Butterfly

Shook ones pt ii jumpscare

top 3: - honey - the roof (back in time) - breakdown

Good album. Though we don't experience Mariah's vocal range, she still has such a great voice.

The album was not so terrible as I expected. Mariah Carey is certainly a good singer and what I like are the soul-like songs. But too many of them are simply bad pop-music.

WTF is this doing here? She can sing like a MFer but this music is pure dog shit.

I resisted writing before even listening what i was likely to think. Its got trills, its got runs, it’s got high notes. What’s not to like? Moat of it. Third track in and i am not sure it will hold my interest enough. She can sing undeniably. But there’s a karaoke quality to the songs - cue minimised backing track, go belt your heart out. It aounds like acapella with a click track.

Can't stand Mariah Carey. Comes across as a performative prima donna. Breathy moaning set to below average songs. I would give no stars if I could.

It sounds like a Christmas album.

She can definitely sing but I don’t care much for her as a person and her music isn’t anything I would ever choose to listen to so here we are.

If you're like me, you've heard just one song from Mariah Carey (and we all know which song that is). And your opinion of her music is ambivalent in virtue of this track's extremely overdone vocals and the fact that it's played everywhere. Maybe you're worried that this will just be an hour of the same pain. Well, behold: Butterfly is noticeably better – or at least, it starts off that way. We begin with Honey, a hip-hop-inspired track with lots of different frequencies playing at once. It gives the ear a lot to latch onto, and though it could be overwhelming, I found myself really enjoying it (excluding the triangle which is a bit annoying). Light, magical, and unabashedly feminine. Carey absolutely nailed the atmosphere. She finds this delicate, vulnerable, expressive, and technically near-perfect vocal tone in the next two songs. It sounds so darn good. At least until she hits some of the higher-intensity parts in My All, where her note-warbling gets old very quickly. (Not every melody needs to be riffed and wobbled over, Mariah.) Whenever You Call has the same problem. The main issue is, once you get over the initial awe of her utterly magical vocal, you realise the songs (particularly from Babydoll onward) just aren't that good. The instrumentation is lacking in songs like Fourth of July, Whenever You Call, and The Beautiful Ones. That by no means drops my rating down to a 2 or a 1, but it's worth considering. An important element of any album is consistency, so if you only have a few strong tracks released as singles and the rest is sloppy and musically uninteresting, you didn't do a great job. There are a lot of things in this album that seem a little low-effort, including the album artwork, which feels like Carey said to the producers, "Hey, I can be a pretty girl just standing there. Holding a butterfly. Get it? Like the name of the album. Wink wink." Even though there are plenty of weak elements to point out, I'm convinced people don't like this because of the weak album cover and because they have some vendetta against Carey for her past crimes. 3/5 Key tracks: Butterfly, My All, Breakdown

Pretty, but flimsy voice and weak runs

Who on earth thought this was essential listening?

Christ this was painful, made me very angry as it went on. Overproduced tripe in the same vein as the aguileras and madonnas of the list. Carey has a great voice and crazy vocal range and she used it almost solely to warble like an xfactor contestant (or rather they are warbling like her). Last song she belted it for a couple of bars but too little too late, hated this.

I dream of something other than 90s/00s indie pop/alternative rock on this list. Not this though. I take it back. Please come back, Lemonheads! Pavement, I apologise! Yo quiero Yo La Tengo!

Not my thing at all. I don't like RnB at the best of times and Mariah loves doing that woahoahoahoah thing with her voice that annoys me. She does have a good voice whens she's not doing the weird woahs and groans though. Shame about the music 1

Great voice, but she knows it.

I can’t stand the high pitch bird squawk that Mariah belts out. I don’t care if that’s talent or not. She can sing though and she can create catchy music. This isn’t my cup of tea as it’s too showy and I feel like that takes from whatever message this album is trying to say. There’s better stuff out there

There were some nice songs here. She has a great voice but sometimes it seems unfocused. Pretty good example of late 90's radio R&B.

5/10…r&b

Mariah is the blueprint for all divas, I prefer some of her other releases on pure listenability but this is getting the "Fuck Tommy Mottola" bump. I don't think so, honey, overhead lights.

Ugh, so monotonous. Giving it a 2/5 only because her voice is undeniably great.

Nope

4/10

It’s fine

Great voice and vibe but don’t feel any desire to come back to it

Ugghhhh… lol

This is everything that epitomises 1990s R&B. It’s so polished you could see your face in it, and very slickly produced, and it has a smooth caramel sound. In fact, the sound of the music is the colour of the cover. It’s boring in that there no edge at all to the music, and it’s full of Mariah’s melisma. I don’t like it, make it stop!

Where had this album been all my life??? I loved this album. Its more R&B songs were the best in my opinion, which after doing some research seems like it was a newer experimentation for her at the time. These songs were sexxxxxxy, the lyrics, the sound, her voice—no notes. I didn’t fuck with the ballads that were more about herself as much, unfortunately, I’m no better than a man. But My All, Fourth of July, and Baby Doll are going to be on repeat. Perfect music for walking around town.

Does nothing for me. But I appreciate her game. I’ll await her return in November when everyone starts celebrating Christmas way to early.

Honestly I think that being exposed to Mariah Carey once she had her larger than life public facing persona is a disservice. This album is fantastic, deeply “down to earth” and shows me not only her insane vocal range but some of the earlier works she produced in her career. “Whenever you call” was a particular highlight.

My first Mariah! I read that she considers this to be her magna opus. I enjoyed it- good hits, great vocals. But started getting a little same-y in the second half. Overall- good album. 3.5

I have a soft spot for this era, but there’s better stuff. Needed more Krayzie and Wish Bone.

I feel bad even giving this one a rating as I could not get myself to listen to one whole song. Just skipped through it. Absolutely not for me.

A few top-tier bangers surrounded by a bunch of boring, forgettable ballads. (2.5)

Not my thing at all.

The WKD blue of music albums

Итс окэй. Звучит лучше, если не воспринимать, о чем она поет. Лучшая песня - My All.

A time capsule from the 90s. The opening song credits both the Ummnah and Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs as producers. Mariah’s Prince cover (supported by Dru Hill) is surprisingly adequate. Don’t open a 90s time capsule if you ever come across one. There’s too much that needs to be explained.

No thanks. I guess I just hate “pop” music.

The only Mariah Carey song I could name is "All I Want for Christmas is You" and after listening to this album I still can't name any other song. It unintrusive background music I'd expect to hear while shopping at Kohls.

То, что человек умеет красиво петь не означает автоматически что его музыка это что-то классное и впечатляющее... Это абсолютно ординарная попса, которая не стоит внимания никого, кто хочет услышать что-то интересное. Я терпеть не могу такие песни, где девушка завывает о любви по полчаса с криками бейби бейби бейби. В первом треке прикольный бас, за это плюс балл, в остальном песни не отличаются друг от друга никак.

obviously so quintessentially 90s; very of the time sort of sensual album. the feeling that i’m listening to albums that are the blueprint for so much that has come after it is becoming increasingly familiar! really long songs also which was nice to see; although obviously sometimes it dragged. I’m a big fan of that sort of squelchy bass; really liked that in the first song - the second song sounded more like the cover looked (gospelly 2000s girl in the big city movie). she’s got an insane voice (of course!! it’s mariah carey!!) overall liked it; but a little saccharine for my usual taste

xdd

End credit music from a movie released in the nineties type beat.

My Mariah Carey knowledge is limited, but I do know she has released a handful of tracks that are built around some killer samples and which showcase her undiniably amazing voice in some very inventive ways. The layered harmonies on Heartbreaker, for example, are mesmerising stuff, flawlessly executed. She's got a bona fide Christmas banger under her belt too. Sadly, her career is not really built around the funky, hip-hop adjacent stuff which mostly came immediately after this album - she's probably better known as a warbly vocal gymnast in the Whitney Housten mold. Which is a shame, because Butterfly is comprised of ballads and fairly average R 'n' B which showcase her vocals in such an unadventurous, unexciting way. I'm not sure how this album ranks within her fandom, but as a casual listener, I know she is capable of much better.

Favorite Track: Honey

My favorite bug!

Sweet melodies and great songwriting

Listenable but boring.

Not a fan.

Butterfly Honey is a superb hip hop influenced R’n’B track, the synth bass and piano hook are excellently bolted on to a winning chorus, even if it does tail off in a classic Diva preponderance of vocal run oversaturation. I wasn’t aware Q-Tip was involved. Butterfly feels like the inspirational song at the end of a hundred Disney movies, and while the lyrics are undoubtedly cliched and trite, and the melody incredibly overwrought, I can’t help being won around,perhaps against my better judgement, by the undeniably earnest and sincere yet powerful vocal performance. It never really reaches those heights again, while never being bad and her voice, despite the relentless glissandos, is always great, but many of the songs struggle melodically, and are only really kept alive by her voice, with The Beautiful Ones standing out with Dru-Hill (who formed in a fudge factory I believe) Despite not having so many great songs I quite liked it and found it all quite enjoyable, despite the cliched diva-mannerisms her voice is excellent, her tone really is fantastic, and it was actually very pleasant to work to, so much so I think I might well listen again, which I think nudges it to a low 3. 🦋🦋🦋 Playlist submission: Honey

This album is like a melody vacuum. She's taken her raw talent and overlaid it with the most bland production against the most anodyne melodies you can imagine. Normally the adjectives 'urban' or 'adult' or 'contemporary' when applied to music, means it's going to be very bad. Wikipedia describes this as 'urban adult contemporary'. That's all three. You do the math. A lifeless, personality-void of an album, an excruciating crawl through mid-tempo, over-polished, artificial tunes.

Too poppy for my taste. Still, not offensive. Love hearing Bone Thugz on the album.

It's pretty much what I expected. Great vocals, of course, with standard pop beats. A few hit songs that you have probably heard with the others being kind of standard late 90's pop. It's kind of nostalgic listening to this just because the late 90's were pretty awesome. Not sure if I need to listen to it again anytime soon though.

my poor ears

It’s ok. She sounds very good. Breathy, loads of runs, registration changes, and belting. Vocal-technique wise, it’s very strong. Her voice is very recognisable as well. But too much flex. It does remind me of the vocal coach in X factor many years ago. Ariel Burdett. Academically, she’s ok. but no one will like to listen to that. Music wise, not good either. Very mellow ballads. Pretty standard song writing and 90s pop-star production.

I mean she’s got pipes but I guess I thought there’d be a little bounce to the album. It was pretty slow despite having some features that I thought would make it a little more hip-hoppy. Objectively maybe it should be a 4 for technical ability alone but I just don’t know when I’d listen to any of this on purpose. The songs about love or heartbreak weren’t gripping despite her ability sing well. It lacked variety and nothing really drew me in.

it just feels like super over-produced r&b album. no denying that Mariah Carey is talented AF, but this album just doesnt do it for me. not sure if i would really come back to this ever. again, no denying the talent of Mariah... but i fail to see why this album would be on a top 1001 list. like... was this really influential for the genre. perhaps its my ignorance, but i dont see it.

Not entirely sure what’s notable about this album. Not bad by any means, there were more than a few songs I was grooving to, but it doesn’t really have any of her biggest hits and kinda blends in with other 90s acts. Love the house beat on the Butterfly reprise and The Beautiful Ones cover. Enjoyable but won’t come back to listen through the whole album again.

IIiiiiIiIIIiIIIIiiiiII ReeEEaaaAAAaaaLLlllLLyyy ccaAAAaaNNnnnttttTTT ssSSttTTannDDDdd WWwhHHHeeEEeNNnn ppPpeeeEeOooOOOooppLLleEe SSSSiiiiIIIIiiNnnnNnGGgGG LiiiiIIIIIiiIiIIIIiiiikKKKkkkeeeEEEEee tttthhhHHHiiIIIiIIisssSSsss. It really is one of my biggest pet peeves. The late 90s / early 00's solo female moaning singing is the worst thing to happen to music. And that includes the assassination of John Lennon.

Beautiful voice but very forgettable to me. It sounds like a soundtrack to a 90s-00s rom com movie. nice background music and she is a name you know, so I get why it would be on the list... still nothing stuck out to me. At least it wasn't "All I want for Christmas"....

It's all very soft and quiet. Not unpleasant, not I'm not really enjoying it

Honey is a banger lead off track. I didn’t pick it as one of my favorite songs though, because I think the Bone Thugs ‘n’ Harmony track epitomizes the rap/R&B trends of the time, and “Outside” is the closer and really demonstrates how great Carey could be as a vocalist. Didn’t love the album but some great songs.

Not really my kind of music. It was alright. Interesting production. This is probably her second best album.

Rather than an empowering statement, Butterfly plays like an indulgent diary entry that the world didn’t need to read.

i sometimes like mariah carey but in much smaller doses than this. way too long and repetitive. this just isn't my genre

this was so boring and i find her voice really irritating to listen to

средняя хорошая крепкая попса 2000х, кому нравится жанр скорее всего заценит, но мне как любителю другой темы не хватило чего-то.

Just terrible

I’m good without ever hearing this again

Meh.

les chansons sonnent toutes pareil. j’aime pas

Whats Urban Adult?

I’m real glad vocal runs seem less fashionable these days

Huh. I guess I really don't like R&B. I'd never listened to this album before, but the cover is so iconic that I figured it would be fine. I can appreciate the vocal talent here, but similar to how I can't seem to find a way to appreciate jazz I just couldn't get into this.

I can see why it is popular but still baffling to me.

Fine enough. She has better albums.

Sweet sweet fantasy maybe? Still great.

2.8 // The songs are pretty repetitive, but that's for a reflection of the era the album comes from. 90s R&B, sounds great to just listen to, but nothing much there imo

Is this one of the albums you MUST hear before you die? Perhaps not. Did it have some bangers? Yes it did

Sexy!!!

My de. Tt hasn’t

Very much a 90s artifact but I enjoyed listening nonetheless

ok

Had a hard time staying awake through most of this, even while exercising. I respect the shift towards more R&B, as a sign of evolution, but not my favorite.

She generally has a great voice, but a lot of the vocals on these songs were breathy, and the album was pretty boring

I haven't listened yet but I already know this is awful

Mariah Carey obviously has an impressive voice, but this album really does feel like listening to almost an hour of Disney end credits music, and it’s hard to get past that.

Rnb is not my genre, but Mariahs vocals are sooo goood.

Meh. Mariah obviously has a great voice but this is pretty forgettable and likely one I won't listen to again. Not my genre and it all just seems a bit sterile. 4.5/10 (2.25/5)

Музика, яку я багато чув в дитинстві, але ніколи саме від Мераї, а від інших співачок які потрапляли в ротацію музичних каналів. Взагалі в мене з нею перша асоціація це фіт з Бастою Раймзом. Згодом виявилось, що це дуже поважна співачка в Ю ЕС ЕЙ, селеба і все таке. Цей альбом можна умовно поділити на дві частини: 1) більш консервативні поп-композиції, які могли б бути саундтреком «Титаніку» або якогось іншого драматичного фільму про кохання та 2) рух в сторону урбан музики типу рʼнʼб та хіп-хоп звуку. Друга частина мені сподобалась, класний продакшн і хороші пісні в цілому. Модні фіти теж є. Перша частина мені просто ок, дуже очевидно звучить, без якихось цікавих ходів та вуху не вдається зачепитися в цих піснях. Загальне враження, що це саунд 90х дуже сильне. Але найкраще тут це хаус-трек Fly Away, бо хаус та топовий вокал - союз створений на небесах. Вокальні партії - прям дуже добре, до жодного виконання на альбомі в мене нуль претензій. Топ рівень. Альбом приємно слухати, якісна робота. Для головної роботи в кар'єрі це все-таки не ультимативний рівень поп-музики. 3.5.

Not really my cup of tea genre-wise BUT stupendous vocals and top-rate production...

Nope.

magical voice and 'Honey' will always be a classic! Quality features that remind one of yesteryear

Big same song 12 times in a row energy

She has such a good voice. Altogether pretty cibey

Honestly not that great of an album. Vocals are obviously very good but overall not an album I want to listen to

Not my jam. Mariah Carey has a good voice but the songs just started blending in for me. Similar sound to every song.

Gran voz, pero repertorio standar.

Good

Smoother than expected and quite pleasant

Meh

I only really know Mariah Carey from her Christmas stuff, so I was excited to get into her more R&B side. However, I was quite disappointed in just how boring the whole thing was. Her voice is the only shining star throughout, but overall, its just a boring, not so fun voice demo. Also reminded me of Christmas in mid-august so that took a star off. 2/5

In an era defined by a minimalist turn in alternative music and the burgeoning lo-fi aesthetics of indie rock, Mimi's Butterfly stands as a glorious repudiation of such sensibilities. It is a work that argues for the power of excess, for the virtue of the grand, the sweeping, and the all-encompassing. The album is a testament to the fact that when every element, from the layered vocals to the innovative production and the deeply personal lyrics, is turned up to its maximum, the result is not cacophony, but a sublime and overwhelming masterpiece. Butterfly is a declaration that true artistry is not found in the quiet whispers of a muse, but in the thunderous, undeniable roar of a liberated spirit.

Impressive vocal range but god awful music

5 stars for vocal performance, 2 stars at best for songwriting. It's a shame that the tracks are so utterly uninspired and forgettable. They're dull enough that this can hardly be considered more than pleasant background listening.

I just don't like it.

That was pretty boring, her voice deserved more than a basic clic track and keyboard.

4/10 Hated this in the 90s, nothing's changed. Saccharine music with no rythmn, blues or soul.

Похожие песни друг на друга

Yeah... I'm only a few tracks in and I can tell this is not for me. It feels like it’s aimed at younger listeners, especially those in their first crush/first breakup phase. It feels... professional rather than authentic. Very Radio friendly and deliberately designed to achieve a commercial goal. Very polished, but for my old man ears, a decaying child of the revolution, it sounds a bit ...plastic

I feel like this the American version of Celine Dion. Beautiful voice. Cheesy songwriting. It was a hard listen.

Послушать можно разве что иногда фоном. Так-то вроде и неплохо, но ни одна песня не запомнилась. 6 из 10.

f*ck that

𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘺 moves further into a smooth mix of R&B and hip-hop, with Carey’s signature vocal control and polished production firmly in place. Tracks like 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 and 𝘔𝘺 𝘈𝘭𝘭 stand out as the clear highlights, showing her ability to deliver both upbeat hooks and emotive ballads. While it’s a well-made and enjoyable album, it doesn’t feel groundbreaking — more a refinement of her established style than something truly distinctive. Solid, but far from essential.

For someone with such a range as she has, all the vocals sound the same. Maybe a little less vibrato. Like, does she have to sing that way on every single word. It’s a good tool, but so overused. The music largely sounds like it came out of a can. The only slightly enjoyable part was the backup singer on (I think it was) Butterfly. And I only liked that relative to everything else that happened here. Add in the fact that she’s reportedly one of the rudest, most conceited celebrities out there. In college I had a friend who loved Mariah Carey. He was an idiot. I hated this so much.

She has a great voice, and the album's well-produced and arranged. The songwriting is not on par, a bit too generic IMHO.

The worst of 90s pop/R&B/hip hop production with an immensely talented singer. It's obviously well produced, technically, but the product? Well, the product sucks. I've been too stingy with my 1s, this shit is a big miss. Not even a Mobb Deep sample saves it.

I can see why people like her

This album has low ratings on here, shocking. 4.

I can see why people like this Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 4/5

Beğenmedim.

Meh

This is good. Not amazing. Strange choice.

RnB не должен существовать как отдельный жанр. Это лишь придаток к попсовому хип-хопу. Там он ещё как-то уместен. В чистом же виде это Оооооо, Ааааааа, Уууууу, Ммммммм. Вот и все песни.

Very solid. Some of the most polished and confident R&B of the late century, and possibly 2000s.

Great voice and variety of music.

Similar complaint about the boring back half of a lot of pop albums ... but the singles are nostalgic.

I thought this was more up-tempo than it actually is. Listening to it on a warm afternoon at work was so dangerous. A 1 doesn't feel fair because it's not BAD but I want to give it a 1 so badly because I had to go grab a soda to make it through.

Nice work. Voice was almost ad good as Whitney. Tunes were smooth. No complaints. Just not my daily vibe.

Breathy pop

not a huge fan, but this was a nice listen

57 minutes too long

I was almost gonna give it a 2 but no. The dru hill song sucked the life that made gave me out of me.

Nearly made me quit 1001 albums.

Not a fan of this one. Mariah undeniably has talent, but I honestly couldn't distinguish one song from the next. They all just turn into overlapping vocal tracks over some pedestrian hip-hop beat. The cover of the Prince song is decent, that's all I can really say.

Mariah Carey has too good a voice to have such mid songs

ok, canta muito, boa ref de R&B, mas ....3 estrelas

Zzzzz...

This is unnecessary. I can't commit these precious minutes to this album. I heard all songs, and only allowed the first, and one other to finish. This was that much of an irritant. I'm sure her voice must be impressive, but not to me. Not these songs.

On her way to Divadom

2/5. Not for me, but Lauren would have loved it

Listens: 2 Standout tracks: Honey (remix track at the end of the album) Gut reaction: Well, at least its not one of the Christmas music ones. Initial impressions: Way more R&B and hip-hop than I was expecting, but then again, that was THE THING to do in the late 90s. I did not like this. Vapid lyrics, synth beats reminiscent of what I would imagine could be playing in dance clubs at the turn of the century. Vaguely hip-hop crossed with pop music. Everything sounded the same. Songs start and end without really anything interesting happening.

Not for me 1/5

Good lord, what a slog to get through. Carey's vocals are beautiful, but I've been in dry office meetings that were more energising than this album.

While competently and skillfully sung, the songwriting is lacking. Instrumentals and progressions, sense of buildup and payoff, they are lacklustre. The definitive evidence of this is how the highlight for me was the beautiful ones. I was not aware this was a prince cover at first listen but what a difference it made. It all sounds like it is backed by a cheap midi track.

Pretty ok…pop r and b

#648. I've complained before that all the 90s pop music on here is tired and dated and doesn't stand up anymore, but Mariah does still sound good all these years later. I mean, it still sounds of it's time, but it's not so painful to listen to like a lot of the other 90s pop. 3/5: still fine

Not my cup of tea. I really didn't like it but I know it's just bc of my music taste. Every song sounds the same to me. "My all" is really a banger though +1 for her voice

Every generation has its own singer with a beautiful voice and no good songs. The boomers had Barbara Streisand and the 90’s had Mariah Carey. I’ve come to find out I really don’t care for 90’s R&B. The sound is painfully dated and the production is full of awful cliches. The songs on here are really unimpressive as well, they aren’t even good at showing off Mariah Carey’s voice for a lot of the album. The title track was almost worth a 3, the rest of the album I really don’t feel like listening again.

Not my thing now, never been my thing. Appreciate that she has a great voice and I know that many albums like this are very collaborative in terms of performance and song writing. As I've said a number of times now, this is not for me. And by that I don't just mean that I don't prefer it, I mean that I was never the intended audience for this art. Now to rate it - my preference, my enjoyment, a 2. Quality of the work, recording, how much this deserves, in my opinion, to live on a list of 1001 albums to give your time to - I'm going with a 3 here, and since there are no halvsies, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and go with 3 overall.

The songs are so forgettable and boring

It’s no Mimi, but it’s still very good, and you can see the different direction she was starting to take towards the more hip hop/r&b oriented sound. Lots of bangers on here, but definitely some misses as well. A good precursor to what was to come.

Oh boy, this really drags me back to the old Carson Daly TRL days. This feels very much like a tale of two albums; one part late 90s Pop/R&B, one part Adult Contemporary. I'm not sure I love the former, but definitely don't care for the latter. If this album didn't start the trend of stretching every high note into a full scale just to flex your vocal skills, it was certainly on the front end. Almost 30 years later, pop music hasn't recovered.

She has such an amazing voice! And the sound was good. It just isn’t my style of music.

#28 Butterfly ~ Mariah Carey A much more laidback project for Mariah, and definitely a lot more consistent. I may prefer something like Daydream, but Mariah's famous vocal power is more tightly controlled and but to great effect in each of Butterfly's songs. Instead of whistle notes and stratospheric belts, Mariah leans more into effortless melisma to really capture the attention of the listener, and it is done very well. The songs of Butterfly sound very polished as well: a slick finish of RnB pop with very caramel sampling and instrumentation choices. These sounds do well to catch the ear every now and then. The song as SONGS though is plainly a bit flat. It lacks a bit of spark that I find with Daydream and earlier records. A bit of energy. It's a noted direction where she's taking her sound, although I might not necessarily agree with it

Boring, and not for me.

Oh Mariah! Crush!

Decent background music. She does have a nice voice.

See? This is the exact reason I think this list is less a “1000 Albums you should listen to” and more of a “1000 Albums we randomly plucked out of the ether” list. No one should be listening to this album that isn’t a middle aged woman who grew up listening to it and just wants a little nostalgia. I listened to 4-5 tracks and believe I’m entitled to monetary compensation. Thank you and good day.

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.

No. Just fuck no.

I had low expectations, but this was actually pretty enjoyable. You can write her off, but this was peak Mariah and this was a soulful, sensual album in the late 90s craziness. High 2s.

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.

surprisingly very pitchy, always thought of Mariah Carey as a great singer, but her voice is all over the place and sometimes doesn't really fit the song.

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.

Not a fan of whatever genre this is

look, mariah carey is undoubtedly an extremely talented vocalist and this is on full display here. the problem is that i find a lot of mariah carey's music to be incredibly dull. the more uptempo stuff here is fine enough, but the ballads kill it. maybe i'm not a love-making romantic enough to appreciate the subtleties of her whispery voice over sensual backing tracks, but it's just not for me. there are some decent tracks here ('honey,' 'the roof (back in time)' and 'babydoll') but it does not outweigh the majority of this album being mind-numbingly boring ballads. sorry, not really for me.

I can’t stand the super downtempo R&B stuff. Amazing singing though.

I gave this an honest listen since my wife is a big fan of Mariah. Her voice is great, but the music is not for me. Sorry wifey. 2/5.

I struggled through it. It was just so much elevator music to me. I really didn't enjoy it.

I am not sure anyone is more iconic of the 90's...I honestly think she made the butterfly popular! And this album cover, is there anything more 90's. Somewhat rightly deserved, she has pipes and epitomizes a whole persona that is hard to not be interested in even if you don't like it. But this is about the album. Whenever You Call, was the song I liked the most, it showed off her range (in a not breathy, moany, raspy kind of way) and she seemed to have some genuine emotion, but not enough. The rest of the time, I don't think she showed off her voice, it was just whispery singing that didn't really do her any favors. Then it just seemed to scream diva, I am here, I am Mariah, that is enough. You should just know I have emotion and what I am trying to convey, I don't have to do anything for it. Is it iconic yeah, but others have done it better even she did it better on other albums.

Not so much my thing. Sorry Mariah, I'd dig into this deeper but I'm about four albums behind so if you don't grab me at first listen then it's not happening.

Oh Mariah! While you’re technically a brilliant vocalist, with a big ass range, I just don’t FEEL you like I do Whitney or even far less proficient singers. Your voice flutters all over the place and yet it never lands anywhere. I’d say that could go along with the theme of your album title but you do this on all of your albums. There’s ZERO restraint with you. I get it, girl, you can SING! Then why do I feel nothing when I’m done listening to your records? A good (random) comparison is to Papa Don’t Preach. Nobody is going to accuse Madonna of being the best singer of all time, but when she sings that song, I feel every ounce of the desperation she’s feeling with that single “PLEEAASSSE!” when begging her father to help her and to not abandon her in her choice. Plus, that song and her voice are hyper focused on the topic at hand. That’s what I’m looking for with any singer, not vocal gymnastics just because you can. I won’t even go into comparison between you and Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” because you don’t even come close to winning that battle in any universe.

This album starts off with a banger, and I was hoping it would continue that way. I want more Honey! Unfortunately most of it veered into ballady R&B and wasn’t really my thing. Mariah is awesome though, and she has a beautiful voice.

This is the most 90s album. I do not need to listen again but it was fine.

Я ніколи раніше не слухав Mariah Carey, і послухавши цей альбом, який, як кажуть, ознаменував її перехід від поп-звучання у бік соулу та хіп-хопу, можу сказати, що втратив небагато. Він аж ніяк не поганий - естетично вельми привабливий. На ньому ніжний і "загадковий" вокал Mariah ллється в унісон із такими ж ніжними соуловими хіп-мелодіями, огортаючи тебе атмосферою тихого, спокійного нічного міста. Десь до середини альбому ти просто розчиняєшся в ньому, розслабляєшся та відпочиваєш. Проте варто пам’ятати, що це була друга половина 90-х, коли подібний R&B із соул-відтінками лунав із кожної праски - згадаймо хоча б супергіт Un-Break My Heart від Toni Braxton, який вийшов роком раніше. Тож чим Butterfly настільки відрізняється від усього іншого, щоб вважатися проривним чи видатним, я не зрозумів. Він безумовно гарний, і якщо ви скучили за тим звучанням 90-х (або ніколи його не чули) - то послухати можна. Але щоб варто - ні, я так не думаю.

Ugh... Not much of fan of Mariah Carey and this album prove that thought...

Started strong, i really liked the shook ones sample. Kinda just got exhausting and turned into sex music. Talented but not for me.

Goodness, that was dross. I tried to listen to it four times, eventually skipping through songs. Out of 250-odd albums this is the second I couldn't finish.

Great voice, not so great album.

While a family member had this when I was younger, and appreciate the skill level, it is not something I would actively listen to again. Thus the 2 of 5 (if I could it would be 2.5).

I know Mariah Carey is fun to look at, and she's got an amazing vocal range, but this album just bored me to tears.

Boring as fuck

i dont really have any strong feelings one way or the other. what i do know is that ill never listen to this again. it can sit with all the other 2/5 albums that i dont hate but dont care about

Quite good actually

Last week had so many bangers I knew something terrible was going to happen.

Ok

She’s got an incredible voice for sure, but I found it a very boring album. A ballad heavy one toned piece. Listened while running and it was not the right vibe at all.

Boy this was a chore to listen to - not my style of music at all. It’s only been one day since I’ve listened and I can’t recall a single tune.

Rating: 3.5/10 Nah.

Belle voix. Musique insipide.

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.

D’la bonne r&b des années 90 mais maudit qu’elle est déprimée sur cet album.

Soothing but I don't really like R&B! Enjoyed 'Fly Away' though.

Amazing voice. Amazing range. Mostly average tracks drag down the couple of standouts. Shook Ones sample was unexpected! 2.5/5

Pas mon truuuuc

143/1089 - It certainly sounds like pop music. Nothing remarkable or horrible about it. Apparently it's the first album to steer Pop in a more Hip-Hop direction so I can see why it's influential.

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

Was never really gonna like it, take a 2 Will I listen to again: 0%

This was a grind to listen to. I wanted to like it but I just didn’t.

I had to Google, "what is Mariah Carey's singing style called" to see if there's a name for the stupid shit she does, hitting 5 notes in the course of singing one word. Apparently it's called Melismatic Singing. Anyway, this album is a trash time capsule that hasn't aged well at all.

This is trashy. Mariah has the best voice of this era and genere but does little to nothing with it. The production is fan service and does nothing to expand or challenge the audience. Yes, it's a move toward hip-hop but there's no one categorically to reckon with her. She's become an even bigger fish in this pond and it's sad. Her voice is so absolutely stunning and she picks THIS direction to go in? It's just sad she and her team could have clearly dominated any genere and just releases drivel instead. Wish I could give it no stars but that's not really an option. It goes without saying this album does not belong in the top thousand.

Not my jam

Allt låter väldigt lika, bra röst men lite tråkiga låtar. Blev bättre mot slutet. Stark 2

A few dang good tracks & some other middle of the road r&b. Great singer on the songs

Slow dance songs from fifth grade that I didn’t like then and don’t like now, but her voice is good so I’ll give it two stars for that.

When it popped up I expected I might enjoy this one. Nope - found it pretty uninteresting. I don't think it's aged well. "Butterfly" has middle school choir concert energy.

Really

Unlike Carey herself, this did not age well.

Worst so far

Honestly, I'm a but torn on this. For starters, not my thing but something about this is likable. It's an obviously well produced album but much of it is fairly forgettable. The Prince song is a highlight but pales in comparison to the original.

Mariah Carey is an immense talent, but her vocals are the equivalent of a shredding metal guitarist that is more about showing off and less about melody. Pair that with formulaic 90s R&B and P. Diddler and best I can offer is 2. I heard this album enough in my teens and I refuse to give that sex criminal a single stream.

Better than Coldplay.

I was a fan but this album didn't do it for me. I'm sick of butterfly, the songs are too long and repetitive. Her vocal is OK.

Seigneur dieu.

This is shit.

01) Honey - 8,5 02) Butterfly - 8,0 03) My All - 9,0 04) The Roof (Back In Time) - 7,5 05) Fourth of July - 6,0 06) Breakdown - 6,0 07) Babydoll - 5,5 08) Close My Eyes - 5,5 09) Whenever You Call - 6,0 10) Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) - 7,0 11) The Beautiful Ones - 7,0 12) Outside - 6,0 TOTAL: 6,83 (68/100) Current ranking: 367/561

Starts with a bop, then it's all ballads

Even for a pop / R&B album, which is not a genre I really like, I found this bad. Her famous vocals often have a weird hushed vibe. And oh please, why must she do the OooOOOoooOOO thing after every line, it just loses all appeal. I don't find these songs good, it's a pretty bland production and I only really found the piano riff of the opening track catchy. Everything else is pretty boring until the Butterfly reprise which at least has a beat, some energy, powerful backing vocals. But by then my attention was already lost

Honey is a GREAT song. She’s an amazing singer. The rest of the album bores me.

Mariah is certainly very talented, but perhaps there is too much exploration in her vocals for me to get lost in her music. It’s very similar to Christina Aguilera where both jump around the key with their voice and arpeggio the chords. I recognize the power of both, but I feel Mariah is a one trick pokey. She has incredible range and can absolutely SING. I just can’t get lost in her music. Couple that with generic 90s r&B tracks. This becomes antiquated quickly.

HORRIBLE! Reminds me of her DAMN Christmas song!

It’s fine but not really for me. Really like her debut and Christmas albums though.

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

Esse álbum passa longe do meu gosto musical.

Somebody shoot me.

It was fine.

The ending credits of every Richard Curtis film. I don't even dislike it, it's just a bit generic of this time and not my thing. I swear half of these 90s albums are in there to mess up the overall ratings.

"no"

Famous album. Some good songs.

It's like her whole brand is the worst Michael Jackson songs. She's been demoted to Macy's in December, and that's ok

Alright. I liked it at first but now Im getting a bit tired of the Pop RnB. And this is the worst one so far. Theres just nothing here.

Good

tell me why am I sobbing into my work e-mails as I listen to My All. she is, indeed, the moment. probably not her best album but still very very beautiful and fun

1 - just not for me. Hated all the unnecessary vocal runs, the extremely airy almost baby talk vocals and the backing music wasn’t all that interesting either

Not my thing at all. Every song sounds the same. I just don't get it

Not her best

Surprisingly pleasant. I would have hated it when it was released

No thanks

she can obviously sing but is it really that much of a must-hear? idk

I can find no redeeming features to this album, nothing nice to say about it, please don't make me listen to this album or artist again, ⭐

Closing credits music

Raw talent. Wasted talent.

Her 6th album. The production values for this kind of thing are obviously off the charts. More whining and OOoooOOOooooOOs than actual words. She doesn't sing songs, she moans scales. 90s cliche throughout. Like an hour of Dinsey credits music. Musical pollution, in the case of the People v Mariah Carey this is the case for the prosecution.

Great voice. Terrible songs.

Well-produced with a great voice, but soooo generic. Also, it’s impossible to have any real hook when the singer’s voice jumps all over on every single like of every song.

Mariah Carey's vocal range is inhuman; that said, there's not much else on this album that does much for me. 2/5

Was dreading this but it's very listenable. That being said, it was just very inoffensive and passed me by. I'd give it a 2.5, but I'm gonna give it a 2 for being almost an hour. Too long. 2/5

These songs would be a lot more tolerable if they were 2-3 mins long each instead of 5-6.

This is not for me.

No. Just no.

Classic Mariah

Look - I know Mariah can sing. However, I don't feel like she did that here so much as just sorta breathily sighed her way through this album. A very questionable use of a very powerful instrument. Furthermore, not one track stood out to me. Admittedly, 1997 was a very busy year for me, but I swear I never heard any of these alleged singles - or maybe I did, and they truly were/are that unremarkable. In fact, I hypothesize that if these songs had corporeal form, I could hang wallpaper with them. Oh, and I lied. The Prince cover DID stand out to me - for being a grotesquely unnecessary capital offence to the institution of good taste. KEEP YOUR CLAWS OFF PURPLE RAIN!

I love Mariah as a personality. Her hits are hits for a reason. Mariah is really best in small doses though. I’m happy when I hear one of her songs played (unless it’s Xmas season). I just don’t really want to listen to an entire album of hers in one sitting.

Every song sounds the same, yes she can sing but that was about it for the album.

Too repetitive

Whatever. Her voice sounds great but she just does too much with it. Like way, way too much. The lyrics are fluffy throwaways that mean nothing. Literally just copy and paste for an entire album cause every song sounds the same. Bleh.

uuuuughhhh. you don't need to have 12 different vocal runs in every single song. don't care how strong your vocals might be-it's way too much

Fine if not extremely boring

A classic, DUH

I'm excited for this one! I love upbeat pop Mariah and some of her big hits, but I haven't listened to an album beginning to end. Now that I'm a few songs in. Man, Mariah's voice is (as everyone knows) one of the best in the game of all time. She's really impressive with her ability to improvise scales. There's a lot of ballads here but they might be some of the best 80s-90s r&b ballads. This too is the peak of the Mottola/Carey musical and marriage partnership, off the top of my head. They did some good work together. Almost can't help but think about how he tried to replace her with...JLO. ha. Anyway. I like this a lot but I feel like I maybe needed more upbeat pop songs in between each ballad. Sometimes they can start sort of running together after a few too many songs. Even though this isn't my favorite thing ever, it did really inspire me to download a greatest hits Mariah collection. I need more!

The more I listened to this the less I liked it. Sure, she has a great voice (while the material doesn't hold up). But she also makes stylistic choices while singing that really don't appeal.

Not for me and too long. Beautiful voice but I just get bored with this style after a while. Light 3.

Honestly shocked I didn't know any of the original songs on here given the number of hits Mariah Carey has. I'm not sure this is essential listening, and lots of the songs blended together for me but it was certainly a welcome change of pace.

All I Want For Christmas is enough Mariah for me

Definitely worth a re-listen. Nice cozy album with some unknown (to me) bangers.

Boring, annoying, only sometimes enjoyable. Vocals? Maybe she does have a big range and a strong voice but it wasn't nothing great to me. It was not horrible, but not good. And no real drums.

I don’t really understand how an album can have such stunning vocals but still be completely underwhelming

Honestly, did not hit. She can sing, but what's the point of singing bad songs?

I was excited to listen to this one when I first saw Mariah Carey come up. Voice is great, song is mid. I say song because this album is one really long song.

That was a lot. Of notes.

Jedinica iz principa. // Bila bi jedinica, šta imaš raspon glasa ako ga ne znaš koristiti.

She has an amazing voice, she's like the opposite of Bob Dylan. None of her songs resonate with me but her voice is amazing.

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.

Her voice is incredible, but there is way too much filler on this album.

It's fine, I guess. 2.5 stars.

Maybe I'm just feeling generous today, but damn, this was kinda great? Not really my kind of music, but I'm impressed.

Her voice has great tone, but after awhile I grew tired of all the (unnecessary) vocal inflections.

Oh no please don't.............a day off today I did try and I can't stand it 😭

Credit to MC for having some serious vocal chops. Like seriously, girl can sing like a motherfucker. That said, this album is so same-same from start to finish that I legit thought it looped back around, but turns out I was only about halfway through... Maybe this album was bigger in the UK, but stateside, I remember her 2 prior albums being a much bigger deal.

In my mind, she defined contemporary R&B. Honey is an absolute banger of an opening track. I love her harmonies and backing vocal style. Incredible voice, but as some other reviewers have said, the songs are a bit same-y and her vocal range is limited to one specific style of breathiness that I can only listen to for so long. She also limits herself to a lot of the same vocal flourishes, the long chromatic runs, the "ooh-ooh-ooh" bracketing every line. Mimi you should let loose! Emancipation of Mimi is much better. I like Mariah's sound but did not need to hear this album before I die.

This is pure 1997s pop. I could care less about Mariah Carey. I'm giving it a two only because of the banging Prince cover.

Wasn't looking forward to this. Honey, I had forgotten, and you know what, that's a very decent pop song with a hip hop/soul beat. Next track we are firmly in power ballad territory, which can absolutely get fucked. Her and Celene and whoever else were doing this all over the fucking place at the time. It seems we stay in this territory for basically the rest of the album, thereby locking in a poor rating from me. Oh there's a Prince cover on here? I guess Prince was far from immune to the power ballad, so there's something to redeem. Hmm. The prince cover is going out of its way to sound as close as possible to the original, production, everything. So you have to ask yourself, what's the point? Apart from it being a Prince song and so clearly the best song here. Yeah I quickly lost interest in this, I didn't need to hear it before I died because I've involuntarily heard way more Mariah Carey than I ever wanted to simply by passively existing in the world.

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.

Getting this right after Pantera might be the biggest case of whiplash I've experienced in this whole album project so far. That's kind of what I love about the randomness to be honest. We have arguably one of the most masculine albums on the list immediately followed by one of the most feminine. No offense to femininity, but I prefer the Pantera album. That's just my bias towards the metal genre speaking though. By all accounts, Butterfly is a solid album. Well, apparently not all accounts seeing as this album currently sits at an average of 2.47 on this website. For reference, Marilyn Manson currently has a 2.5. That's messed up. This album's pretty good, okay? It certainly has its influence. Mariah Carey may be overplayed during the Christmas season, but this album's got some songs that are better than that Christmas song that honestly isn't even bad. It's literally just overplayed. The songs on Butterfly are fairly standard modern r&b affairs. But I don't know, I'm kind of nostalgic for this kind of stuff, okay? Mariah is definitely a strong singer. She's always had that going for her. The notes she hits do go kind of crazy though. The writing does its job. None of it is particularly horrendous, but nothing really stuck out much as top-tier either. It's solid. The production's pretty good. I can see why some might call these songs samey, but I wouldn't say they feel exactly the same. I do feel that the album's a bit long. That might just be me though. Overall, Butterfly is a solid showing that I can understand the success of. It's good! High 3/5.

The official soundtrack of hating middle school dances. Inescapable 90s mega pop pairing RnB diva vocals with hip hop production and latching it to the mtv rocketship. Lots of talent but the songs seem mostly like vehicles to show off the incredible vocal range, like the Steve Vai of singing. Just because you can hold that note doesn't mean you should, or do it every single time. After a couple of interminable ballads, the sultry slow jams are a welcome relief, but it all makes you miss Honey's higher energy hip hop pop. Then that comes back with Breakdown and it's not that good either actually.

Not my style

They butchered Shook Ones :(((((((( I haate this style in the 90s. So annoying

Mariah is one of the most iconic singers of the twentieth century and has written or cowritten more hit songs than almost anyone. She absolutely deserves to be on an all-time list. Some of my favorite songs ever are Mariah's (Always Be My Baby was the first single I ever bought). That said, I'm much more of a Mariah singles fan than an album fan. The only full album I ever purchased was Rainbow, and though I've listened to most of the big albums once or twice, none of them left much of an impression on me. The list of collaborators on Butterfly is pretty mind blowing — Missy Elliott, Bone Thugs, Elton John, Dru Hill, Walter Anafasieff, and that dude in jail we won't mention... There's even a Prince cover. And yet, the album is still kind of lackluster (at least in my opinion). Besides the singles, it's kind of boring in a lot of spots. This was the era when Mariah was starting to break away from the demure crooner her record label wanted her to be and leaning more into her sexy, "urban" side. But this album feels like she's still figuring things out and isn't sure which path she wants to go down — not that she should have to pigeonhole herself into a particular box, mind you — but what results is an odd mix of adult contemporary ballads, sultry r&b, and hip-hop adjacent jams that doesn't quite gel together into a coherent album. It feels like she's trying to please every possible audience at once and ends up not totally succeeding with any of them. Mariah's songs also have a tendency to retread the same territory over and over — similar melodies, the same themes, etc. Even the Bone Thugs song sounds like they just rewarmed the melody from Crossroads. There's a lot of talent on this album, and I don't know if I'd say any of the songs are truly bad. But at almost an hour long, there's a lot of filler that could have been cut and songs that could have been shortened. Again, all the respect in the world for her, but I'll be sticking to the Mariah #1s. 3.5/5

I'm not a fan of the breathlessness of this album. All the songs sound the same. The cover of The Beautiful Ones is just....yikes. Completely unnecessary. Not my cup of tea.

A very good singer, but it's so far removed from what I like to listen to that I am struggling to get through it.

Not my bag, baby. I cant imagine ever wanting to play this record.

Mariah Carey's "Butterfly" is a reasonably appealing R&B album, though it occasionally feels overly polished, using a set formula aimed at creating a pop hit album. Despite Carey's undeniably remarkable vocal talent, I have consistently felt that she tends to showcase her entire octave range in nearly every track. That gets old fast. Overall, this album comes across as rather generic and unmemorable. It is not terrible, but it also fails to be interesting. Also, I find it perplexing that this album made it onto the 1001 list.

I had some preconceived notions coming into this that it would be shitty generic repetitive 90s pop. It was shitty generic repetitive 90s pop.

Come on now. She’s gotta have something better than this! These songs are dreck.

2.5 Beautiful voice of course, and I liked a few of the tracks, especially the one that sampled Mobb Deep, that was an unexpected delight. Just overall not my preferred genre of music. Miss Carey has never been my favorite diva.

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

what the hell is the christmas woman talking about she is an incredible singer, but it gets tiring how much flair she has to put into making the extremely derivative tracks interesting.