If there is one message that Mariah could give after the release of her 11th
studio album, EMC2, it would be "dont mess with success".
To prove that her
big comeback in 2005 with "The Emancipation of Mimi" was no fluke, Mariah played
it safe and used the key elements that made “The Emancipation…” such a big hit,
leaving no room for artistic improvement. But to call "EMC2" a perfect clone of
"The Emancipation..." would be an overstatement, since there is still a
disparity that exists between the two, which I would talk about later in this
review.
The similarities between the two albums are more evident- both start
in the club, and both end in the church. If it was the slick club track “It’s
Like That” in “The Emancipation…” (the first track from the album), then it’s
the slick club track in “EMC2” with “Migrate”. And as “The Emancipation…” ends
with the gospel track “Fly Like a Bird”, “EMC2” ends with the gospel track “I
Wish You Well”. With this album’s two extremes, it offers an image of Mariah
being a party girl who can be as wild as she can be, but still makes it home
before the clock strikes six.
Also, it is no coincidence that every love song
in “EMC2” tries to recapture the magic that was “We Belong Together”.
So
musically speaking, Mariah’s new album breaks no new ground unlike what “The
Emancipation…” did back in 2005, as it signaled that the diva with the infamous
5-octave range is officially back, after following a career-nosedive with the
horrendous “Charmbracelet”(2002) and the laughable “Glitter” (2001).
Unfortunately, for Mariah, it seems that she has set the standard too high for
comebacks with “The Emancipation…” that it seems like even she would find it
difficult to top it (well, here’s waiting for Whitney Houston’s comeback album
by November this year).
Now, about the disparity between “The Emancipation…”
and “EMC2”, Mariah’s newly-found restraint in singing is the only thing that
offers something new among all other Mariah albums. It doesn’t mean that she
doesn’t use that infamous ear-piercing whistle notes anymore- in fact, she still
does, but they were mostly left in the background, and only in a couple of
songs, and the rest of the album had Mariah relying on- as Rolling Stone have
noted- four-note verses giving the listeners a sense of longing for her belitng,
but also gives a sense of refreshment. So, gone are the “Mine Again”, and “Stay
the Night” of “The Emancipation…”.
Recently, the album was noted for giving
Mariah her 18th number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts with the lead single
"Touch My Body", pushing her ahead of Elvis Presley with 17, and only behind the
Beatles with 21. Sadly, that was the only thing that would be remembered for
that song, as it is just a flavor-of-the-moment song and does not execute any
ground-breaking musicality. In fact, that’s the formula that gave Mariah her
number ones- she does not give any artistic craft that would prove to be
musically innovative, but instead she would use the current music formula of
what is hip and what is hot so that her singles would be instant hits. On a
positive perspective, this could be viewed as diversity in what she can offer,
as naturally, music changes. But of course, those who have followed her since
the 90’s have seen a drastic change in her standards. Before, she was hailed to
be in par with Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, with her first albums showcasing
a classy lady, now, it seems that all she wanted was to be like nasty Madonna as
her albums started having rappers on almost every song sprouting like duckweeds
on the surface of a beautiful garden.
With “Touch My Body”, Mariah sings
about soft porn fantasies quite endearingly, BUT, it still follows as an
after-thought while listening to the song that the lady singing this is actually
38 years old. Mariah seems to grow more and more premature with each passing
albums. The songs she is singing now would fit with her well had she sang them
the first time she came around, and vice versa.
The album highlights include:
1.) Touch My Body- just ignore the fact that this is actually a 38-year old
woman singing to you about wrapping “her thighs around your waist”.
2.) I Stay
in Love- classic Mariah. Reminds me of the reason why I loved her in the first
place. It’s no “We Belong Together”, although it tries to recapture the magic of
the latter. Likeable nonetheless.
3.) Bye, Bye- has the same theme as “One
Sweet Day”, though a bit… hippish. The part where Mariah sings “This is for my
peoples who just lost somebody” is catchy, though a bit cheesy.
4.) I Wish You
Well- gospel. One of the most heartfelt performances in the album.
The rest
are just the typical, formulaic, samey-samey songs that once dominated “The
Emancipation of Mimi”. So, two stars out of 5.
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