Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel

Mariah Carey

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 29, 2009)
• Original Release Date: September 29, 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B002DSM8UC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (224 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #163 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Imperfections are in the eye of the beholder. You can see them as flaws, or as the very qualities that make us human -- and that make us strive to be better people in search of a perfection that we know we can never fully achieve. In the thirteen songs on her spellbinding new album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, Mariah Carey explores those aspects of our shared humanity with a rare depth, honesty and open-heartedness. It's one of the strongest statements in her long, distinguished career.

The subject of Memoirs is love at all its stages in our lives. Experiencing it for the first time. Losing it. Remembering its most painful moments, and also its times of greatest innocence and joy. Yearning for it. Learning from it. Growing as a result of its profound power. Finding it again and being grateful for so great a gift. And, finally, being humbled, filled with wonder and elevated by love's mysterious ways. In that sense and more, Memoirs is a full, immensely satisfying journey.

"Each song is like an intimate conversation or entry in a private diary," Carey says about the album. "A lot of the songs reflect specific, different times in my life. Others were inspired by movies, actual events that happened to me, or the stories of friends who told me about experiences that they've gone through." With just one exception, Carey wrote and produced the entire album in collaboration with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. The trio clearly shared an inspired sense of what Memoirs should be. Sinuous grooves and instantly memorable melodies flow from track to track, while the wit and intimacy of the lyrics create the feel of one friend talking to another. As well-defined as each song is, Memoirs plays with the beauty and consistency of a classic, start-to-finish album.

"My main goal was to work with people I could collaborate with without it seeming redundant or stale," Carey says. "In my opinion Tricky is one of the most underrated major producers out there right now. I really enjoyed collaborating with him. And I especially liked writing with The-Dream, basically because we both love having fun with lyrics and melodies, and we're also capable of getting more serious on deeper songs. There is a particular sense of freedom I feel when we write together -- even though I make him stay in the studio all night until he is ready to kill me! LOL!"

Memoirs' first single is the hard-hitting "Obsessed," which is accompanied by a video directed by Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour trilogy) in which Carey plays both the glamorous star and her stalker fan. Like the video, the song's lyrics combine devastating putdowns ("Last man on the Earth still couldn't get this") with humor ("See right through you like you're bathin' in Windex"). The no-nonsense "Up Out My Face" captures a similar caustic mood, dismissing a former lover with the send-off, "When I break, I break, boy." "It's a Wrap" delivers a similar message about the end of an affair: "When it's gone, it's gone." "Standing O," with its irresistible chorus, sardonically applauds a faithless ex for his signature achievement: "You played the one that loved you the most." "Betcha Gon' Know" foresees karmic revenge for a wayward lover, but, once again, the clever lyrics ("Oprah Winfrey whole segment for real, for real / 20/20 Barbara Walters for real, for real") encourage a smile amid the pain.

The ballad "H.A.T.E.U.," meanwhile, finds the singer seeing life in the wake of a breakup and longing for the moment when loss and regret transform into a cleansing anger. But the title of the song doesn't necessarily stand for what you think it might. "H.A.T.E.U. is the first song I wrote for the album," Carey says, "and it stands for Having A Typical Emotional Upset."

Always a brilliant technical singer with an extraordinary vocal range, Carey rises to new heights on that track. "I sing a recurring melody in the upper register of my voice; it's not an ad-lib, but an integral part of the song's hook," she says. "That's not something I've done before, and when listening back to it, it reminded me of how Minnie Riperton used her upper register on her hit song `Lovin' You.' I thought how ironic that her song was called `Lovin' You' and my song is called, `H.A.T.E.U.' - and both use that upper `whistle register' as a major part of the melody. So it's sort of an homage to Minnie Riperton, a tribute to her since she has been so influential in my singing style."

On a tender note, the wistful "Candy Bling" beautifully evokes the blissful realm of young love ("Anklets, name plates that you gave to me/Sweet tarts, ring pops had that candy bling/And you were my world"), while "Inseparable" aches for a love that went wrong for reasons that seem impossible to comprehend. "More Than Just Friends" floats off into a fantasy of what a casual relationship might become ("Permanently paint me in your picture like Picasso/Love me down till I hit the top of my soprano!"). "Ribbon" and "The Impossible" swoon with happiness and thankfulness over redemptive love that has returned to make life rich again. "You did the impossible," Carey sings. "You rescued my love."

Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel ends with a spectacularly powerful gospel rendition of Foreigner's gorgeous ballad, "I Want to Know What Love Is." Carey's voice soars into the heavens as a soul-stirring choir makes it clear that the search for love is the closest that any human being ever gets to the divine.

Which brings us back to the angel of the album's title. "I had written a song called `Imperfect,'" Carey says, "but it didn't make it onto the album. The lyrics of that song address the fact that the world puts so much pressure on us -- especially on women -- to be perfect and look a certain way, and that is impossible because nobody is perfect. Only God is perfect. I know I've tried to be a good person, but I am definitely no angel!"

"But after I put this album together and decided to name it Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," she concludes, "I remembered that the Minnie Riperton album that contained `Lovin' You' was called Perfect Angel. So I felt in so many ways that it was meant to be."

Product Description

Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is packaged in a beautiful 3-panel softpack. A must-have for all Mariah fans, it will include: - The CD - A 2nd Enhanced CD featuring the "Obsessed" video, a remix video, and 3 remixes

- a 36 page Elle mini-magazine that's an inside look at Mariah.

First came the emancipation, then came energy and power, and now come Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, the new album by interna­tional superstar Mariah Carey, scheduled to arrive on September 29th. The first new single pick from Memoirs is "Obsessed,". The video for "Obsessed" is directed by Brett Ratner. "Obsessed" was written and produced by Mariah, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, who are responsible for the majority of tracks on the new album. Memoirs was executive-produced by Antonio "L.A." Reid. Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, the 12th studio album of Mariah's career, is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her RIAA platinum-selling album E=MC² (released April 15, 2008), and her worldwide 10 million selling The Emancipation Of Mimi (released April 12, 2005). Both were Soundscan #1 debut albums that made chart history for Mariah in the U.S. and numerous territories around the globe.

The Emancipation Of Mimi generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemp­orary R&B Album), two #1 singles, and countless more honors during its 18-month chart stay. The album debuted at #1 on first week sales of 404,000 copies, Mariah's highest first week sales total (until E=MC²;). Soundscan's biggest-selling album of 2005, Mimi featured "We Belong Together" (Grammy winner for Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song) 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.

Three years later, E=MC²; debuted at #1 on first week sales of 463,000 copies, which now stands as the highest first week sales total of Mariah's career. The album's success brought total sales of Mariah's albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, distancing her even further from the pack as the top-selling female recording artist in history.

E=MC² spun off four singles: "Touch My Body," "Bye Bye," "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time," and "I Stay In Love." Of these, "Touch My Body" made history when it became Mariah's 18th #1 Hot 100 hit, thus surpassing Elvis Presley. "Touch My Body"'s two weeks at the top also marked Mariah's 78th and 79th cumulative career weeks at #1, which tied Elvis' long-standing all-time high of 79 weeks at #1, as calculated in Billboard.com. At the same time, Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 50 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

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't be put off by first listen - this is a slow-burning masterpiece!, October 10, 2009

By	Mathew A. Crane "Matt Crane" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

OK - so let's clear things up. Is this the best Mariah album of all-time?...probably not, but don't be confused by some negative press, slack first week sales or even first impressions. This is a slow-burning hit! After a few listens you stop obsessing about how this isn't a typical Mariah album and begin to appreciate this as possibly her most cohesive body of work since her debut. This is a superby crafted album, with each story interwoven via interludes and repeated phrases to create a consistent piece of artistic expression. What initially comes across as everything sounding the same - after a couple of listens reveals each song as one chapter (or memoir) in Mariah's love/life story and is exceptional. So it's not the same as everything else she's done - true - and if it had of been would she have been criticized for trying to recreate Mimi?
While some tracks feel more album filler than floor filler - there are some perfectly crafted songs which resonate with warmth, cutting homour, sarcasm and heartbreak - indeed it seems ironic that Mariah would write the best break-up album of her career (with the arguable exception of Butterfly) when she is happily married! Stand-out tracks are "Betcha Gon Know" (possibly the classiest slice of R & B Carey has ever produced), "Obsessed" and it's slightly darker sister track "Standing O", "H.A.T.E.U", "Inseperable", the superb "Up Out My Face" (which is a sure-fire number 1 if marketed correctly) and "Angels Cry" - in my opinion the best Mariah ballad we've heard in years. With every song concentrating on love and heartbreak - the only thing the album lacks is an anthem. Carey's ability to write universal songs of inspiration and reflection such as Make it Happen, Hero, Can't take that away (Mariah's theme), Close My Eyes and so on have often been the tracks that have been most requested and most treasured by her adoring fan base, and the lack of one on "Memoirs" is noticeably absent.
Ultimately - this album may not sell what it deserves to as people may surf the samples once and not re-listen, which would be a great shame. For my money, Mariah has written, sung and co-produced a bravely different album which deserves high-ranking status in her back-catalogue, and once again proves that Carey's platinum voice and under-rated song-writing deserves it's already cemented place in music history.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Album!!, October 4, 2009

By	Lauren Glenn "musiclover" (Atlanta,GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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I love Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel. I feel that many songs have grown on me as with any new album. I also feel that she could have done without The Dream & Tricky Stewart on a few songs but they are what's hot now. I know people who initially hated the album but after a few more listens they are loving the songs. The "90s" Mariah is gone so get over it and stop making that a reason to HATE the album. People grow and CHANGE with the times. Current favorite songs:
1. Betcha Gon Know
2. Candy Bling
3. Ribbon
4. Standing O
5. It's A Wrap
6. Inseparable
7. Up Out My Face
8. The Impossible
9. Languishing (This grows on me more and more.)

I just can't believe true Mariah fans can't find at least one song they love on this album.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Epic & Masterful : The Artist as a Visionary, October 6, 2009

By	Cabir Davis - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

For longtime followers of Mariah Carey's music, "Butterfly" from 1997 remains her most enduring work - a gorgeous collection of tracks that worked as a 'concept album', and also individually - and some of the lesser known works from the album - "Fourth of July", "The Roof", and of course, the seminal "Breakdown", remain some of the greatest songs ever recorded in R&B history.

Which is why "Memoirs" is interesting on so many levels. Not only has Carey decided to revisit her R&B roots, she also pays homage to certain key musical forces along the way, most noticeably Marvin Gaye, and Sade. Those influences permeate this recording, and while it can loosely be called a 'concept album', it is sequenced in breathtaking fashion, with every song in the right place, not a note wrong; and Carey's infamous whistle register arrives at just the right places.

The great thing about Mariah Carey's music is that despite the glossy and overproduced elements of her early 1990s work, she has learnt to go with the times and make music that is current, yet always with a hint of throwback. Sadly, her last two records, while being eminently memorable, weren't quite in keeping with her usually solid output (I also consider 'Charmbracelet' to be a winning CD; though highly underrated). "Memoirs" corrects that, because it seems to reject radio-friendly pop, and rather immerse itself in the very root of R&B - some songs sound like love-children of Maxwell, India Arie and Erykah Badu, and this can only be a good thing.

The Erykah Badu comparisons are also very valid on certain key tracks on this record. Shades of Mary J. Blige (especially on a key track entitled 'Hate U') are all over the place, and Carey indulges the more bizarre sides of her (an entire two minute track is composed of a high school brass band repeating the same line ad nauseum), and her lyrics often veer into strange, almost transcendent madness. Consider this: "Not even a nail technician with a whole lot of gel and acrylic can fix this when I break; If we were two Lego blocks, even the Harvard University graduating class of 2010 couldn't put us back together again". Granted, things aren't always this far out. On most tracks, Carey sings about what she knows - love and relationships; but it wears thin after a certain point.

However, the music often makes up for the dubious lyrical content. Lead single 'Obsessed' is the worst thing here, and sadly, some of the interludes could have worked as full-fledged songs themselves. Prime amongst these is "Languising", easily Mariah's greatest ballad since the incomparable "Close My Eyes" from "Butterfly". The songwriting here is stellar, and only serves to reiterate that when Carey does it right, she really nails it. This one track is easily mightier than the entire output of "E=MC2", and marginally better than most anything on "Emancipation" (save for 'We Belong Together').

Also surprising are song choices that open and close the album. The Foreigner Cover at the end doesn't sound quite appealing in the beginning, but a repeat listen convinces you of its' greatness, at least for the first verse and chorus. This isn't a terrific song to close any album with, but it sounds comfortable and inspired enough to hold everything that came before it. And the gems here are many - "Angels Cry" has a killer chorus that would do great as a commercial single, and "Standing O" is something that grows on you, much like the latter half of her previous album.

Whats especially convincing about "Memoirs" is that Mariah isn't trying very hard to 'sell out' or garner any more No. 1 singles (whether or not that happens is of no consequence anymore). What she HAS done is create an album that rivals 1997s' "Butterfly" in terms of novelty and creativity. The unfortunately titled "Candy Bling" is actually a stunning tune and lyric that acts as a befitting sequel to "Underneath the Stars", and almost every song here some sort of reference point on "Butterfly". For that alone, I can award this five stars.

An artist in her element. Listened to purely as an auditory experience and not as a commercial product, this ranks very highly amongst Carey's vast back-catalog. Five Stars.