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.
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.
She has such an incredible voice and such average songs
World class voice (5) and sub par songs (2) IMO.
Cars crashing, the sound of metal twisting, two pie tins rubbed together, nails across a blackboard- all these are more enjoyable noises.
Try To Listen To A Non-Christmas Album Without Thinking Of Christmas: Impossible Edition. It's got chimes. It's got Mariah Carey. It's got P Diddy. It sucks.
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
More whining and oooOOoOooOoos than words.
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
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?
Music to a late-night cuddle.
Like an hour of Disney credits music.
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.
There have always been great vocalists - but traditionally it's understood the vocals serve the song by complimenting the music or telling a story. Ideally both. There were vacuous warblers before Mariah, who treated the vocal track like a 1980's hair metal guitar solo. (Whitney turned to the dark side on Bodyguard, for example). But Mariah really nailed that "listen to the notes I can hit - and praise me!" Sadly it really connected. Girls across the world sang her songs into their hairbrushes, and her influence is still obvious at every singing talent show anywhere across the world. Her voice is a beautiful and powerful force. If only it could be used for good.
Well I just listened to an hour of syrupy nonsense. Mariah just makes noises and ooohs and aaaws her way through this drivel while some faceless backing band play soulless music. Every now and then some random guy will shout "oh yeah!" or something equally inane in the background. Truly appalling and an affront to musicality in every way. The vocal performance is like she's practising in the shower in an absent-minded way, rather than actually singing on something that would be released to the public.
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.
Musical pollution. In the case of the people vs. Mariah Carey, this is evidence for the prosecution.
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.
amazing album
Loved the sample from Mobb deep's song (don't know the original sample)
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.
Another place, another time - to be honest too tied up with work and business to really get the most out of Mariah’s beautiful whistling voice but undoubtedly she is God
Favorite tracks: Honey, Butterfly, My All, The Roof (Back in Time), Fourth Of July, Babydoll, Outside Least favorite tracks: The Beautiful Ones 9/10
This is my wheelhouse! Loved hearing some R&B; takes me right back to my high school days.
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)
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
In my opinion Mariah Carey's Butterfly doesn't signify her apex, but her decline. Butterfly is the point that she starts falling victim to the 'Diva' personality that would consumer her. The problem is, most of the music on this album is not diva-esque. Why is on this list? I'm not sure when her earlier albums are more representative of her influence. Here she's just a harmonizer that works with the 'Make-It-Big' writers and producers of the era that stumbled upon a formula for hit records. She has the hit records, but the quality of her music is behind her at this point. 2.5/5.
Spotify. Fave song “Honey”. Give me the singles.
Once again, review deleted.. Something something waa-aaa-ah-ey-eyey-eye-aa-lll paper music to me but pleasant enough. Who chooses to listen to this?
Fairly bog standard 90s r&b asides from superfans don't think anyone is still listening to this. Totally inoffensive stuff 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
amazing spectacular never the same totally unique
C’est juste plate, ça devient vite de la musique de background de centre d’achat
Go girl give us ✨️nothing✨️ I'm not a fan of Mariah's apart from her iconic Christmas song. She is undeniably talented but this album was such a snoozefest Someone get this girl some caffeine and belt out them notes like I know she can. Instead she just kinda yuuuuuhhuhuhhhuhh'd all over the place Wasn't as bad as I had expected tbh but it does lose a star due to the fact it was too damn long 2 ⭐️
Been a while since I’ve quoted my wife’s reactions here, so I’ll throw in a review-in-progress from the car: “This sounds like H&M music. Who would go to see this in concert?” I would buy a reasonably-priced T-shirt to this album. Clearly a painstakingly-machined exemplar of its genre, I applaud Carey’s vocal aerobatics while finding the music vapid.
She's definitely a great singer. And she knows it. But I don't think that necessarily translates to good music, in the same way that I don't think Joe Satriani's music is a good listen, or why I'd rather watch Cordarelle Patterson run a return than watch Usain Bolt run a 100 m. Bolt is obviously the better sprinter, and one of the greatest athletes ever. But the context matters. The way it works with other elements. And Carey shows off "range" technically, but artistically and conceptually, this is a very limited album. I never wanted to just turn it off, but I never really engaged with it either. It's a high floor, low ceiling work, and I would love to hear her push outside the rhythm & pop genre.
Her voice is so pure and amazing, but the music and lyrics on this record are not good.
Overrated! (I just listened to Carol King/Joni Mitchell previously - maybe I am just fatigued?)
I’m not going to lie to you, we’ve been through far too much for that. I made it through about 30 minutes of this record, started losing interest and then put on Guided By Voices. I hope you can forgive me.
I will defend Mariah Carey’s first album to my grave and would defend it on this list but this is garbage. Not sure why it was picked over the other one. She’s very talented though so I can’t really justify 1 star.
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!
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.
Truly awful. Enough to put me off listening to music ever again.
Horrible
Lots of ooooos not a lot of good songs
Couldn't listen to this garbage
sorry
The crap that crap crapped
Look, Mariah undeniably has a great voice and that's on display here. And if one of these tracks popped up while I was shopping, or on hold for some company's customer service, I'd be fine with it. But listening to 1 hour straight of what felt like essentially the same song was more than I could take.
She does have a pretty voice and some of the sounds are nostalgic for me as a kid growing up in the 90s. With that being said, fuck this shit for me personally.
Boring and bland. I remember hearing this type of music everywhere when I was a child, I hated it then and I hate it now.
Highlight: The Beautiful Ones (Prince cover) The problem with Butterfly is that Mariah uses her melismatic style WAY too much. It’s predictable- go low, go high, flutter (pardon the pun) around one syllable. All the songs sound the same, which is a trap many pop and pop adjacent acts fall into. This album might be on the list largely because it’s a departure from Mariah’s usual style. It embraces hip hop and subtle samples (see Honey). The Prince cover is good, not spectacular. Sorry, honey. This album has not aged well. Overall: 1/10
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Absolutely nothing to distinguish it from the tsunami of pop R and B in the nineties/early noughties than her voice. Which is a taste I have yet to acquire.
That was painful. I feel like I spent an hour drowning in a field of marshmallows with unicorns farting rainbows all around me and believe it or not, but farting unicorns sound exactly like Mariah Carey does on this record.
BL: Almost dreading myself for this one, I've never at all considered myself to be a Mariah fan or even know much at all outside the obvious hits, I've always cast her aside and never really paid any attention to her or the music she produces, maybe this will turn out to have been a mistake, and I'm removing any bias I may come into this listen with but truth be told I'm not holding out much hope. We'll see Mariah - We'll see. AL: Just as bad as I expected. Over produced late 90s girl vocal pop is some of my personal least favourite forms of music. I felt the same with the Brittany Spears record, I find this type of music to be almost entirely devoid of substance. One track stuck out to me but only because of the rap feature which was quite catchy, but still incredibly mellowed out and weak as opposed to some potential other offerings this album could've served up. Maybe it's unconscious bias to this genre as a whole, but overall I found this to be incredibly weak FT: "The Roof" 1/5
I couldn't make it through this one, to be honest. The songs themselves are pretty by-the-number R&B tracks of the time, but I can't stand her whistle notes. It goes right through me.
Are ye fuckin serious
Could not get through it. Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I do appreciate that she diversified her sound (expanding from pop to include hip hop) but I don't really like it any better.
Fuck this stupid album. (Lora left me yesterday).
Could not listen to this
Woof
Oh Mariah! Crush!
A classic, DUH
To preface, I love Mariah Carey. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is one of my favorite songs and yes I heard it a million times working retail. Yes Mariah often over sings, to the point of bringing the song down, but I still love it. Each song here is gold and even the Prince cover is not bad, but makes me wish I was just listening to the original. The Butterfly reprise is amazing, and the album as a whole is perfectly produced. It sounds great
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally. Mariah is my all-time favorite singer. If I could give this album 100 stars, I would. I would certainly appreciate more of the artists like Mariah I actually listen to, and way less garbage that you've been showing. I don't listen to garbage at all. I am extremely picky about my music.
Great album. Carey has such a great voice. peak mariah carey
solo llevo dos canciones, y sinceramente m tatuaria el album. Chiquito espectaculo, una cosa d locos my all es legal? sin palabras, los tiempos, el ritmo, como juega con los tonos de la voz, la letra... mis bendiciones fouth of july? breakdown? cada cancion m da un microinfarto, que locura estoy blessed
Incredible voice and lyrics…Always!!
beautiful!
Love
That girl can SING - on top of just loving her notes, I Love the beats, and reminding me of the time.... brings me back. I Love this album.
The Golden Hour!
Love
The best Mariah album hands down
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.
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.
absolute perfection from start to finish.
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.
Brings me back to childhood
This album has low ratings on here, shocking. 4.
This is good. Not amazing. Strange choice.
Very solid. Some of the most polished and confident R&B of the late century, and possibly 2000s.
Love Mariah, but I typically listen to the singles, so this may have been one of first times I’ve listened straight through an album, and I was surprised that I liked so many of the slower songs on this one. The only song that felt weird and like it didn’t fit was the Dru Hill collab.
Mariah has such amazing range and runs. The songs are lovely, great choral work behind some of them. I don't think this is my favorite of Mariah's albums, but it's solid.
There are some undeniable classics on here for Mariah. I don’t think this is her best work and I hope they didn’t choose this over an album like “Daydream”, but I can’t imagine there’s two Mariah Carey albums on this list, so that’s disappointing. Anyway, the vocals were obviously incredible, unique, and instantly recognizable. The production was everything it needed to be, but seldom more. Instrumentation followed suit. The writing was good, but got repetitive halfway through. Pleasantly, the lyrics were consistently good and kept me interested and I was thrilled to see all but the Prince cover were penned by Mimi herself. She has better albums, but this isn’t a bad pick and I enjoyed listening. 4/5
adri: 8'5, que vozarron. Record merecido. mar: 6, de fondo está bien pero no es mi estilo.
Quite good actually
Magnifique voix, pop de qualité. J'aime beaucoup les espèces de murs d'accords du r&b des 90's ça me ramène à une autre époque dans la cour d'école avec les bonbons à 5 cents et la sloche.
my first Mariah album! i really haven’t delved into rnb too much so this was a nice listen. i’m not crazy about the slower tracks towards the end, they kind of stalled the album for me, but the first half… Fourth of July! Honey! woah. 3.5ish
A few dang good tracks & some other middle of the road r&b. Great singer on the songs
Despite this album not having the all time banger that is Fantasy, it is a pretty solid pop album. Honey and Butterfly were my standout tracks
Surprisingly pleasant. I would have hated it when it was released
Closing credits music
Definitely worth a re-listen. Nice cozy album with some unknown (to me) bangers.
I enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would. Subtract a half-star for the P Diddy collab, but then give it back for the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony appearance.
Maybe I'm just feeling generous today, but damn, this was kinda great? Not really my kind of music, but I'm impressed.
I initially hated this, but when I realised every single little thing is in service of Mariah Carey's Voice™ it's actually kind of amazing. It's musically and lyrically so light it needs to be tied down, but just Mariah Carey's Voice™ OMG.
Oh yea, it's hot girl summer baby Butterfly is pure ascension This album is such a vibe I need to lay on the floor and listen to it full blast. I will be getting a noise complaint
I’m not usually into this sort of virtuosic singing style, but the vocals combined with the great mixing and production make this one great. This is the closest I’ve heard to replicating Stevie Wonder in the last 40 years. Favorite Track: Breakdown
Very good but not my thing
wtf this isnt christmas music