The lyrics are particularly strong and contain some interesting phrases and the melody is just loaded with hooks making it easy to learn and sing to. They tell of Mariah's great passion for her boyfriend and how she spends most of her time thinking of him. Mariah sings most of the time using her middle register.
All in all a great lead off track and a classy piece of nineties pop.
An essential listen.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Dave Hall. 1995 Columbia.
Mariah sings very sweetly of course and Walter Afanasieff works his
usual wonders with the keyboards and percussion.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
The message is in the lyrics with the artistes singing how much they miss friends who have gone to heaven and how prayers and hopes fill their time and how they all hope to be together again someday. The accompaniment is simple but effective - woodblocks, snapping fingers and drums with bass guitar and keyboards.
A beautiful song indeed, one which I'm sure the Americans will treasure
for always and quite suitable for singing at funerals etc.. Sob sob.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
Walter Afanasieff does another great job on the drum machine.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey.1995 Columbia.
* 'mariah carey revisited' by Chris Nickson 1998 St. Martin's Griffin.
The lyrics tell of a love between Mariah and her lover which even though may be going through a bad patch won't really ever come to an end.
The track starts with some nice guitar but most of the simple but
effective accompaniment is on the piano. A super song for singers
everywhere.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal. 1995 Columbia.
It's a lovely album track.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff, Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
The words describe how Mariah has fallen deeply in love and, in fact,
she is a little breathless due to the intensity of her feelings, so much
so that she will never be the same again. It makes me feel young again
and is pretty much how a classic love song should sound. Top class for
sure.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
What I like about it is that Mariah just loses all her inhibitions, relaxes and even gurgles her way through it with great faith. It is marvellous that this day and age she can do this and I think all her true fans love it as it's informal. This is the right place for it too, obviously, tucked away on an album ready for you to curl up with and let your thoughts wander as you get to know Mariah's songbase!
She has added crackle to this to make it sound like an old 78 rpm
recording. Mariah, Kelly Price and Manuel Seal sing backing vocals. The
words are somewhat sad as she recalls a past romance with someone she
misses. Another pretty song.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal. 1995
Columbia.
She sings of time spent with her lover and how much she enjoys the feelings being together generates.
I quite like the keyboard accompaniment by Babyface which is simple but
effective as is the drumming. It's a nice track to cuddle up to
your lover on the sofa! Terrific.
Produced by: Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
Mariah sings with great feeling about how she will love her lover forever whilst Walter Afanasieff plays sweetly on the piano. It's a pleasant combination and when Mariah comes up with the 'shoo be doo wap' (or whatever) in the backing vocals too the song really starts to triumph. The last chorus is a gem.
Great entertainment.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
Mariah sings about her lover in her sweet daydream fantasy world.
It features piano by Terry Burrus and live percussion by Steve
Thornton.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, David Morales. 1995 Columbia.
Mariah sings somewhat sadly about herself and how she relates to her
audiences. She makes the point most emphatically and unequivocally that
we will never know her properly however hard we listen to her songs,
watch her videos or talk to her. In other words she has God's armour on
which protects her from prying interviewers and such like.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey. 1995 Columbia.
It's basically a pop song but you could call it hip-hop too. Mariah sings using her middle register about her lover and how much she loves him making love to her and especially his orgasms. She giggles a little and is in generally a very happy mood about the whole affair.
It's a pretty song and adds a whole new reality to the concept of love
songs. It's an essential listen of course!
Produced by: Sean 'Puffy' Combs, The Ummah, Stevie J., Mariah Carey.
1997 Columbia.
Mariah sings very competently mostly with her middle register but occasionally with her lower, with more of her skilful volume changes which helped make her so famous on 'Mariah Carey'.
The words tell of the classic situation where Mariah is simply alone
but wishes she wasn't! It's certainly an essential listen for all Mariah
fans and got to number one as a single on the Billboard charts. A
classic song about a classic situation.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff. 1997 Columbia.
The words are awesomely good on this track, arguably her best ever, almost as if this is the very first love-song anyone had ever written. One's mind just jumps straight to one of America's skyscrapers or apartment blocks, with maybe New York in the background, with these two lovers on, maybe, their first secret date mixed up in the high flying, commercial, Western world with their raincoats flapping in the damp evening breeze and a brolly keeping the rain off. Just two of the millions of normal people who do this sort of thing every day in the United States. This first rendezvous on a rainy rooftop in the recent past has made a big impression on Mariah. She keeps this experience at the ready and flips back to it anytime she feels like it during the rest of the relationship. Utterly brilliant songwriting.
It's Cory Rooney, unusually, who does the business on keyboards with Poke and Tone on drums. The introduction is one of her best too with a beautiful build from just a note or three on the piano. Mariah sings using her middle register using Kelly Price and herself on backing vocals to give so much depth and variation to the lyrics it makes the whole song twice as interesting to listen to.
It's a masterpiece of vocal layering with Mariah adding 100% extra to the main melody with carefully placed backing phrases. She was certainly on form the day(s) she laid this one down.
It's a wonderful track because it is different to her regular songs,
probably because it was produced by Poke and Tone. But there is
definitely something else which gives the song that 'je ne sais quoi' which
makes it a hit with me. It must be the idea of singing in the rain and the
sheer size of the skyscrapers! I hope you love it too!
Produced by: Poke and Tone, Mariah Carey. 1997 Columbia.
Mariah sings sweetly using mainly her middle register. There is birdsong in the background as all the action is outside. The accompaniment is mostly synthesised bass guitar and snare drum.
All in all very pleasant.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff. 1997 Columbia.
'Breakdown' is a masterpiece of modern studio techniques and vocal layering or overdubbing, at which Mariah is second to none. It is R&B at its very best with Krayzie Bone (who has a very fine voice) and Wish Bone singing backing vocals to the best diva in the world. On the day(s) she wrote and recorded this Mariah and her team were truly inspired. It is an awesome tribute to the world of R&B.
The lyrics are as sad and painful as ever and truly depressing if you dwell on them too long (I wonder if she was writing from her own experiences poor girl!). They must be her finest ever and not really cliched at all. Basically her lover has just let her know that he doesn't love her and that he's bringing the relationship to a close.
But I suppose in true R&B tradition musically, she mixes those sad, sad lyrics together with the finest (dare I say counterpoint) melodies of her career. It reminds me of a mass by Tallis or Palestrina in the way the tunes intertwine and meld into a wonderful tapestry of song which should help lift you out of the blues ready for the next boyfriend!
Stevie J. is responsible for the basic rim-shot, hi-hat and synthesised base which tie all the melodies together. There is also birdsong which lends a nice touch.
Mariah sings very clearly mainly with her middle register. But it's the
third chorus that has the marvellous layering. I can hear Mariah
singing lead and a different melody behind and also the two men.
That's four parts at once just as in sacred music. Splendid, impressive
songwriting. Let's hope they work together again on a similar sort of
project because they are well worth listening to.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Stevie J., Sean 'Puffy' Combs. 1997
Columbia.
Cory Rooney plays phat keyboards on this whilst Mariah sings with all
three registers both lead and backing vocals. Trey Lorenz also sings
backing vocals. As in 'Breakdown' she
has done a marvellous job in layering the vocals until they intertwine
and become a glorious vocal message in two parts really, rather than
just lead and backing. In verse three Mariah sounds, unusually, like a
choirboy. Delightful.
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Cory Rooney. 1997 Columbia.
I guess this one is largely autobiographical as the lyrics are
beautiful. She sings of growing up and the various experiences of her
youth.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff. 1997 Columbia.
Walter plays piano and Dan Shea plays simple percussion. But there are also some gorgeous strings in the accompaniment which add greatly to the latter parts of the song.
Mariah sings using her middle register some really moving lyrics which tell of her total support and love for her partner especially when he calls.
The outstanding part is the sensational timing of Mariah's first line
in the fourth chorus. There is a short rest just before it which lends
greatly to the drama and then in she comes right on time with the
accompaniment again singing at the top of her voice. Highly effective
songwriting indeed and an essential listen for all discerning fans.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff. 1997 Columbia.
The first section starts with Mariah singing lyrics from 'Butterfly' both in her upper and middle register, (there is also the sound of something like a tractor and birdsong in the background which must be typical butterfly habitat).
The main section has finger clicking and hand clapping with a typical
David Morales bass and kick drum (played by Peter 'Ski' Schwartz) giving
the song dance rhythm. Melonie Daniels and Mary Ann Tatum join Mariah
on backing vocals.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and David Morales. 1997 Columbia.
Dru Hill uses his normal voice and a falsetto to compliment Mariah's
middle and upper ranges, and it works very effectively. There is also a
section of spoken words in the middle to make it more appealing. It's
certainly an interesting and essential listen as it's so unusual. I love
that guitar!
Produced by: Mariah Carey, Cory Rooney. 1997 Columbia.
She sings convincingly about worldly people and how they never achieve anything particularly good compared to the sound accomplishments of those who honour God and serve Him. Those sorts of worldly people will always be on the outside.
The accompaniment is really slow, mainly percussion by Nathaniel Townsley and keyboards shared by Walter Afanasieff and Donald Parker with bass guitar by Artie Reynolds.
Vocally, there is a memorable moment in the bridge where she sings,
what sounds to me, like an improvisation. She just leaves the
accompaniment and sings her heart out for about eight lines in an enormous
crescendo or climax before settling back into the song rhythm. It's a
brilliant piece of singing and I interpret it to mean she's a bit bored with
studio recording and wants to do another live set because it reminds me
of her 'MTV Live and Unplugged E.P.'! I wish she'd do it more often. As I said it's
an unusual song for her therefore an essential listen and your time
will be well rewarded by that bridge at the end. It's a classic.
Produced by: Walter Afanasieff, Mariah Carey, Cory Rooney. 1997
Columbia.
The producers use some studio effects to 'chop up' Mariah's voice
electronically and sometimes add a lot of echo which makes it interesting.
Some might say that the effects upset Mariah a little but she soon
recovers to sing as well as ever.
All in all the effect is very pleasing if somewhat haunting and lonely.
Of course those strong, strong lyrics carry the mix which should fill
the floors forever breaking new ground as far as love-songs go! I hope
you enjoy it.
Produced by: David Morales and Mariah Carey. 1997 Columbia.