second power. Confident lyrics that don't even address the busters that be but rather telling them to migrate the other way, while she migrates from place to place. T-Pain, the man of the hour, graces the track and surprisingly doesn't bother me at all. His everpresent vocoder fits in well as even Mariah uses it and swings it on home. Blazin' hot track that would burn up the charts as a single. 5/5
Touch My Body - The sexy, playful first single that pushed Mariah to number one and past Elvis with the most number one records ever from a solo artist. From the getgo, I really liked the song, but wasn't in love with it as I felt it was among the weaker of her first singles from an album. Time, however, proved otherwise. I'm overly addicted to the song now and don't even see it among the lesser of the album tracks as some others have noted. The song is so ridiculously catchy that it casts a spell on you and forces you to want more. The verses are slick and uncoyingishly sensual and we even get a youtube reference. What other singer would even think to do that? 5/5
Cruise Control - Everythings felt so good prior to this, one would wonder could it get any better? My answer is an emphatic YES. Summer personifies itself in Carey's first acappella vocals at song's start. You just know its gonna be good. A bouncing beat thats not too much of a stranger, putting you in mind of the song that should have been "TEOM's" 2nd number one single, Shake It Off. That's about the only similarity though. Extremely clever lyrics about her attraction to this man who more than one woman find irresistible, as she eludes to his "six baby mamas". Also enlaid with genius analogies of the songs' title and the struggle to stay focused with her sweet delight constantly distracting her. The song's producer, Jermaine Dupri, sporadically appears but its not too bad on this one. And I can quite honestly say, the 2nd verse of this is probably the most enjoyable thing on the album for me, all I'll say is just listen. Damien Marley adds his touch to the song that ends without much vocal gynastics but they're not needed, so we move on along. Man, this feels good. 5/5
I Stay in Love - The first ballad on the album, flows in so beautifully and vigorous feeling appears from the first note of the verse. I haven't experienced anything on this deep a level and I find myself emotional with this song. She sings with a raw tenderness in a lower register, much to my delight. It's pure emotion all the way through, the song just pulls on your heart strings, in fact, it nearly breaks them. Heart piercing lyrics, that will push a hopeless romantic into desparity, make it that much better. Towards the end, Carey belts with passionate conviction and soul that hasn't been heard for years, but it ends all too soon. Could have easily been on one of the albums from the mid to late 1990's. I love this song wholeheartedly, only flaw would be the fading of the huge vocals too soon. 5/5
Side Effects - Not even sure how to begin this one, cause this song is "it". It's one of the 3 main events of the album. It's a real heavy track and in my opinion, has the strongest lyrics on the whole record. Also, having extreme depth that meets that strength. Mariah tackles the issue of her relationship and marriage to former Record Exec, Tommy Mottola. Each lyric uncovers a deeply affected woman who is still dealing with so much, because of all she endured including the smothering of who she was. She refers to "violent times" and "the private hell we built". And if the lyrical content wasn't strong enough already, the Scott Scorch produced track is just as strong, with it's dark, anthem-like mood definitely making a bright place in MC's already blindingly impressive catalog of music. It's the albums most RAW track.The sound is like a plethora of Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, and Soul. The vocals are perfect, not overdone, they're soulful and of a legendary sound. Young Jeezy appears at the beginning and near the bridge with an appropriate flow that takes nothing away from the song. This quite simply put is a standout. I don't about anyone else but if I focus on the lyrics too much, I find myself getting teary-eyed, it's very moving to hear. It would be a perfect single in my opinion because it would turn heads and at the same time, be a HUGE radio hit. I'm sure many people can relate to this track, it's just so heavy and hot at the same time. Quite easily joining the elite "Close My Eyes" and "Petals" as one of her best and most personal songs ever. My second favorite track. 5/5
I'm That Chick - The entrance of the album's most bouncy track quite lightens the mood. Mimi coos the sexy oh-so-sweetly and continues to express her self-confidence. She refers to the late Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. as she sings of herself being as delicious as ice cream and as addictive as the best of the blaze: I'm like that uptown haze/ them real thugs blaze/ we'll touch the sky/ cause I'm that chick you like. Real easy going and laid back track that'll suit driving down the street during the summer very well. We like you Mariah, we like you alot. Keep this good stuff coming, Lady M, cause I'm high as a kite off this album so far. 5/5
Love Story - Back to the ballad we go. This piece starts with Sade, Mariah's dancer Raychel's daughter singing "ay bay bay, it won't end, won't end, won't end". Something I've never found irritating but still felt a bit awkward to it at first. The music coasts in nicely and then comes JD, who in personal opinion screws up the beginning of the song. Especially with an uncalled and out of place, "Y'ALL KNOW WHAT THIS IS". However, Mariah overshadows the foolishness with the beautiful lyrics and vocals of the first verse. Still with appearances from Jermash, as she affectionately calls him but they become less and less bothersome and out of place as the songs proceeds. The melody is really nice and the chorus is impressive, both vocally and lyrically speaking as we even get a reference to "that Casablanca movie". Nice. Song marches on with it's beat and clap beat and ends nicely with Mimi singing in two registers with herself, a common thing for the album. Overall, really good song, JD prevents the "5" on this one. Although I must say I fall a little harder for this song everytime I hear it. 4/5
I'll Be Lovin' You Long Time - On this track, we go from the 2000's to the 1970's by way of Mariah Carey's musical time machine. This probably being your most feel good track. It puts you in mind of TEOM's "Your Girl" but toned down quite a bit with more tempo. Carey's voice is in an especially good place on this one as you get the tender raw vocals returning on the verses. Good belting at the end with the touch of Mariah (amazing layering) added, it ends on a real nice note. The great flow of songs continues as a great song once said, "It still feels, feel good", a new splendor has been born and we'll be reliving it for years to come. 5/5
Last Kiss - For me, this is "Always Be My Baby" meets "Don't Forget About Us". With an amazing melody like both songs, it has the sweet feel of ABMB and the raw feel of DFAU. It continues the not mentioned by me until now, trend of popular slang words being used in the lyrical content as we get "trill" and "somethin' somethin'" in the chorus, which is fine with me, not so much with others. Lyrically, overall very nice, melodically and vocally great too, especially at the end. We get MC's amazing BGV's and more of that raw lower register that has made me feel each song that it appears in so much more. One of my favorite tracks, despite JD's adlibs, which actually add to this song in a good way for me now. I love this song to def...so so def baby. 5/5
Thanx 4 Nothin' - This one here is the pinnacle of the JD ballads for me. Even if he rambles more on this track as well. What the heck is with that? What producer talks all through the tracks they produce? I guess it's just their closeness, Mariah's and Jermaine's that is. Now, back to this amazing piece of art. The lyrics are so completely relatible that anyone could feel it, even if it's only dedicated to "all the ladies out there, that's tired of gettin' played". It also fits well with friends who turned out to be fake and deceitful, at least, the chorus does. In fact, this one got me a bit touched in that stead, cause it's like folk just come in your life and play you and your friendship to the left and it hurts. My shoutout in this song would be, "all yall, thanx 4 nothin'...! The guitar instrumental is quite refreshing and different from the other ballads on the album. Great lyrics and more raw/low vocals that exude madd emotion and to top that off, she does the double register thing again, which is pure magic to me. Excellent vocal performance. My one flaw would be that it's too short and that the ending should have been acappella with a chorus going on without the music at the end and just the beat. When she sings the last "thanx 4 nothin'" that echoes, we should get one more chorus without the music, that woulda been hot. In my top 5 favorites of the album easily. 5/5
O.O.C. - Another time machine appearance? Yep, this time..to the 1990's. That's how this song feels to me and that's a really good thing. Nice vocals throughout and a bouncing that carries on til the end. Mariah sings the deliciously repetitive "it's forever and ever" line over and over, I enjoy that part alot. Lyricially, we get a multilingual Mariah for the first time ever on record, she sings in 3 different languages in the 2nd verse. This is another track that feels really good, but I find myself itching to skip to the next song for reasons that you will soon find out. Swiss did his thing on this record though I don't quite get the bollywood feel that others have attested to. Another song that grows in favor with each listen. 4/5
For the Record - Highlight Alert, Highlight Alert, Highlight Alert!!! Another song that I'm not quite sure where to start because of it's glory and amazingness. This is the song that played during the "M" perfume commercial that graced us last year. Needless to say, many people wanted to hear the whole song just from hearing it in the commercial and wondered if it would appear on the new album. Well, the answer is Yes. Yes, Yes, YES! This is the most magical and hypnotizing track on the album. It dazzles from the beginning with entrancing coos that be Mariah's background vocals. The lyrics dive into a relationship that is clearly still breathing despite whatever may have happened to cause a breakup. We get beautiful vocals all the way through full of emotion and stellar lyrics to boot. A bridge that is the ultimate MC love reminiscion (rem-min-nis-shun - yeah its my word and its not a real one but this song gets it's own word so deal with it!), she refers to "My All", "Always Be My Baby" and "We Belong Together" among others. Then you have the stringed instrumental...I mean, man...can it get any better? I'd love for it be performed live with an orchestra. Her voice is in such a amazing place on this, from the sweet and soft to the soaring highs, it's all just so good. As she says on the cut, "...you love yourself some me"...yes ma'am Mariah, I do. My favorite track on the album and one of my favorites in the history of Mariah Carey. Standout, Main Event, Stone Groove Smash Hit Wonder! lol 5/5
Bye Bye - The Album's Tearjerker, because even if some of the other emotional songs don't get to you, this one most likely will. With anthemic quality, on this song Mariah returns to the topic of death for the third time in career. It's extremely personal for her as it pertains to her late father who passed away about 6 years ago. I find the lyrics very relatible and moving as I lost someone very dear to me quite recently. A lyric that hits me hard: I thought you were so strong, you'd make it through whatever, it's so hard to accept the fact, you're gone forever. In fact, it's putting me in tears right now as I listen. This is another song where she emotes so well, you can feel every word, the sadness is almost too much to bear at times. It's the second single and I think it will be a huge record because of its relatibilty, catchiness, and raw emotion. The only problem this record poses to me is Stargate's recycled beat on it. As if creating a new original beat would further global warning. Meh heh heh. Thankfully, the magic that is Mariah's voice keeps the track yet amazing. Strong vocals at the end, overall, really moving and a standout in it's own right. 5/5
I Wish You Well - We reach the end of this incredible journey of emotion and enjoyment and no better song could there have been to end with. My other STANDOUT, MAIN EVENT track. This in my opinion is the first time, Mariah has really taken us to church on a song, since "Jesus, What A Wonderful Child" from Merry Christmas and even more so. Yet again, another deeply personally song that Mariah sends out to two unknown people as Mariah sings: This goes out to YOU and YOU, and you know who you are. She sings of the hurt that she's endured and felt and no longer will accept, along with other personal heart-words. With God and His Word, she shows a strength that could only come from above in the lyrics of the song. Using several bible verses in the song, some which she identifies the chapter and verses and others than she doesn't. But much more she didn't just say or sing the verses, but rather sung in the Spirit (of God) that makes those scriptures reality. So much more than reading and rehearsing them off, a life-giving power from God is present in and with her in this song and I'm sure it touches those that don't even know what it is. But she wishes those people, and I'm sure other enemies, well "in Jesus name", telling them she'll keep them in prayer til the end and declares "the Lord is my Salvation". Very raw on a spiritual level, she is really kind of preaching at the end, it's amazing. It's just a piano and vocals, very much in the form of "Vanishing". I can honestly say, this song is the vocal standout of the album, hitting notes that barely sound human at some points and other notes that feel like her most touching to date. Her pastor makes an appearance on the track as well. Mariah gets her Jesus on in this song and ends the album on the highest level possible and I was very blessed by it. 5/5
I can now honestly say this is one of Mariah's best efforts ever. Not because of her vocals, though they are incredible. It's the feeling, the raw energy that bleeds from almost every song. Unlike Mariah records of the past, I wasn't blown away by the first listen, but once this marinated into my system, man. It might take divine intervention to break my addictive to this masterpiece. It's a record full of high's, each song compliments the completeness of the album. Almost every song could be a hit single and quite honestly, I see Miss Carey sailing pass 20 #1 songs by way of E=MC². Musically speaking, Mariah proves herself to an Einstein-like genius with perfect ingredients, the most important being emotion and relavity. Emancipation, truly equals Mariah Carey to the second power. Well done Mariah, thank you.
List of Favorites from best to less best (cause they're all great)
1. For the Record
2. Side Effects
3. I Wish You Well
4. Thanx 4 Nothin'
5. Last Kiss
6. I Stay in Love
7. Cruise Control
8. Touch My Body
9. Bye Bye
10. I'm That Chick
11. Migrate
12. I'll Be Lovin' You Long Time
13. Love Story
14. O.O.C.
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For the Record, now you know...
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