I don’t like to give my opinion about an album until I’ve had the chance to listen to it a couple of times because its almost impossible to get the full picture when you’re only hearing the first minute of each track. With that said, I bought Mariah’s “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” last week and its been in rotation ever since. I’ll be honest, I didn’t LOVE this record when I first popped it in but I think that’s because I wasn’t entirely expecting a concept album in the age of mp3 downloads and hit singles…especially coming from the only female artist to have 18 #1 hits, only 2 less than the Beatles. I give her a lot of credit for experimenting with this and doing what she is great at…not just what’s popular today.
What I love about this record is there are absolutely NO RAPPERS!! Hooray!! I never understood why she felt the need to do that in the first place. The only exception is ODB in “Fantasty”…I actually liked that crazy fuvah muckah. I like hip hop but when it comes to Mariah, there’s no need to crowd the track.
The majority of the songs are reminiscent of 97/98’s “Butterfly” album- smooth mid-range vocals, R&B hooks, beautiful ballads and then sultry slow jamz (with a Z). I fully admit I used to be a Mariah junkie but when she started acting and releasing less than stellar music that drifted away from her strengths…I wasn’t into it. Now, its safe to say that I’m back on the Mariah bandwagon. I won’t be hanging up half-naked Mariah posters anytime soon (I hide them under my bed shhh) but you get the point. Its like she is finally getting back to the music that made her the Queen of the 90s and focusing on her adult audience rather than competing with Miley Cyrus and Kelly Clarkson for the teens. I luvz it (with a Z…everything is more important with a Z on the end)
I only have ONE gripe about Memoirs and that’s there are practically no up-beat dance tracks. “Obsessed” is pretty much the most up-tempo song you’ll hear but, hey, I’m happy I have my Dreamlover back. FINALLY, this is the Mariah I’ve been waiting for. And yes, maybe I will never get over my MC infatuation…but I’m okay with that. And lay off the photoshop, MC. I love you just the way you aaaaaaare.
GRADE: A- “Love it!”
-Lori
