E=MC2

Mariah Carey

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 15, 2008)
• Original Release Date: April 15, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B000UMKCYC
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (250 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,354 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC². The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC² is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry honors during its 18-month stay on the charts. The first single from E=MC² is "Touch My Body," written and produced by Mariah Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart, and The-Dream, and blasting out worldwide on February 12th. The video for "Touch My Body" was directed by feature filmmaker Brett Ratner - Internet, cable and network premieres for the video will be announced in the weeks ahead. In addition to C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, other guest producers joining Mariah on E=MC² will include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills and James Poyser.. E=MC² is executive produced by Mariah Carey and Antonio "LA" Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.

The Emancipation Of Mimi, released April 12, 2005, was an industry phenomenon for the mega-platinum award-winning superstar - Soundscan's biggest-selling album of the year, bringing total sales of Mariah's albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, making her the most successful female recording artist in history. Mimi featured "We Belong Together" (winner of the Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song Grammys) and "Don't Forget About Us," Mariah's 16th and 17th #1 career singles respectively. They tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley's 17 #1's. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles' all-time high of 20 #1 hits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars E=MC2, May 4, 2008

By	Geminigirl (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just O.K., April 16, 2008

By	S. Walton "brownsugar24_7" (Waterbury, Ct USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad...although she is capable of so much more., May 2, 2008

By	QN822 "Quota822" (Toledo) - See all my reviews

I have been a fan of Mariah Carey every since her debut album emerged in June of 1990. I have followed every album since then and I know what a remarkable singer and talented song writer she is. What bothers me is that I've seen her go from a beautiful classy singer to someone who still sings well but belts out tunes that are so beneath her.

This latest CD E=MC2 has a very intellectual title, nice cover and a few songs that takes me back to 90's Mariah. There are some songs on there with lyrics that are just ridiculous and I can't believe she recorded it! I love the song Bye Bye however if you listen to some of the words, it's obvious she's forgotten how to use the proper English. Forgive me but using "Ghetto Slang" in such an inspirational song takes away from it (ex. This is for my peoples who just lost somebody???). You can be down with hip hop and use the proper English! That's the main issue I have with her material lately.

Some of my favorite songs on this CD are:

I wish you Well: very beautiful and inspirational, even quotes passages from the Bible.

For the Record: a very nice ballad with no rappers yelling through it.

I Stay in Love: Another beautiful ballad minus the obnoxious rappers.

Bye Bye: Has a beautiful message and she sings it well (minus some of her word choice).

Loving you Long time: Very Catchy tune. It samples one of my all time favorite songs; Stay with Me by Debarge. Even better, it samples a section that hasn't been used!! About time! Others that have sampled it in the past used the same hook.

Migrate: The music is hype and fun to dance to but the lyrics....not for a mature 38 year old woman! As someone said in their review, leave the kid's stuff to the kids!! I like T-Pain because he has brought back the ZAPP Roger Troutman sound and he does it very well on this song.

Touch my Body: Cute for a 20 year old. The music is catchy but once again those lyrics!! I think someone needs to remind Ms. M that she is 38.

The other songs haven't really done much for me, I'm still trying to warm up to them.

Overall it's an okay CD. If you love the 90's Mariah as I do, you may be disappointed. I know what she is capable of bringing to the table and it seems as if lately she is selling herself short however I am a devoted fan and I will continue to buy her music. I know that no matter what she puts out, she will always deliver at least two good powerhouse ballads and that's enough to keep me a fan.

I love her and I think she is an incredible vocalist.