Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi Review

Bottom-Line: The Emancipation of Mimi will not go done in my book-or my CD collection-as THE great Mariah comeback CD; I am still waiting for that one.          

I like Mariah Carey despite herself.  There is something sweet and innocent (still) about her nature that I find compelling.  You want to like her, you want her to succeed.  But sadly her mind is not the only thing that snapped way back at the close of the last century; her voice did too, and neither has recovered in sufficient measure.  Exhibit A: Mariah 36 dresses like Mariah at 25, only at 25 Mariah did not have a weight problem and could dress in revealing dresses.  Exhibit B: the voice, the famous multi-octave voice that so defined Mariah is all bout gone, shattered by too much of well, everything.  I don't say these things to be mean spirited, only to put things in perspective as I move forward with my review of The Emancipation of Mimi.

I had high hopes when I bought Mariah's comeback CD.  Early talk on the street and all across the entertainment world on The Emancipation of Mimi predicted that the album would mark "the return of the voice."  You know the one, the glass-shattering musical instrument housed inside the voice box of Ms. Carey that propelled her to the heights of her profession and made her the bestselling female artist of all time.  And the reviews have generally been good, but after listening to the CD, I have to wonder were we listening to the same CD?

Despite the hype and the small Army of noted hip-hop talent that helped Mariah put together this lengthy CD, The Emancipation of Mimi (for me) does not live up to expectations.  Listening to the CD I heard little hints of the Mariah that once, but hints for me are not enough, I wanted and deserved more for it was her name on the jacket cover.  Featuring other artist on your CD are fine, but not on almost every song, and certainly not as a cover to mask your own inadequacies.  In short, the voice that launched a once noted career is not back in full force; after listening to The Emancipation of Mimi I would say it was on life support.

By the end of the CD I am convinced the Mariah is a guest on her own CD that is how little I actually heard her vocal unadorned, unaccompanied, and unencumbered by over engineering and over-production.  In short, I wanted to hear the lady sing as a solo artist, what I got was a group effort that at times-too many times-relegated Mariah to background vocals.  Indeed on some tracks the background vocalist are feature more then Mariah.              

Most of the tracks, with or without accompaniment, are wholly forgettable affairs; in other words standard hip-hop fair that lack real depth, and are mostly about setting up, getting, or escaping a booty call.  Isn't Mariah a little too old for such adolescent views of sex, courtship, and life?  And it is telling that Ms. Carey helped pen all of the songs on this unremarkable CD.  But that seems what to buying public wants to hear these days: vapid, pointless music that is here today, but offers no real message worth preserving, so Mariah delivered in spades. 

When the final note ended and the CD drifted to dead air and static, I was thankful that The Emancipation of Mimi was finally over.  Now perhaps Mariah can get to more serious endeavors, you know like recording a CD that has SOME social relevance and-this is the most important part-actually is mostly by her.  The Emancipation of Mimi will not go done in my book-or my CD collection-as THE great Mariah comeback CD, I am still waiting for that one.