I have been a fan of Mariah Carey since she burst on the scene in the early 1990s and the track most memorable in my mind, at least the video of it, is Someday with even the little girl playing little Mariah Carey looking so pretty. Her chart success continued well into the late 1900s especially with albums like Music Box and tracks like Hero (both my favorites). It was during the late 1990s that following her divorce, etc. her career floundered a bit and chart topping success eluded her. However, all that changed with the release of The Emancipation Of Mimi, which was appreciated even by the critics. Now with E=MC2 Mariah Carey is firmly back on track and this album is a good follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi. The tracks are geared towards hip-hop, R&B, gospel, dance, and soul music, but then Mariah Carey is an accomplished songstress and one of the biggest female musicians around probably outsold only by Madonna. The song that sets the tempo of the album and rocks for me at least is O.O.C. (Out Of Control) with great beats that just go on and on. Mariah Carey is her usual self on the album with those high pitched tones coming into good effect, but the album is overall geared towards chart topping success with hip-hop beats and dance numbers. I for one am glad the Glitter phase is over but its testimony to Mariah Carey’s staying power that she came back from the fringes with The Emancipation Of Mimi and is firmly continuing her great form in E=MC2.
One of the main strengths of the previous album and this one is the collaboration with various artists like Snoop Dogg, Nelly, T-Pain, etc. They round off pretty well with Mariah Carey and only add to the album’s chart success. The hits come in very early in the album, at least the foot tapping ones, so the album sort of fizzles out at the latter ending stages, but nevertheless this is a good album from Mariah Carey and will see a lot of singles hitting the top of the charts for a good time to come. If anything it only signals Mariah Carey is firmly back at the top of the charts having spent a good decade and a half over there. There are a couple of ballads thrown in towards the end, but by then you have had a satisfactory experience listening to the album and the gospel leaning towards the end only further cements E=MC2’s success. The album is a must buy if you are a Mariah Carey fan, there is no other way about it, but do note while it’s a very good album, it’s not on par with The Emancipation Of Mimi, but it does signal the queen is back on her throne and will be ruling the charts for a while to come now with no open challenger in sight. Ah wish Whitney Houston could find her roots and make a comeback like Mariah Carey has.
Notable tracks on the album are Migrate featuring T-Pain, Touch My Body, Cruise Control featuring Damian Marley, Side Effects featuring Young Jeezy, I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time, Heat (Bonus Track), and my personal pick O.O.C. which really grooves and wants to make you get up and dance no matter what!
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