Customer Reviews

The Emancipation of Mimi - Platinum Edition

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Mariah Carey regained her crown with this album. She truly does deserve the 8 Grammy Nominations. People need to stop comparing people. I read a review for Mary J. Blige's "The Breakthrough", which is also an amazing album. The reviewer said "use The Emancipation Of Mimi as a coaster and get The Breakthrough". Is it not possible to have more than one amazing album released in one year. Both of these two women are amazing and both of them released amazing albums. Also, I read something about Mariah Carey fans trying to make Madonna's album flop, which is ridiculous. People always have to compare people. But anyways, back to this album. With this album, you can tell Mariah is in a new place and she's finally free. The title fits very well for the album, because it just sounds like she just let go of everything. The music doesn't like it's being controlled, there's just this strong feel of freedom.

The album jumps off with the first single, "It's Like That". This free-spirited party-starter is produced by Jermaine Dupri and Mariah Carey. I love the song, but the first verse is definately very shocking to all the long-term Mariah fans, as she makes drug and alcohol references ("I came to have a party, open up the Bacardi....Purple taking me higher, I'm lifted and I" like it). But regardless, the song is still amazing. The second track on the album is the second single, "We Belong Together", which is also produced by Jermaine Dupri and Mariah Carey. The song is her first number one hit in over five years, and it's an absolutely amazing song. Mariah Carey describes the song as "Anytime You Need A Friend" meets "Breakdown", and Jermaine Dupri describes it as the biggest song of his career. Although I may have heard this song over a million times, since April of 2005, surpringsly, I have never gotten sick of yet. The next track on the album is the third single "Shake It Off", also produced by Jermaine Dupri and Mariah Carey. Jermaine Dupri and Mariah Carey definately make the perfect team. Dupri has been each single released from this album so far. This is one of my favorites on the album, the lyrics are awesome. It's just about move on and putting someone behind you and just "shaking them off". Great lyrics! The fourth song on the album is a beautiful ballad called "Mine Again", produced by James Poyser and Mariah Carey. It's an absolutely amazing song that shows you MARIAH STILL HAS THAT AMAZING VOICE. ALthough this song has not been released as a single, I have heard on the radio in Chicago a few times. The next song on the album is a Neptunes-produced track featuring Snoop Dogg, called "Say Somethin'." Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg colloborated back in 1999 on the song "Crybaby." This song definately isn't as great as "Crybaby" but it's still a pretty good song. The next song is a track produced by Kanye West and Mariah which is another one of my favorites. I have so many favorites on this album that it's ridiculous, I can't even pic a number one favorite. But this is definately one of my favorites. A great colloboration between Mariah and Kanye. Mariah's voice is amazing on this album and again, it's one of those song that just gives you that FREE feeling. Guess what's next, another favorite. "Get Your Number" is another colloboration with Jermaine Dupri, which was a top ten hit in the U.K. For some odd reason, people keep refering to this as one of the worst tracks on the album, but I think it's one of the best on the album. It has a very early '90's feel to it. It's kind of like, what Mariah Carey would do in the early 1990's if she teamed up with Jermaine Dupri earlier. The next track is a song called "One & Only" which features Twista. I think the song might be better without Twista singing along with the melody several times in the middle of his rap, and just had a short rap, instead of the long verse he has. The next song is a ballad called "Circles" in which she produces with James "Big Jim" Wright. It's just a great song with great lyrics. The next song is a more upbeat song called "Your Girl". I can't think of anything to say about it, but it's just a really good song. The next song is a slower track called "I Wish You Knew", the song has a fake live audience at the beginning of it. The song has an old school R&B ballad feel to it. It's a really nice song. Things change up a bit with the next track. Another track produced by The Neptunes called "To The Floor", featuring Nelly. The song is definately a club joint, but definately has an 80's feel to it. This is another one of my favorites. We already knew Nelly and The Neptunes made a good team due to the success of "Hot In Herre". But I also think Mariah and Nelly sound good together. The next song, "Joy Ride", I think might be my least favorite on the album. I just don't think there's anything all that special about it. The final track on the original pressing of the album is "Fly Like A Bird", which is a wonderful song. I love this song because it's like she's going back to the basics. Towards the end of the song a choir comes in singing the chorus. It reminds you of something she would have done in the early or mid 90's.

The new re-released edition of the album features four new bonus tracks, "Don't Forget About Us", "Makin' It Last All Night (What It Do)", "So Lonely (One & Only Part II)" and "We Belong Together Remix". All four tracks are amazing, making the album ten times better. "Don't Forget About Us" is Mariah's latest single, produced by Jermaine Dupri and herself, like her other singles released the album. I love this song, it's reminiscent of "Always Be My Baby", which was also produced by Jermaine Dupri and Mariah, and was the first collobroation between the two. "Makin' It Last All Night (What It Do)" is another Jermaine Dupri/Mariah colloboration and is absolutely amazing. It's basically just a very sexy upbeat Hip-Hop flavored track. "So Lonely (One & Only Part II)" is 90 billion times better than the original version. I don't even like the original version all that much (compared to the other tracks on the album), but I think this song might have to be my favorite track on the album. The album closes with the "We Belong Together" remix featuring Jadakiss and Styles P. This remix has been getting airplay ever since the summer of 2005, so it's good to finally get it on an album. I don't think I love it as much as the original version but I still love it, and I'm so glad they put it on here. If you don't have this re-released version, stop complaining and GO GET IT! You can sell the original pressing to a used CD store! The four new tracks alone are definately worth the money.

"The Emancipation Of Mimi" is Mariah Carey's best album since... I don't know, since all of her album's are amazing. But this album is definately way better than "Charmbracelet". Mariah Carey definately deserves these 8 Grammy Nominations. She HAS regained her crown!

This is an excellent album! I have never bought a Mariah album before, but this was well worth the money. This album is one of the rare ones that can be listened to straight thru from beginning to end. It presents a good variety of songs from "party-mood" (Like That), to "reflective" (We belong Together), to "spiritually-conscious" (Fly Like a Bird).

I'm simply rating this for the quality of the re-release, not the album itself.

Naturally, fans of Mariah are going to be willing to plop down more money for an expanded edition. But as with many recent scams of this sort by record companies, it STILL could have been more complete. Where are "Sprung" and "Secret Love", the two amazing tracks from the MEGA-expensive Japanese import of Emancipation? And why not include "U Make Me Wanna", Mariah's duet with Jadakiss from his CD, so that this would have been TOTALLY worth the price of a second purchase??? That would have been the ULTIMATE Emancipation of Mimi CD.

This is great cd. All the songs are great you can either get upi and dance or chill with your boo or just have a great time with your girls.

It's Like that- 10/10 (dancing)
We Belong Together- 10/10 (romatic)
Shake It Off- 9/10 (dancing)
Mine Again- 20/10 (romatic)
Say Somethin'-8/10 (dancing)
Stay The Night-9/10
Get Your Number- 7.5/10
One and Only-8/10
Circles-9/10
Your Girl-10/10 (fun song)
I Wish You Knew- 8/10
To The Floor- 5/10 ( I skip this song)
Joy Ride-20/10 (so soft and sweet it could be a wedding song)
Fly Like A Bird -15/10
Don't Forget About Us- 9/10
Makin' It Last All Night (What it do)-15/10 (fun)
So Lonely (One and Only pt II)-10/10
We Belong Together-6/10 (I like the unremix version)

mimi was r&b CD of the year and confessions on a dancefloor was best dance music CD of the year.

I am not a fan of Mariah, but when I heard the the first single from this cd, I thought let's go get this. I bought it, got it home and listen. This to me is her very best cd ever!!!! I mean Mariah would release a single that I liked, but nothing that would get me to purchase a cd. This is totaly different. I'm saying the lyrics,the music, and the collaborations, everything about this cd says good work. This is just a all round great cd. This is comming from someone who is not a fan of Mariah Carey. That is saying a lot!!!!

I love this album and it is really sad that people are sleeping on it (lol it is six times platinum). This is a complete album that you can listen to from beginning to end. Mariah really did a great job of showing how talented she really is. It is a mixture of everything, this cd is up beat yet laid back, and it's a classic. This is her best album in my opinion and I can't wait for the next one.

MY TOP FIVE (This was a tough selection process b/c the entire album is great)

1. Joy Ride
2. Mine Again
3. Circles
4. Say Something
5. Fly Like a Bird

A great album by Mariah but to get value for money purchase the version with the bonus DVD.....

1. It's Like That - The first single of the CD, It's a classic RnB sound, I couldnt believe it was Maraih singing when I 1st heard it on the radio! It's one of the best track on the album 8/10

2. We Belong Together - This is the 2nd single, and it is a beauty. Its a beautful ballad, the best track on the album 10/10

3. Shake It Off - A mid-temp song, sounds like the type of song that Beyonce/Destiny's Child would sing. The hook is very catchy 7/10

4. Mine Again -This is a ballad, sounds like a song that she has done in the past, the vocals are great, its one of the better track 8/10

5. Say Somethin' featuring Snoop Dogg - Another RnB track, sounds a bit like a Justin Timberlake track, but it has the Mariah Carey flavour 2 it! 6/10

6. Stay The Night - A well sung song with good vocal range. It has a great chorus 7/10

7. Get Your Number featuring Jermaine Dupri - This is one of the best tracks, the hook sung by Jermaine Dupri makes this track hot. 8/10

8. One And Only featuring Twista - This SHOULD be the next single, its hot hot hot. The 2nd verse sounds like an old Destiny's Child hook.....I luv this song! 9/10

9. Circles - Another ballad, does sound a bit like "Stay The Night" and "Mine Again" 6.5/10

10. Your Girl - This song takes some getting into....But now I luv it! Moving more into the pop-ish sound 7/10

11. I Wish You Knew - Another great song. Sounds like a song from the early 90's.....I like the way Maraih interacts with the audience 8/10

12. To The Floor featuring Nelly - This track is a club track. Sounds a bit like a Justin's track "Like I Love You" 6/10

13. Joy Ride - Another ballad, sung softly....6/10

14. Fly Like A Bird - A gospel track with Mariah hitting those wonderful high notes. 7/10

15. Don't Forget About Us - The new single, its a tender track, the film clip isnt much but I still luv it! 8/10

16. Makin' It Last All Night (What It Do) - This is a catchy track feat Jermaine Dupri, the lyrics are hot, very much an RnB track 8/10

17. So Lonely (One & Only Part II) - The 2nd part of One & Only...Its a great song but I think it could have been better if Twista didnt sing as much, it has that Destiny's Child fast pace singing style like the "One & Only" 8/10

18. We Belong Together Remix featuring Jadakiss and Styles P - This is the best remix Ive heard in years...its a fast pace remake and it doesnt make the track sound so sad! It's a fun version.....10/10

I used to like Mariah a lot when she was classy. The admiration pretty much died when Glitter and Rainbow came out. A lot of people thought Charmbracelet was going to be her comeback album but it wasn't. So when The Emancipation of Mimi was hyped up as another comeback album, I had my doubts. (C'mon, only Cher could have this many genuine comebacks.) After a certain amount of skepticism and extensive research, I decided to buy the album after it had been released for 7 months. (I didn't even know I bought a platinum edition until I got home.) I have to say it is better than I expected. (And I didn't expect much at all.) Most of the songs are melodic and catchy. She even went back to the '80 and '90 sounds in some of the songs and pull it off quite well. The lyrics are just poorly written and often don't rhyme well. But to her defense, you can't really find good lyrics in pop songs these days so Mariah is not that bad compared to the current sad standards.

The best feature of this album, in my opinion, is Mariah's voice. Granted, it's not as crisp and resonant as it was in the first few albums but it is far better than the mumbling and throaty whispering she did in Rainbow and Charmbracelet. Sometimes she goes for too much (as in 'We belong together' and 'Mine again') and it shows. Nonetheless, I'd rather hear the crackling high notes than murmuring without effort.

The four songs that are included in this special edition are nothing special. 'Don't forget about us' is mediocre and sounds awfully similar to 'We belong together'. Of the four, only the remix of 'We belong together' interests me. That's simply because it elaborates more on the Bobby Womack and Babyface references that I didn't quite get on the original album version.

Overall, it's a good to very good album. It shows effort on Mariah's part to do better. One observation, though. Lots of the songs are about unsuccessful consummation of love and mostly about being dumped by some guy. If she's really happily emancipated, why not sing songs about jubilation and not about bereavement. Perhaps the album should be instead named 'The defection of Mimi'

At the time this album came out this was the best album she ever put out. I'd still put it at #2 behind her new album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. Features the #1 songs We Belong Together and Don't Forget About Us. But there is so much on this 5 Platinum 3 time grammy winning album.

Track Listing:
1. It's Like That ****
2. We Belong Together *****
3. Shake It Off ****
4. Mine Again *****
5. Say Somethin' ****
6. Stay The Night ****
7. Get Your Number ****
8. One And Only *****
9. Circles ****
10.Your Girl *****
11.I Wish You Only Knew ****
12.To The Floor ****
13.Joy Ride ****
14.Fly Like A Bird ****
15.Don't Forget About Us *****
16.Makin' It Last All Night (What It Do) ****
17.So Lonely (One And Only II) *****
18.We Belong Together Remix ****