SO i got a first listen to Mariah's newest album "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel." I gotta say, and don't let my publicly known love for Mariah be any bias, it's actually some of the best work she's done in years. I can admit when i don't really like a Mariah song, but it's got a totally different feel than her last 2 albums. It's pretty much a straight RnB album, and it's going against that hip-hop feel she was trying to do the last 2 albums. I was listening to it on an airplane for 3 hours, so i could get into it and i was actually able to go through it a couple times completely, without skipping a song, which is something i do on pretty much all of her albums at least once. It's a brilliant mixture of her tamed sound, with that belting voice we're all used to. If you want a reference to what it's similar to, think back to the Butterfly album. She's not blowing us away song after song to try and show us she can sing. We know she can. It's that whisper sound a lot of people usually hate, but i don't know what it is on this album that makes it so different and not just tolerable, but enjoyable.
I'll say this, it probably won't be a commercial success with several #1 singles and tons of top 40 play, but for someone who just likes soothing smooth RnB music, it'll do just fine. Honestly, what i think might be the key on this is that Jermaine Durpi is nowhere near it. Produced entirely by Mariah, Tricky, and The Dream, and they've definitely done something serious on this. Taking snippets from classic songs, even taking a throwback to some Jodeci "Forever My Lady," Biggies "One More Chance," and "Back In The Day." My favorites so far are H.A.T.E.U, Standing O, Inseparable, and Angels Cry. The only weird part of the album i think comes from "Ribbon" which has this weird robot sounding opening thing, which could totally turn you off to the song, but once that's over it's actually a decent song.
The album probably isn't for everyone, but if you take into account that she's not trying to be a hip-hop artist on this, and just listen to the album for what it is, i think you'll be pleasantly surprised. We don't need Mariah to make us dance, we just want to be moved by her voice, and i think she's done that for us here. It's actually an album full of slow to mid-tempo songs that lets her do what she wants. I think most of the credit should go to the production, and in my opinion it was the overuse of JD on E=MC2 that took that album down. And now that he's not on this at all, she's got fresh ideas and voices behind her letting her experiment, and using her voice the way she should.
As far as lyrics, Mariah has always been a good song writer when she wants to be, but i think what they took away in the uptempo songs, she put into the lyrics of the slower songs. She's just having fun with some songs, so hopefully no one holds that against her that some lyrics you're like wtf, but you're not supposed to take it seriously. I dunno if it's just me, but listening to songs like "Betcha Gon Know" and "H.A.T.E.U." the lyrics hit home and really make u feel something. So you can see the versatility.
I won't try and compare this to Whitney's album. Although in the comparison of comeback albums, i think Emancipation of Mimi was a better comeback that Whitney's. Both tried to do the same thing, but Mariah did it better cause she can still sing. But no need to get into that. Still got love for Whitney, it just wasn't for me.
Looking at these Vegas she's doing, these songs play perfectly into that intimate setting she wants to have, and possibly a string of intimate shows she'll probably do as a tour. Hopefully people give the album a listen, and feel it. I'm into it.
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