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Butterfly

Mariah Carey

1997

Butterfly
Album Summary

Butterfly is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on September 16, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album contained both hip hop and urban adult contemporary sounds, as well as some softer and more contemporary melodies. Throughout the project, Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she had written and produced most of the material from her previous albums. She also worked with many famed hip hop producers and rappers, such as Sean "Puffy" Combs, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott and the Trackmasters. With the latter acts producing most of the album, Butterfly deviated from the adult contemporary sound of Carey's previous albums. With Butterfly, Carey continued the transition that began with previous album, Daydream (1995), which pushed her further into the R&B and hip hop market and away from the pop background of her previous work. During her marriage to Tommy Mottola, Carey had little control over the creative and artistic steps she took on her albums, however, after their divorce midway through the album's conception, she was able to reflect her creative maturity and evolution in the album's writing and recording. Carey writes in the booklet of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009), that she considers Butterfly her magnum opus and a turning point in both her life and career. Five singles were released from the album; two worldwide commercial singles and three limited promotional singles. "Honey", the album's lead single, topped the charts in Canada and the United States, and reached the top-five in New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom. The album's fifth and final single, "My All", became a top-ten hit throughout Europe and topped the charts in the United States. To promote the album, Carey embarked on the Butterfly World Tour, which visited Australia, Japan and Taiwan, with one show in the United States. Butterfly was nominated for three Grammy Awards at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. Butterfly received acclaim from music critics, many of whom embraced Carey's musical transition. Reviewers complimented the album for its mature sound and production, as well as Carey's musical direction. Though released during Carey's heavily publicized conflict with Sony Music, the album became an international commercial success, topping the albums charts in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, as well as the United States. It was certified five-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States and received the Million Award in Japan. Globally, Butterfly has sold over ten million copies.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.47

Votes

7062
Genres
Pop

Reviews

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Fri Mar 19 2021
2

Not unpleasant, and I can see how R&B fans would like this, but it's not for me. Every track sounds exactly the same. Mariah doesn't really sing songs so much as just moan scales.

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Fri May 14 2021
2

More whining and oooOOoOooOoos than words.

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Mon Mar 08 2021
1

Cars crashing, the sound of metal twisting, two pie tins rubbed together, nails across a blackboard- all these are more enjoyable noises.

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Thu May 20 2021
5

I don't think I realized how much 90s r&b was used in Disney movies credits but this really brought me back to childhood. It's definitely a genre I can't totally get into but none the less this album is a gem. Breakdown is my favorite. But how can we get Fourth of July to be an actual holiday classic?

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Thu May 20 2021
3

World class voice (5) and sub par songs (2) IMO.

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Wed Mar 17 2021
2

I know she has an amazing voice, but I find it jarring when she (or anyone) goes really high with loads of notes added in and she isn't even singing words - essentially just showing off. Also, pop r&b is probably the only genre I find virtually no enjoyment in. I don't care if millions of people love this album, objectivity can do one. 4.5/10

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Tue Sep 22 2020
1

Not really a huge fan of the whole diva thing (it sounds too much like when people sing the Star-Spangled Banner and they feel compelled to go "AND THE ROCKETS' RED GLAAAAAEEOUUOOAAIIIEEEEEUUUUUER" for some reason). Also not a huge rap guy. Best song: Close My Eyes, which was the only one I really liked and wouldn't be out of place on a Zero 7 album.

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Thu Sep 23 2021
1

It's pretty bad. It fits every cheesy 90s stereotype, even the guy in the background whispering *MC* and *Break it down*. The only redeeming factor is it gave me a laugh

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Fri May 14 2021
5

Favorite tracks: Honey, Butterfly, My All, The Roof (Back in Time), Fourth Of July, Babydoll, Outside Least favorite tracks: The Beautiful Ones 9/10

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Thu Jan 21 2021
2

The Roof Shook Ones Part II sample 🔥, otherwise a very well produced album and Mariah Carey obviously has an incredible voice. Just not the type of music for me

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Fri Sep 10 2021
2

Almost 1 hour of Mariah Carey? That is...at least, unexpected. A good album if you want to listen to the same song for 50 minutes. That clean and inoffensive hip-hop/pop/soul mix does not mean anything in the end, but I assume that there are some nice songs for some busy days when you won't turn off your mind and do not think or enjoy the music at all.

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Wed Nov 17 2021
2

Mariah Carey, pop darling, is known for her silky smooth voice which has graced 17 albums thus far. This her 5th album. Do you want to know something I didn't know? Carey is credited as the PRODUCER for this album! He made these songs!! All this time I thought she was a pretty face with a voice being used by other producers in the game, but no! She's the songwriter, producer, did her own background vocals too. That's hilarious. Anyway, this album marks a turning point in her discography (from what I read). She pivoted from a more watered-down adult contemporary pop sound to a more hip-hop + R&B sound. This is evident in Honey, the album's opening track. Unfortunately, Honey is also the strongest track as the rest of the album falls back into slow jams that are just okay. It's a bit disappointing because it feels like I listened to the same song in 10 or 11 different ways, just not very engaging. Mariah Carey is a wonderful voice that is delegated to the same shtick over and over and over again. This is also a divorce album, so maybe it's warranted. Marvin Gaye did it better, in my opinion.

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Thu Jan 27 2022
1

Musical pollution. In the case of the people vs. Mariah Carey, this is evidence for the prosecution.

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Wed Jun 02 2021
5

6/3 Mariah's golden voice over flawlessly executed blends of R&B and Hip-Hop production. Standout Tracks: Honey, Butterfly, The Roof (Back In Time), Breakdown, Babydoll, Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)

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Mon Apr 19 2021
5

amazing spectacular never the same totally unique

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Fri Jan 15 2021
4

There’s some really good tracks on this thing. Very mellow, the group vocals and harmonies are really nice, I think some songs feel maybe a tiny bit redundant. Babydoll is a standout. Feels so sexy and groovy. Honestly I had a great time with this lol

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

Loved the sample from Mobb deep's song (don't know the original sample)

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Thu Oct 29 2020
3

Spotify. Fave song “Honey”. Give me the singles.

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Thu May 26 2022
3

She has such an incredible voice and such average songs

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Wed Mar 17 2021
2

Great voice and respect to her success. Prefer the R&b vibes to the ballads. The R&B stuff is pretty nostalgic of some 90s teenage house party vibes. But on the whole, not for me.

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Wed Jan 12 2022
2

Bit of a gear change from Nick Drake to this one. Gotta say a couple of the poppier tracks are pretty groovy. But her vocalisation is not for me and the rest of the album is just a compilation of RnB ballads which gets boring. Slick production but often feels overproduced. 1 star felt too harsh but it's definitely not for me!

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Fri Mar 05 2021
5

This is my wheelhouse! Loved hearing some R&B; takes me right back to my high school days.

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Fri Jun 24 2022
5

I was under the impression that I did not particularly care for Mariah Carey's music. I was so wrong! I really dig this album. Outstanding.

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Sun Oct 02 2022
5

absolute perfection from start to finish.

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Wed Feb 01 2023
5

Mariah Carey Butterfly Honey is a classic. She is really an incredible singer. I love all the super slick production on the 90’s r&b ballads. Well done album the whole way through- I liked the butterfly reprise too. The prince cover is sounds so drastically different from the rest of the album but it works.

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Wed Feb 08 2023
5

Not my usual music, and I find the artist to be unrelatable in interviews I've seen, but this was quite good. Pretty remarkable album, really.

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Fri May 05 2023
5

Mimi's best album by fat, Emancipation might tip her crown but for now, I am a Butterfly stan. Lead single is one of the best songs about (sea-men_ ever and her vocals are incomparable Breakdown deserved to go diamond, I love the layering and the verses, Mariah's pen goes as hard as ever on this album and it's so cohesive and vital to her imperial era. Definitely a leg up from Daydream But surprisingly my favourite song is Fly Away reprise, David Morales popped off with the house remix, something for the gays and girls to dance to in the summertime I see. Happy Pride everyone. That's a real fucking legacy to leave. No notes. Not a single skip.

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Mon May 22 2023
5

The best Mariah album hands down

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Thu May 13 2021
4

I forgot that she's much more than "All I Want for Christmas."

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Thu Jan 21 2021
4

I liked it more then I expected.

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Thu May 20 2021
4

This is earlier Mariah than I was familiar with growing up, but it's great! Her voice is incredible, and I think it does a great job blurring the lines of pop, R&B, and hip-hop. Felt good throughout. Feels like a 3.5 but I'll round up because I found myself grooving!

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Mon Sep 06 2021
4

This album was good. Silky smooth R&B. However, I didn't completely enjoy all of the songs. 4/5 stars.

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Thu Jan 13 2022
4

Solid mix of tunes. A little slow for my liking, but it's cool to see the variety of music genres she brings into her music

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Mon Mar 07 2022
4

Is good, not a big fan of the constant yodeling.

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Wed Mar 23 2022
4

Big. Time. Pop. Record. When it was popular I was oh, so, too, cool. I was a dummy then. But I was also distracted by music like Radiohead's "OK Computer," which I think is a worthwhile endeavor. So, I'm giving this record a 4/5 for the impact it had on the people I know who loved it (almost every girl in my life between the ages of 2-20).

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Mon May 09 2022
4

Really good album, great beats, harmonies and melodies. Mariah’s singing is still amazing all these years later

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Fri May 13 2022
4

syrupy sweet and very "discount sexy" -- breathy hooks and moans, Donna Summer did it better. But Puffy does know what he's doing, it's a solid album.

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Thu May 19 2022
4

overplayed but catchy haha. +1 star because its easy to listen to at work.

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Fri Jun 10 2022
4

I decently enjoyed it. Very smooth r&b with some hip hop vibes thrown in. Mariah’s voice is perfection but on a few songs she only sings in a sort of whisper which I don’t find as great. Quite a few really good songs on here though. 7/10

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Wed Jun 22 2022
4

I mean, it's Mariah Carey so it's gonna be good. But that said, this album was worth a listen but not the legendary status where I'd consider it essential for this list. Fave track: "Butterfly", the title track. But this record is no Daydream. Her vocals really "Carey" (har har har) this record. Because even though she has these great whistle tones and amazing technique, and that lives up to the hype, the melodies are meh and the production is just okay. This album reads as much more dated to me than Daydream and the Emancipation of Mimi. And there's the fact that the artist is a serial sexual harasser (funny, isn't it, how the culture dismissed that one during #MeToo) and overalls seems like a shitty person. If I knew her in real life then I'd say I don't know her. Anyway, I digress. Normally this album would be 3 stars but I'm bumping it up one on the strength of the vocals alone.

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Thu Sep 08 2022
4

Nice enough, liked Beautiful Ones.

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Wed Oct 05 2022
4

I wasn't sure what to think about this album at first. This is after the era where I was aware of what Mariah Carey was doing and doesn't contain any of the songs I think of when her name is mentioned. However, at this point I'm three songs deep in the album and I recognize all of them. Moreover, each song has its own thing going on. Some sound more like her earlier work, some presage some of the movements in pop music that would happen in the early 2000s. The hip-hop tracks provide a good balance to the more straightforward R&B tracks. Her vocals are more subdued than a lot of the vocal acrobatics of her earlier work, though the angelic power of her voice is still evident in every track. I do feel like the album bogs down a bit as it goes, but overall it's still a 4/5

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Sun Oct 16 2022
4

Prachtige stem , mooie songs!

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Sun Oct 30 2022
4

Fantastische zangeres, en iets meer R&B dan ik verwachtte. Je merkt waar Beyoncé de mosterd haalde

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Fri Dec 30 2022
4

I'm not a Mariah Carey fan by any means, but this was a pleasant album to have in the background. There's no question that she has talent and it shows on this album.

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Wed Feb 01 2023
4

God, I love her voice. This is not my favorite album of hers. (Music Box is the best followed by Mariah Carey for anyone who is asking. My All is a banger though which is why it deserves a 4 from me. She really can (could?) sing.

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Thu Feb 16 2023
4

first listen pretty good r&b

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Fri Mar 17 2023
4

me re gusto! fue como escuchar a kali uchis hace 20 años. lo voy a volver a poner, sobretodo para la mañana

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Fri Mar 17 2023
4

SPELLLING! spellling, mi artista favorita de los ultimos años, tiene cosas de mariah carey, la voz, la superposicion de las voces, las melodias, las onomatopeyas "uuuuuuuooooooo" en las canciones, sin el sentimiento y los instrumentos de gospel que tanto identifican a spellling, especialmente turning wheel. Me gustó mucho. También (medio stretch) siento alguuuuuuunas cosas de los bee gees que tambien amo mucho, en las canciones.

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Thu Mar 30 2023
4

I think it's impressive how Mariah can adapt to basically any track. On another singer's record, the gamut of gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and pop might sound strange, but for the most part Mariah fits perfectly in. A few duds here, but otherwise solid album. Favorite tracks: "My All", "The Roof", "Breakdown"

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Thu Apr 20 2023
4

Not my music but generally speaking a great commercial album

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Thu May 11 2023
4

vuelve a quedar demostrado que el pop lo es todo para mi. 8/10

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Thu May 25 2023
4

It doesn’t have quite the high moments as Daydream (Fantasy, Always Be My Baby, One Sweet Day), but it clearly builds on and experiments with the success of those hip-hop/soul-influenced-pop formulas. Honey is a smooth album all the way through. Standout: Fly Away was a fun moment. 4/5.

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Fri May 26 2023
4

Classic tracks by a major artist. Not really my jam though.

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Fri Jul 21 2023
4

Disclaimer: I am not an R&B fan, never listened to this album before. This album feels really representative of the time it came out. I was pretty young, but I seem to remember a lot of music on the pop stations around that time having this style of late '90s R&B. Now, again, I'm no expert on R&B, so I can't really say whether Mariah started the wave or just rode it, but this does scratch a certain nostalgic itch for me.

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Mon Sep 04 2023
4

A fun one with a lot of good see cuts I hadn’t heard! A classic for a reason.

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Fri Apr 02 2021
3

Would rate this a 3.5. Not my usual, but it's an interesting mixture of rap and smooth pop.

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Wed May 05 2021
3

Luurangot kaapissa vol x: Tykkään Mariah Careyn slovareista. Tällä levyllä niitä on harmillisen vähän ja R&B-kökköilu on suuremmassa roolissa. Ei siis ihan täyskymppi mutta tukeva kolmonen.

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Thu Feb 18 2021
3

Not really my type of thing, but Honey has a cool squelchy bass line. I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

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Thu Feb 18 2021
3

was never one of my favorite Mariah Carey albums but it was good

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Mon Mar 22 2021
3

She does have an incredible voice, and I can certainly see how she influenced pop music at the time. Not really my style, though.

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Mon Feb 22 2021
3

Sensual, feminine, soothing, pretty. Mariah's luscious vocals are on full display. Gorgeous production. Songs mostly address bedroom tenderness, reminiscences, relationships. Overall, this one wraps like a soft embrace. Doesn't speak to me personally but I can appreciate an album well realized.

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Thu Jun 17 2021
3

At first I did not enjoy it because it was way too smooth for my taste, but as it went on I settled on the sound and started to sort of enjoy it. I had no idea which song I was on though because they all sound very similar to me.

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Mon May 24 2021
3

First time listening: 8/12 songs liked I much prefer anything upbeat by Mariah Carey: the airy tone she provides becomes TOO airy the slower the song is. Not that disliked the songs on this album, I just like her fast-paced songs more. That said, r&b classic. 2 songs saved

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Thu Jul 15 2021
3

Brings me back to being a kid for sure. Butterflys have a lot of symbolism in my life. So it gets a quite a bit of points on that end. I am not the biggest R&B fan so, I feel like maybe my rating should be taken with a grain of salt. But man, is there a lot of Just AAaahhh or OOOooOOooooOOOss lol.

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Sun Aug 08 2021
3

Raspy, breathy, kind of seductive. Nice beats, but not something I’d play on the regular.

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Fri Aug 27 2021
3

boring songs but amazing vocals

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Thu Nov 11 2021
3

Probably not my favorite Pop album- but they've been so rare on this list that it was quite refreshing

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Fri Nov 12 2021
3

I'm sure there are reasons why other people love this album, I just don't see them personally.

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Fri Dec 03 2021
3

Honey had me seriously turned off, then Butterfly went and turned things around. That said, this isn't normally to my taste.

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Wed Dec 08 2021
3

Fik ikke lige hørt det helt færdigt, men det gør jeg i dag.

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Wed Jan 05 2022
3

Not my cup of tea but she is very good at singing

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Fri Feb 04 2022
3

too sugary for my liking yet her voice is beautiful

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Sun Feb 06 2022
3

5/10. Sorry Mariah Carey, you are doomed to be remembered only for your Christmas music.

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Sun Feb 06 2022
3

6/10 great vocal performance of course, but as an album it got a bit boring

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Thu Feb 10 2022
3

3 i guess. not my jam and I did seriously consider a 2, but her vocal skills kept it at a 3.

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Fri Feb 11 2022
3

I find this style of smooth RnB a little monotonous, the best parts of the album for me were when the formula got shaken up a little bit, like on "Breakdown". Everything else was just fine, but it just isn't impactful or bold enough to catch my attention, just kinda slides off me. Mariah is a great singer, though.

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Thu Feb 17 2022
3

Very much not my thing, but made for nice background music while I worked.

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Wed Feb 23 2022
3

Was actually a bit surprised by this album. Had never listened to it and it was better then i thought.

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Sun Mar 13 2022
3

Nice enough but not really my bag.

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Mon Mar 28 2022
3

Some good tracks but a bit meh especially for like the best 1001 albums of all time

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Mon Apr 04 2022
3

I actually liked the majority of it. Not every song, but a lot of them I can see why it was a hit, it's quality. Phenomenal vocal control she's got It makes me nostalgic, they don't make music like this anymore.

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Thu Apr 07 2022
3

Not bad for a pop starlet. But really a 1001? (5/10) FT: My All

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Thu Apr 21 2022
3

The Roof (Back in Time) - okej, okej, može se i tako iskoristit sample koji je Mobb Deep napravio za Shook Ones Part II. Prije nekih 13-14 godina bio sam ogromni fan BTNH-a, pa zato i znam Breakdown - koja je za mene klasik. Ne, ovo uopće nije loš album, u većinu slučajeva nije moja porcija paštašute (žalopojke većinom), ali ima dobrih stvari i nek sam ovaj album preslušao. Pod dobre stvari stavljam u potpunosti slijedeće - Honey, The Roof (Back in Time), Breakdown i Close My Eyes.

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Thu Apr 21 2022
3

Nije loš album al mi i nije toliko wau. Možda nisam subjektivna jer mi Mariah nikad nije upala u oko kao neke druge rnb pjevačice 90ih

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