Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
E=MC2, May 4, 2008
About a year & a half ago when I heard that Mariah was working on a new album with the proposed title of "Sweet Soul Odyssey", I was ecstatic. As a fan, of course I'd been overjoyed at the reception to and success of EMANCIPATION OF MIMI and thought that having regained her supposed lost place in the world of pop music, she'd be confident enough to produce an album of tracks like SUBTLE INVITATION, HOW I WISH U KNEW, FLY LIKE A BIRD, etc. I love those kinds of tracks from Mariah because they're unexpected - they're not hip hop and especially SI has a jazzier production than some of her recent work.
Unfortunately as the time passed I started hearing that this album would NOT be the anticipated soulful music that I'd hoped for but a replica of EMANCIPATION. I hate to compare the two albums but I have to in order to be honest about my feelings for E=MC2. From the 1st time I listened to EMANCIPATION, I loved all but 2 tracks and still to this day, enjoy listening to the album on a frequent basis but after listening to E=MC2 a few times, there are only 6 songs that I love and 4 that I think are just "ok".
This album reminds me of my feelings for her RAINBOW album - there are a few tracks that I like but overall I'm disappointed in it as a whole and skip over more than a few tracks. I feel like with EMANCIPATION, Mariah & the writers & producers worked really hard to present strong tracks and the result is an album that I love while this one seems to want to follow the same production path but with weaker lyrics and unmemorable tracks.
My favorite tracks are:
I'LL BE LOVIN U LONG TIME
CRUISE CONTROL
I'M THAT CHICK
THANKS FOR NOTHING - just wish JD wasn't "shouting out" throughout
I WISH U WELL
OOC - interesting arrangement, it's growing on me the more I listen to it
My "ok" tracks are:
MIGRATE - it's a catchy track but I really dislike T-Pain and his guest spot really doesn't add anything special
LUV STORY - I'd have liked this track more if JD wasn't screaming all over it
LAST KISS
BYE BYE - although I like the lyrics & sentiment behind the song, it just left me "cold" for lack of a better word. Mariah has written other tracks regarding the loss of a loved one that moved me to tears but this track didn't move me in any way
The only other two notable tracks are:
TOUCH MY BODY - I hate this song, truly it stays in my mind like an annoying radio jingle because it's being forced on us on all levels
FOR THE RECORD - the lyrics are really personal and once again, Mariah is letting us in on what marriage to Tommy Mottola was like but the song itself hasn't really resonated with me yet so I feel like it's TMI
As a fan of course I was excited just to get new music from Mariah, I added it to my collection because I want to have a complete Mariah catalog but I can't say that I'll ever get the same enjoyment out of listening to it say, 5 or even 1 year from now - it'll just be in my collection and I might listen to it from time to time.
I'm torn about recommending it to people so I'll just say that if u want to get it, proceed with caution & try to listen to a few clips first. I will continue to wait and hope that we will get a "Sweet Soul Odyssey" from Mariah some time in the future.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not her best work, June 27, 2008
Okay, so I'm not going to do the whole spill on "Old Mariah, New Mariah".
We all know the old Mariah back in the 90's is gone.
"The Emancipation of Mimi", in my opinion was one of her best Cds....this however, is quite forgettable. I put it in my CD player once and rolled my eyes. I sold it back to FYE the next day. Mariah's music has, in my opinion, gone downhill. Mariah has a great gift, but she didn't use it on this cd. There's mabey 3 good songs on here, but that's about it. Not reccomended.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just O.K., April 16, 2008
Still reaping the rewards of her success in 2005, Mariah clearly decided to come out with an JUST OK record knowing that the remnants would carry this album along from hype alone. Unlike The Emancipation of Mimi, this album lacks that "We Belong Together" type song (even though it tries to recapture it failingly).
The 1st half of the album is a skip fest, for the most part but "I Stay in Love" and "Love Story" stop it from being that entirely. This is where the bulk of the very bad and unneccesary collaborations take place;"Migrate" is a good club song (which is I guess why the lyrics leave very much to be desired)but those cheesy lyrics stop it from being a good song in general. "Cruise Control" is just a mess of a song and "Side Effects" actually would be a better song if Young Jeezy wasn't in it at all. I won't even bother discussing TMB because everyone should know that song by now.
The album's better half is clearly the 2nd part although it does have 1 giant snag in it called "O.O.C.". Some of the songs here tend to start sounding the same, which is the other downside to it.
One of the drawbacks is that Mariah's lyrics are a little too simple, verging on ridiculous for a majority of the album. The 1 thing that stops E=MC2 from being in the same realm as such lackluster albums like Glitter and Rainbow, is the fact that the bright spots are very bright indeed.
Noteable Tracks:
I Stay in Love
Love Story
I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time
Last Kiss
Thanx 4 Nothin'
The rest of the album ranges from extremely bad to JUST OK!
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