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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mariah, you've got me feeling emotions..., October 22, 2003
Inbetween her debut and Music Box, I kind of lost track of and faith with Mariah Carey. I was also getting into the grunge and alternative scene, but the first single I heard, the title track, made me think, "OK, what's going on here? No ballad for the first single?" I've finally been sitting down and listening to it and see I've misjudged this album. The catchy danceability outdoes that of "Someday" and she lets out more than her share of piercing high notes I've associated with her. That and three other songs were done by the plant managers of the C&C Music Factory, Robert Clivilles and David Coles.OK, anytime you see anything written by Mariah and Walter Afanasieff, think to yourself, "wonderful ballad with keyboards", because that's what "And You Don't Remember" is one of the sad heartbreak ones, which leaves her "stranded here/in nothingness/with only tears/and loneliness." "Can't Let Go" is another one of those ballads, her voice is emotionally stronger in this one, awash with the piano-synths, drum programming, and her backing vocals. The upbeat funky R&B of "Make It Happen" is another C&C production, and one of Mariah's religious songs on not giving up in the struggle with life. Seeing Carole King's name after Mariah in the songwriting for "If It's Over" was surprising. This gospelly ballad includes a trumpet, trombone, tenor sax, and bari-sax, so it goes all out with instruments. She asks for outright honesty and communication instead of uncomfortable avoidance. "If it's over, let me go" she sings, and demonstrates her strong vocal power here. She tries to do her best approx. of an Aretha wail in the beginning of the C&C-produced "You're So Cold." The dilemma of staying with a cold and cruel-hearted man is the theme here. While she bewails the way he treats her, the tragedy is she's still in love with the rotter. "So Blessed" is another Afanasieff slow-dancing tender-hearted ballad. The lullaby-like melody of this song evolved into "Forever" from Daydream. "Stay with me beyond the end/I treasure you/you made me whole again" she sings thankfully. "To Be Around You" is another uplifting funky C&C song, tinged with heavy synths and backing vocalists in the chorus; this song is a celebratory one. The last Afanasieff ballad is "Till The End Of Time", and three guess to what words precede the title in the chorus. A sweet ballad with Mariah's voice at its gospellish best. The stark bluesy piano torch ballad "The Wind" is an ode to a loved one who died young, and Mariah goes into quivering and near-weepy mode. "And to the wind go so many dreams...how could you let life pass you by" she asks forlornly. I can easily see a blue light cast over her as she stands in front of the piano. This and the previous song were recorded in part at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, but apparently, no Ewoks were featured as backing vocalists. Mariah enlisted the plant managers of C&C Music Factory, Robert Clivilles and David Coles, for producing and writing four songs, including the title song. Now that I have to listen to this album, I realize that it's actually quite refreshing--with the right number of ballads and upbeat dance tunes, even balanced in the middle. Well recommended for the emotions, the happy and sad ones.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leave The Girl Alone, August 1, 2003
I have been a Mariah Carey fan since the age of 3, and my mom brought home her Mariah Carey cassette. Later on I got Music Box, Daydream, Butterfly, #1's, Rainbow, Glitter, and finally I reached back and bought Emotions after listening to it over at a friend's house (It's hard to find.). I was amazed with every single track. My favorite's had to be Can't Let Go, Make It Happen, To Be Around You, Till The End Of Time (excellent vocals) and The Wind (absolutely haunting). Anyone who says that the tracks are too similar sounding to her debut, I don't remember hear any electric guitars on Emotions (I'm refering to the song "You Need Me"). And even if they did sound similar, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And also, anyone who says that Emotions had too much R&B, you don't know what R&B is. This album was straight up and down gospel-influenced dance pop, and don't even try to equate gospel and R&B, cuz they sound similar now, but they didn't back in 1991. And now we're complaining about how she didn't stick to her old stuff. And I read in some reviews that the main reason you didn't like the cd was because it sounded like her debut. Make up your minds, people!
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
EMOTIONS-Mariah's 1991 Sophomore Effort, September 8, 2001
A great Mariah Carey album. Here are the songs.EMOTIONS-An excellent song. Great for singing along with in the car. Very danceable. Try to find some of the remixes if you can-they are worth it. AND YOU DON'T REMEMBER-A very good song; very powerful vocals and excellent, moving lyrics. CAN'T LET GO-Such a beautiful song. How annoying that it didn't go to #1, not to mention that it held on to #2 for so long! Doesn't this beautiful ballad take you back? No doubt, the best single off the album. MAKE IT HAPPEN-A great song that was a good slight-exaggeration of Mariah's post-high school, pre-record deal life. I don't know why it gets such harsh criticism from some people. Very danceable and catchy, great vocals. Like Emotions, great remixes are rare but findable. IF IT'S OVER-The music truly spells Carol King all over it (they both collaborated on it). A nice song, but Mariah seems to get a little overpassionate at time. The first few seconds of the song (dum-dum-a-dum, the drums) are so annoying that they make you skip over the song to the next track. Still, a worthy composition. The live version on UNPLUGGED is better. YOU'RE SO COLD-A very odd song, hard to tell if it's supposed to be sad or uplifting; perhaps a bit of both. I'm tired of this sort of song, but this one is good. It is really a true illustration of her creativity if you think about. SO BLESSED-Though an excellent ballad, this song was condemed to being a SIDE-B. What a shame, it should have been an A-side. One of her absolute best. TO BE AROUND YOU-Another condemned SIDE-B, it was the side B to the CAN'T LET GO single. A very good dance song, I truly wish there had been some remixes to this. They'd've been fantastic, but they never came about. TILL THE END OF TIME-Probably my favorite Mariah song ever, definitely my favorite from this album. This is why EMOTIONS is my favorite album of hers. You have to listen to this song to see what I mean-she was at her best here. If it had been a single, now that I think about it, it still probably wouldn't have gone anywhere, but that means nothing. This song truly belongs at the end or near the end of an album, it makes for a great closing, and so it's in perfect place in the tracklisting. What a shame, she'll probably never do it in concert again, if she ever did. THE WIND-Very haunting and breathtaking. Its hard to believe a 21 year-old could write those lyrics! An excellent song, creates its own music video for you. A great close to the CD. (The man who wrote the music to this track, Russell Freeman, was living a less-than-satisfactory life when Mariah chose to write lyrics to his beautiful music. Since then, his life's been great again.) A truly wonderful album! Is a great representative of early 90's adult-contemporary/pop music. You must get it if you haven't already. I recommend getting it in the MARIAH CAREY/EMOTIONS/MUSIC BOX box set edition, which is due out in early October. All three albums are amazing, especially Emotions.
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by Mariah Carey 
