E=MC2

I love this album. This album is just as good as her last one back in 2005. The album means emancipation = Mariah Carey to the second power. The music appeals to Pop, R&B, Hip Hop, Reggae(Cruise Control) and Gospel(I Wish You Well). On this album, She worked with The Dream, Jermaine Dupri, Will.i.am, Stargate, DJ Troomp, and C. "Tricky" Stewart. Her concentration is not on club-oriented dance tracks but on smooth, mid-tempo R&B that pulses with sexy glamour. Nothing on this album is a radical depature, but she gets better at making sexy, listenable, flawlessly crafted R&B. This album has been certified Platinum so far.

"E=MC2" was, for me, the most anxiously-awaited CD of 2008. I was excited to see if Mariah would be able to top or at least duplicate the sheer perfection of her 2005 comeback disc, the stellar "The Emanication of Mimi". Unfortunately, Mimi fell way short with this offerring.

The first single, the disasterous "Touch My Body", was a sign of what I was to expect from the rest of the CD. "E=MC2"'s downfall is it depends too much on recycled drum beats, as well as songs and melodies with little to no substance. The only real standout on this disc is the old-school Soul-inspired "I'm That Chick", which features the Mariah of the early 90s. Other tracks that are listenable are "Love Story" and "I'll Be Loving You Long Time". The rest of the disc simply does not work.

Unlike it's predecessor, "E=MC2" ran out of steam fast on the charts. Def Jam made a serious miscalculation when it decided to issue "Bye, Bye" as the failed second single. This song is about losing a loved one, but it does not even compare to "One Sweet Day" or "The Wind", one of her most brilliant songs ever. "I'll Be Loving You Long Time" is the third single from the disc and is only doing moderately well on the R&B charts.

This is Mariah's worst album since 1999's catastrophic "Rainbow". I hope Mariah takes some time off to re-evaluate what direction she is going. She is a singer who clearly shines on more traditional R&B and Pop tunes. Like Janet Jackson, she has mistakenly tried to appeal to a much younger audience with lackluster rubbish like this disc. Mariah, please remember how old you are and record music that is more befitting of a woman your age and extraordinary talent.

Mariah Carey - E=MC² (Island Def Jam, 2008)

In 2005, Mariah Carey resurrected her career with The Emancipation of Mimi and won many awards for it. Many were patiently waiting for her follow-up. Although the first single, the Dream-produced "Touch My Body" (his first hit to not contain that annoying "stutter" thing he does--see "Umbrella", "Bed" and "Falsetto") came out and hit #1, the true test was to see if the accompanying album would be better or worse than Emancipation.

Yeah, E=MC² is a corny title for this album but it is very accurate because for all intents and purposes, this album IS really Emancipation Pt. 2. You have the songs featuring the artists du jour (the T-Pain-assisted "Migrate", the Young Jeezy-assisted "Side Effects"), the Jermaine Dupri ballads, and Mariah's soaring voice--all just like on the previous album. She doesn't take many chances on this album but one song that is always on repeat is "I Wish You Well", which makes me feel that James Poyser is the only one who can bring out the best in Mariah.

Some of the Dupri songs do sound like Emancipation rejects and longtime fans may argue that her old stuff is better. In Mariah's defense, though, at least she knows what to do to keep a steady career unlike other '90s divas who were hot but now you don't remember them like Celine Dion or Toni Braxton. In any case, E=MC² will still make Mariah that chick you like. -EJR

While it is doubtful that Mariah Carey has been reading up on Einstein's work on relativity, it's clear that she's been working on a different kind of formula: bring in talented producers, add some diverse guest artists, subtract the frothy vapidity of her earlier work and multiply the catchy beats. The result is a continuation of Carey's comeback effort that began with 2005's The Emancipation of Mimi.

Switching from steamy club jams to power ballads to adult contemporary empowerment singalongs, Carey covers all the bases on her latest. "Migrate" is the requisite club soon-to-be hit featuring T-Pain, "Cruise Control" with Damien Marley flirts with reggae and surprisingly works, and Young Jeezy wins the most-out-of-place award on the deeply personal "Side Effects."

The biggest problem with E=MC2 is what should have been its strongest asset: Carey's voice. Blessed with a five-octave range, Carey for the most part plays it safe, staying within a couple octaves and barely taking any risks.

The same could be said for the record at large: having seen Emancipation of Mimi destroy the charts, it's no surprise that Carey pretty much does the same thing here, taking the best of modern pop and combining it into a single package. It might not be anything special, but you're guaranteed to hear it for the next couple of years or so.

Just so you know, I received the album 2 days ago. And I've listened to every song at least 2x, my favorites even more.


***


Migrate 8/10 Used to annoy me. Should've used some other rapper other than T-Pain.

Touch My Body 9/10 Great song but overplayed.

Cruise Control 10/10 A nice rhythm to it. Composition is nice too. Melodic.

I Stay In Love 10/10 What else is there to say besides the fact that it blows Touch My Body out of the water and 95% of the other tracks also.

Side Effects 8/10 Great lyrics, average rhythm.

I'm That Chick 9/10 Very dance-able and vibe-ish. Nice Mariah. Nice.

Love Story 7/10 Nothing special in my eyes. The rhythm is boring and the song on a whole, takes you nearly nowhere.

I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time 9.5/10 Amazing for a modern pop song. The production, strong, rhythm, nice.

Last Kiss 7.5/10 Like Love Story, this track is one of the weaker ones. OK rhythm but the melody isn't strong and you probably won't remember this unless you like the unexciting lyrics.

Thanx 4 Nothin' 9.5/10 One thing I've noticed is that a lot of these songs are midtempos that don't separate themselves apart too much. What I'm saying here is that a lot of them like Love Story and Last Kiss sound very similar. The Emancipation wasn't like that.

O.O.C. 5/10 Unlisten-able. Boring. Ugh.

For The Record 8/10 Not much to say. It's better than some of the previous tracks.

Bye Bye 10/10 My second favorite track (behind I Stay In Love).

I Wish You Well 6/10 An endearing gospel kiss off to the people that have hurt you. Doesn't come close to comparing to Fly Like A Bird but is better than the boring O.O.C.

126.5 ÷ 14 = 9.035714285714

9.035714285714 = 9.04

4.52 stars.

end note: I can't believe this album wasn't as bad as I anticipated. When I heard Touch My Body and early versions of Migrate and Bye Bye, I was only super-impressed with Bye Bye. Touch My Body was next up but it wasn't classic material.