Butterfly

Pop comercial lamigoso. Rollo. Un 2.

I won't deny that Carey has an amazing vocal range and performance, but it's completely wasted on soulless commercial pop like this. Too much vocal filler and seemingly computer-generated instrumentals just leave this LP feeling lifeless and flat - RIP to the session musicians responsible for playing the blandest backgrounds possible on this one.

Mariah Carey's music is not my thing, but this record is mostly listenable at low volume. I don't find it compelling but the production and vocals are smooth. That said, in listening to this I've found that it's best if I turn it down to the level of background music. Furthermore, if given any kind of choice, even from the same genre, I'd choose something else.

Quite cliche and soooooo long!

Shes got a good voice but would a decent song writer go amiss? Practically zero tunes

She really does like showing off her voice. It wasn't bad. 3 2

She's a fantastic singer, even if her overly-commercial pop genre is not my cup of tea. Some good songs and fine performances here, but my god everybody involved should be mortified and embarrassed by including the godawful cover of the Prince song ("The Beautiful Ones," here played for seven excruciating god damn minutes at such a sluggish pace it's actually distracting and frankly upsetting).

It's an interesting piece given when she made it and introducing rap and R&B together, and she is obviously an amazing singer. For me, this is not very engaging and it is easy to lose focus with this on.

HL: Breakdown, Butterfly, Honey, The Beautiful Ones What I like about this album: Mariah Carey’s performance, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the first 3 tracks, the Prince song What I don’t like: the mid-90s adult contemporary gloss over almost everything. (The Beautiful Ones sounds like it samples the OG from Purple Rain, and the old drum machine sounds fresher to me than the couple tracks before it)

Ah yes, the 90's... right back to my childhood. The album has that typical 90's r&b sound alot of similar artists had. My gf was really glad I 'had' to listen to this album lol.. I'm not really a fan of Mariah's breathy singing style. and almost find it annoying to listen to it. It's like everything she sings she does it in an hushed/whispery way. The album was a nice trip down memory lane because I grew up with this type of R&B.. but that's about it.

R&b blanc amb petites notes de hip hop i house; és el suposat 'Lemonade' de Carey, després del seu marimoni frustrat amb el president de Sony. La màgia, però, aquí no hi és, i els temes van deixant-se passar l'un a l'altre sense que res interessant acabi passant

Yeah, ok, not my cup of tea.

Did not enjoy this. Mariah may well be an amazingly talented singer but this album felt like a real slog to get through. It's like really cheap diet popcorn. Horribly saccharine taste, but utterly unsatisfying. Fave track - Uh... the remix of "Honey" with the rappers, I guess? Or "The Beautiful Ones" seemed to have a bunch of other singers involved to somewhat dilute the Careyness of it all... 😒

Just goes on a bit really.

Mariah Carey mumbling through some scales over Puffy beats is not my idea of a good time. If she's got to be on the list, why not include the one with the Boyz II Men collaboration? The stealth Bone Thugz track saves this from a 1. Best track: Breakdown

Really, *really* boring.

Mariah's a talented singer and the production of the album sounds great. I'm not a fan of R&B though and prefer her earlier, more straight pop oriented songs to this album. All of that said, 13 year old me absolutely owned this CD back in the day.

What can I say - not a Mariah Carey fan. She does too many runs with her singing. it makes every song sound similar and it is annoying.

mariah has an incredible voice of course, but the production and songwriting just isnt there. feels like i would get the same enjoyment listening to her perform a book of vocal etudes.

Ik word duizelig van hoe haar stem alle kanten op gaat, allemaal te onrustig en ergens ook te braaf.

Ik heb een poging gedaan maar na een nummer of 5 moest ik de tandarts bellen omdat ik spontaan een paar tanden was verloren door deze zoetigheden. Wel nog een extra ster voor de Prince cover.

Some ok beats, warbling singing is not for me.

she's a good singer obviously but a whole album of her music gets obnoxious

nothing stood out 2.5

allright. some good tracks.

Sounds like a load of Disney movie credit songs. Too cheesy for me. Missing an "All I want for Christmas" banger. Still, she was an early crush of mine, so kudos for that, I guess?

oooooOOOOOooooOOOOooo damn she can sing, and it all sounds good, but every single song is so bland and uninteresting. Could be so much better if Mariah stopped breathing down the mic and sung about something

This album is not for me. I always found Mariah Carey to be extremely overrated and boring. I recognize this is probably something most other people would enjoy

Seems like a pretty generic pop album from the nineties to me. It's not bad, but I don't see anything special about it.

R´n´B Pop aller erster Güte. Wer´s mag. Ich nicht so.

I was between a 2 and 3, but honestly it was just too repetitive for my taste. Almost every song just has too much of Mariah Carey’s humming/display of vocal range. Like, “OOooOoooWahHooOoOoOoo you get a twoOoOooooo”

meh

Her voice is amazing, but the songs are all so fucking corny, cheesy soft-ballad love/lust lyrics, sterile musical backing. If the music industry had let her follow her muse more like that stunning early career version of 'I'll Be There' then perhaps her music would be less mock-seductive and could be more genuinely musical. Tunes for 12 year old girls.

As far as I know, I've never heard anything from this album. And I'm a fan of at least a few early Mariah songs. So let's see what's what. Yeah, this is pretty generic. Sounds great, production-wise, but I don't remember any of these songs. And they don't seem memorable. And then The Beautiful Ones turns out to be the best song, but this is a pretty dull version. So... yeah. No Vision of Love? Not even Fantasy? Nope, no coming back for more here.

I’m a day behind, but guys! You completely buried the lede here: there’s a song with Bone Thugz & Harmony. Hahaha! I was so happy when I heard that. Also, genuinely might be the most enjoyable song on the record. Anywho, I’m with Alex in that I have a very low tolerance for the breathy, whisperbrato she sings with on so much of this album. Is that even singing? I don’t know. All I know is when she sings at full volume (back half of “Butterfly,” parts of “Whenever You Call” it’s almost like a different person hopped in the recording booth. And I like it so, so much better. I just can’t with the endless vocal runs at a loud whisper. Project, Mariah! Hold a single note! All that said, I didn’t hate it all. “Close My Eyes” was the standout, imo, and I thought the Prince cover was okay? I mean, I never thought the song needed a shot of gospel but that’s an idea.

The longest breathy sigh recorded in human history lasting exactly 57:20.

I appreciate her place in music, but I just don’t like divas

It sounds like shit but that's not what music is about. That's not in the spirit of music I'm hear to learn. I hear to learn.

Prachtige stem maar ik hou niet van dit soort r&b

Why sing one note when you can sing 5? Sorry painful listening for me.

Not my thing.

Everyone knows she has a great voice. But every song is too softly sung and instantly forgettable. Not for me

Mariah is showing off her vocal range in this atmospheric R&B album that is touched with Gospel and Rap. The most lasting thing about this album though is the fascination she has with butterflies. Otherwise, even the leading tracks don't reach the same heights as other singles of hers.

Without the context of why this is on the list, I was confused. It is so edited and produced it is almost unlistenable. It’s the vocal equivalent of bad photoshop. Which is shame because I’m sure she has amazing talent, it’s just hidden by production.

Too sweet...

Meh

Tja... 2,5

Where was the oomph?

I know its good, its just not for me

It was fine, but ultimately not for me. I couldn't finish the last two tracks .

Aw, crap. Well, I guess I'm listening to this... I'm trying to be open minded… I don't like the 'uh-huh's... nothing resonates with me... ¿Am I still listening?... Mariah really needed to get some people to stop chatting in the background... runs and whispers... ¿Who's whistling?… oh, that's singing... Nope... whew!… it's over.

Not a fan of Mariah Carey. 2/5

This isn't really my cup of tea, but I'll give props where they're due: Mariah has a phenomenal voice, and it sounds like she worked with some of the best producers on this record. That being said, I don't think many of the songs stood out and it was very long.

2 1/2

2/5 way too cutie for me

couldn't really tell you why. I just don't find this interesting or enjoyable to listen to

Some classic jams, but too much "breathy" singing. I only remember listening to her albums before this one.

Mariah, stop breathing in my ear. If I hear one more "nah-nah-nah" "uh-uh-uh" "ooh-ooh-ooh", I am not putting you on again. Records like these make me happy I am not a professional music reviewer. I am sure that high-school girls in the 90's had the most pleasant daydreams listening to this overly sweet and sentimental crap, but I can't find the words to express what this record does to me. I guess I like the album cover, so thanks for that?

Yeah it was alright but won't spin it again to be honest

r&b pop. kind of reminds me of a kpop album that drags on too long.

Not my jam.

Not for me.

2/5. I'm sure her fans love it. But, I detest everything about her diva attitude and it affects my enjoyment of the music. sorry.

an R&B classic. I just don't like R&B.

Mariah is an amazing vocalist, this just isn't my thing.

Poppy R and B album that is just kinda there. Nothing really stands out besides Mariah’s vocals. 4.9/10

that bone thugs verse in breakdown is like straight out of crossroads tf is up with that lmao. she's got impeccable control over her voice, that's for sure, but i'm just not a fan of the 30 bpm R&B love song

Not as much of an ordeal listening to this, maybe because Matilda and Nat enjoyed it so I fed off of their energy. R&B was never my thing. But her voice is amazing which makes the tunes more listenable to me than a lot of stuff from the same genre.

Solid 2. Respect to the voice. Honey is a bit of a tune. But just not my vibe.

Was interesting to go through the history of the album. But that was the best bit for me unfortunately.

Can truly fabricate a rhyme, and great pipes. Too churchy feeling for me

Pas vraiment ecoute. Je n’ai roen perdu 2*

I appreciate the talent and like the song with Bone Thugs but listening to an entire Mariah album was a challenge.

pooop

Oof. Might skip this one.

not gonna revisit it

Маша, садись, 2!.. может не то настроение было, но прям тяжело слушать было

I know I'm supposed to like 90s RnB on the principle of being a music fan, but....

basic 90s pop

Mega zoete pop liedjes. Ondanks dat Mariah wel goed kan zingen, is dit niet mijn smaak.

Kerran kuunteli läpi ilman tuskaa

I can appreciate her talent, I'm just not a fan of Mariah Carey

I have no words

I learnt a new word today - melismatic. This is helpful because it helps me describe what I most detest about the way this woman uses her, admittedly amazing, voice. It completely ruins the dreadfully bland songs. A painful 1*

Artiste connue de nom. Aucun intérêt pour moi, musique très répétitive qui m'ennuie profondément, et vocalises détestables. Je n'ai pas pu aller au bout. =>1/5

Mariah Carey has a great voice, but these are not great songs. They're pretty crummy and she is often not even singing, but sort of screeching over some generic sounding pop.

Can’t believe this is on here. Ruined my street cred by listening to it.

Öde und nervig. Immer nur verhauchte Stimme.

Not for me.

No va

Føj! For! Satan!

Every song sounds the same Standout songs: The Roof (Back in time)

Honey

Not for me

Was hoping for less slow jams and more Sweet sweet Fantasy baby 1.5

First, R&B slow jams are not my thing, and this is basically an album full of them. Second, Carey's cursive singing—where there's no limit to how long a syllable can be drawn out—drives me nuts. (“Throughout, Carey reins in the excessive warbling that puts many off," declares the 1,001 book. NOPE.) While I appreciate Mariah Carey as a singular talent, I found this painfully tedious and repetitive. I'm good with "All I Want For Christmas is You," thanks.

She's only happy when she warbling. I just want her to shut up.

I'd forgotten just how much this woman's voice annoys me. Utter drivel.

Took me 2 days to get the courage to listen to this album and I couldn't finish a single song. Her voice reminds me of the buzzing of a wasp

Jesus Christ

I know why it was popular, but her voice irritated the fuck out of me then, and it irritates the fuck out of me now. PICK A NOTE!

It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but given I thought this was going to be the audio equivalent of watching the video from the Ring, then that is a qualified statement. Horrific warbling switches with weird hushed tones. Nope.

What a load of guff. Oversung at every opportunity, and even when it is, it isn’t even well done. Beats and accompanying instrumentals are lacklustre and surprisingly boring even for R&B styled pop. Overrated as an artist, and glad to see this gone.

Sometime in the 10s Mariah became An Icon for younger generations and having been around for her start, apparent peak, and then series of tabloid fodder embarrassments I was like what are you IDIOTS talking about? In this instance we have Mariah incorporating hiphop and riding samples, something she had success with on her preceding record, Daydream. Still the most soulless soul diva, alas. Say what you will about Puffy but his two tracks here are the standouts...

I wouldn’t be doing this project if I didn’t have an open mind but I hated this. I hate melisma and I hate Mariah Carey for becoming so popular that she inspired generations of singers to do it more (I know Whitney did it, I’m not claiming Carey invented it). I also have an aversion to songs with ‘feat.’ in the title based on listening to them before and almost always finding them to be rubbish. I’m not downgrading this because I’m a snob, good pop is a lot harder than a lot of people like to admit, I’m downgrading it because great as her voice is, she wastes it on showing off, and the clean production coupled with such dull songs makes this an absolute chore to get through. Sterile pap.

Utterly anodyne. And her vocal style (singing around all the notes) never gets less irritating!

Not for me. I thought she was going to be pop. Instead it was all the slow ballad-y stuff pop artist put in and it feels like skiable filler. Hated it from song one

Another album you don’t really want to stream in case the algorithm thinks that you actually like this stuff. 1/5 10/5/26

boring

This is an atrocious record. I can't tell one song from another for a majority of the tracks. Not one song breaks through the noise as something original. Jesus, how is this is the top 1000???

Can’t stand this brand of modern RnB. And especially not Careys style of singing. She’s always annoyed me.

I feel like I’ve heard Mariah Carey songs I like before but zero of them were on this album. Pure rubbish.

Sure, she's got a nice voice, but I cannot get into any of these songs on any dimension no matter how many vocal flourishes she fits into a single line.

Vollkommen überbewertet! Gefällt mir nicht!

Gear: Abyss DIANA MR Artwork: 👩🪙🦋 Production: 😐👍🆗 Music: 🧼🔨🤤 Rating: 🦋/5

Just can’t get past the wailing. Backing singers doing most of the melody…

Who in God’s name thought it was a good idea for me to spend a portion of my time on this earth trying to listen to this?

Not good.

1.2Those breathy/layered vocals really nauseate me for some reason. Skipped halfway through every song. Mariah, your bannished to the 92.2 mits fm basement, hopefully you dont take it too hard.

Album No. 0207 on my list. Mariah Carey will always have a place in my heart for performing the greatest Christmas song of all time. I really, really love “I Don’t Want A Lot For Christmas”. Apart from that song, I have to admit that I’m not at all familiar with her work. If somebody played me some of her bigger hits, I’d probably recognize some of them. But I did not know any songs on “Butterfly”. It kinda saddens me to say it, but I could have happily lived without a change to that condition. To be honest, I didn’t like it at all. Rarely do I give albums on this list low ratings, and if I do, it’s mostly very, very avant garde, experimental albums that I just can’t really appreciate. This is the first major pop album that I encounter on this page that will get a low rating like that. Maybe I’m just not enough info R’n’B, but I found little distinction between the songs, they kinda all sound the same to me. The production and sound are glossy and pretty boring. But the worst part to me is Carey’s singing to be honest. I just don’t like this odd combination of mumbling through the scales and at the same time being overly dramatic. I think I understand why this may appeal to people, but it’s not my thing, really, and honestly I don’t really get why an album this generic ended up on this list. “Honey” is the song I chose for my playlist from this album. 1/5 stars.

Oh god, please no.

mariah has a great voice but i hated these songs

Best Track - "Butterfly"

I promise you I didn't need to hear this before I died.

This is the first album I thought about skipping. I had a terrible time. Why doesn’t she stop singing and gurgling?

The only good Mariah Carey album is her collection of Guided By Voices covers. That shit rocks.

This is dumb

I don't fuck with Mariah Carey, her voice causes me physical pain.

I couldn't stand it. Started skipping through the songs once it was another dull track with her whispering and occasionally warbling over the top. Eventually had to take a break even from that. At its best, there's some chill tracks to listen to while the sun is setting (My All and the most of Fly Away before sleigh bells unfathomably come along)... but only if you got an instrumental version and didn't have to listen to her ruining them. Which would kind of negate the purpose of a Mariah Carey album.

This is unlistenably horrible and sets my teeth on edge.

Just no

*a boring and monotonous album, most tracks sound alike

There is no doubt Mariah has a great voice, but I can't be arsed with the constant vocal gymnastics.

Yeah but no but

There’s a reason she got ditched by her label - barely 30 seconds in before the warbling begins. Roll her out at Xmas and then put her the fuck away.

My least favorite (non electronic) genre of music. Bleh. Mariah sucks. Best Song: Butterfly Rating: 2/10 Stars: 1

cheesey and samey and unfortunately really not my thing

No thanks

No

ho appeso dopo i primi 2 minuti, damn sorella menomale che hai fatto all I want for christmas

MAGNUS OPUM han actually soooo hert kei bock hahaha sing mal richtig, nöd so huuche was isch das füren song gsi hä, iwie kei hook, nüt wo hafte blibt ussrrt vlt s klavier butterfly isch ener das won ich mier vorgstellt han, immernanig mis aber chans vlt meh nachvollzieh HAHAHAHAHA NEIIII EIFACH SHOOK ONES I guess es isch na cool, het sie die melodie gno und inen ganz andere kontext gsetzt? aber iwie auchli cringe? hmmm de rapper bi breakdown passt erstunlich guet inne? no cool gmacht poah bin ich froh wenn das fertig isch whenever you call hani rig na cute gfunde aber ab de bridge würkli schrecklich OMGGG DE LETSCHT REFRAIN HASSIIII hetmer gad würkli schier de nuggi usseghaue hahaha okee de housebeat isch na funny bim reprise OHHJAAA EN GUY WO ÜBER CORNY MUSIG CHLI REDT, MIN LIEBLINGSGENRE oke de rest vo beautiful ones isch na easy jaa ich gönn dier de erfolg mariah carey aber für mich ischs echt nüt

1.08

Just not my thing. I know Mariah has her audience, but it isn’t me.

Gar nicht meins, viel zu langsam und schmalzig

What uninspired trash. Incredible vocal range but this is garbage.

I do not listen to pop crap

Where was the Christmas one?!

As a long-term defender of her Christmas No1 "All I Want For Christmas Is You", I didn't go into this with a completely negative mindset. But unfortunately, I absolutely hated this album and it did nothing for me. A tedious album that goes down as my first one star. Even the Britney Spears album had the comic relief of tracks like Soda Pop and Email My Heart. Very sorry, Mariah.

The cover is the best part of this experience. I can honestly say I've NEVER listened to this album, and that's something I'm proud of. Syruppy power pop with over the top vocals is not my thing so I'm a bad person to judge this one. But really, it's not power pop, it's 80% slow songs. Do I know the songs? No, honestly, I must have been preoccupied to have avoided Top40 radio in 1997. "Honey" has 108M listens but I don't think I've ever heard it. "My All" (254M) is dreadful with it's weird ass low vocal mumbling before the grating chorus. I can't believe 254 million people WANTED to hear that song. "The Roof", "Fourth Of July", "Babydoll", "Close My Eyes" (my ears maybe), and "Fly Away" are all just SUPER BORING songs. I have no idea how they mustered up that many listens, it's impressive, no song with under 3.5M listens. The best song was the first 3 and half minutes of the remake of "The Beautiful Ones", probably only because I knew it and Prince is a god. But it's 7 mins long?! It went off the rails by minute 4. 1 star, pure and utter crap. No way does this deserve a spot in the T1001.

I've seen vocalists hold a hand up next to their face (like a nude Kermit) then move it up and down as if they're conducting their own voice, as their voice wavers up and down. It's quite pretentious and irritating. Every track on this album does this. With an amazing irony, what's produced is incredibly monotonous. 'The beautiful ones' cover is a crime. Longest track on the album & it isn't hers.

1 - TERRIBLE

I have no idea how she was so popular, this was so boring.

Sweet fucking jaysus, this is terrible. All the 1s. Also, this album, in its shitty, but ubiquitous, R&B terrible news makes me think I need to read the book. I mean, why? What justification could the author possibly provide to explain its inclusion? This album really makes me question the utility of this list.

The first song was a fairly straightforward R&B song, and I thought, oh, maybe this won't be as bad as I was prepared for. There were only a couple of those and I really can't get into the pop ballads or gospel pop songs that followed.

1/5 - This list is really letting me down recently.

Horrible

ooooOOOOOOooooOOOOooooHHHhhhhh

deze was echt aftellen tot het einde

If I were the one writing 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, this is definitely another one that never would’ve made the list. I’m not going to say Mariah Carey isn’t talented, obviously she is, but this is surface level pop music through and through. I know I could try to say good things about this album and give it credit for this or that, but I’m not going to lie, I personally think the album sucked. I didn’t enjoy it at all. I couldn’t wait for it to end, and now that it has, I never plan on going back.

Genuinely so boring

Incredible voice but the songs aren’t very imaginative. The Prince cover just sounds like a cheap knock-off with no originality. Carey sounds great but her style of riffing single notes ruined music forever.

Cheesy 90s R&B isn't for me

Favorite moment of the album is a sample riff on Honey.

Today I learned Mariah Carey writes her own lyrics, that’s all my interest in this album.

This pop-R&B album drifts on silky programmed beats, muted bass pulses, and airy synth pads, with vocal ornamentation floating over a smooth mid-tempo flow that blurs songs into one softly glowing surface. It feels like watching colored lights drift under water—pretty and soothing and boring.

Fy fan vad jag hatar det här. Passionerat. Lyssnar hellre på de värsta ettor denna lista haft. Tål inte denna typ av musik. Jag försöker vara tolerant och öppen. Men det här är skräp. Så satans jävla tråkigt. Magisk röst men den slösas bort. Jag förstår ju att folk kanske gillar det här. Men ärligt talat, ändå inte! Det är svårt att förstå.

Not a fan. Very samey, I don’t like Mariah Carey. 2/10

This kinda sucked

This is even-for-the-90s bad.

So this is pop R&B written by studio committee, produced by Sean Combs. Not feeling good about the album before even starting. "Honey" was a decent opener with a hip-hop bent, and I was happy to see Q-Tip linked to this track. I found "Butterfly" to be overly cliche although Carey's performance is commendable, ranging from airy quiet to belting presence. The next track "My All" is more of the same, but with a Latin flavor. I moved to the next song about 2/3 through. There is only so much "uh uhhh uh" singing I can take, and the next track "The Roof" opens the same way, going back to the hip hop influence. I skipped halfway through to "Fourth of July" which is more of the same cliche rhyming lyrics and overblown bass production. I stopped the journey here and skipped around to see if I could pull anything from this. Not really. Carey is a lovely singer, but this is pop hip hop crap and not to my taste or worth my time.

This is probably her best album, when she could still sing. 1/5

How can someone so talented make something so horrible? So many oooooos and everything just sounds like a knock off of her Christmas song.

If I were the one writing 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, this is definitely another one that never would’ve made the list. I’m not going to say Mariah Carey isn’t talented, obviously she is, but this is surface level pop music through and through. I know I could try to say good things about this album and give it credit for this or that, but I’m not going to lie, I personally think the album sucked. I didn’t enjoy it at all. I couldn’t wait for it to end, and now that it has, I never plan on going back.

Butterfly is Mariah Carey’s “magnum opus” only if you believe doing the exact same thing with more whisper-breathing and cooing somehow counts as evolution.

I expected this to be unbearable and unlistenable. However there’s some structure here and the singer keeps the caterwauling to a minimum. So if you were expecting the horror of her Christmas lp or Badfinger cover then you’re out of luck. It’s still 1 star though not as bad as The Cars.

No

I had to endure this drek in the 90s. I’m not listening to it again. Also fuck Mariah Carey and her tone-deaf anti-worker bullshit.

Not my cup of tea at all

Fuck that shite

137/1001 :: Mariah Carey - Butterfly Heard before? ❌ Would I revisit? ❌ Rating: 1 Listen before you die: No People like this? She obviously has great range but overall this album is a mix of vanilla easy listening and bad R&B. Should also be noted the first song features Puff Daddy to which was an immediate turn off.

On the plus side enjoyed Honey - this kind of R&B not my thing but this was definitely at the palatable end of that ilk. Then goes shit for the rest of the album. Slow track Butterfly and slower My All. Breakdown wasn’t quite as bad. And the Butterfly reprise later was passable. But mostly bland banalities. Hope I never have to listen to Whenever You Call again. Quite enough of her warbling gymnastics well before the end. 1 (4 for opening track minus 4 for WYC and 1 for the rest).

I tried. I really did. Let me summarise the first half of this album to save you listening to it. “Honey sugar baby, oh you drive me crazy, I’m going to fly away. Mmmm, ooooooh, aaaah. My heart is breaking, from the love we aren’t making tonigighighighiiight Aaah oooh, yeah. Place your lips to mine tonigighighighiiight on the Fourth of July. Mmmmmm ooooooh I’m losing my mind, gotta get control, laa-ahah dah” This isn’t a 1 star. It isnt a zero. It’s less than zero. I hate this genre of music and I especially detest Carey’s warbling vocal flourishes. It offers me nothing as a listener. Why is this even included on the list? I mean at least “Fantasy” is a chooon! But that’s not even on this album. Awful.

I refuse to sit through an entire Mariah Carey album

It’s not R&B.. it’s Pop with delusions of grandeur. Not that it matters much, because it wasn’t great when it was released and somehow managed to age like potato salad in the sun.

This record sounds bad. I mean it’s a terrible recording. Worse, it’s a bad record. Schlocky R&B with Carey’s oscillating fills and throat-whistle trills make this unlistenable.

I'm not agrueing that Mariah has a good voice. This just wasn't an interesting record.

I read someone else's review that said she doesn't sing as much as moan through scales. I can't agree with that more. This is terrible.

Not my jam.

Total crap

Horrible experience.

Putain de bordel de merde, il est 6h du mat', et le Grand Livre, dans sa grande sagesse (?!) ou son sadisme le plus pur, décide de m'envoyer ÇA. "Butterfly" de Mariah "je-couine-plus-haut-que-ton-chien" Carey. L'icône des centres commerciaux, la reine de la ballade dégoulinante, l'idole de ton client le plus insupportable, celui qui te faisait regretter d'avoir décidé un jour de bosser dans ce putain de magasin de disques. Ce fameux client, celui qui arrivait, le regard vide d'âme, pour acheter que ça, QUE ça, et à chaque fois, tu le regardais passer à la caisse en te demandant s'il n'y avait pas une caméra cachée. Comment ? Comment peut-on s'infliger volontairement cette torture auditive ? Comment peut-on considérer cette bouillie infâme comme de la "musique" ? Eh bien, après 57 longues, très longues, interminables minutes de ce "Butterfly", je n'ai toujours pas la réponse. Je suis même encore plus paumé, car c'est l'anti-musique par excellence, c'est le vide intersidéral emballé dans de la soie et du gloss. Les préjugés, c'est une chose, mais là, ce n'est plus un préjugé, c'est une putain de confirmation factuelle. C'est de la merde POINT, de la merde liquide, tiède et insipide. Une soupe R&B calibrée pour plaire aux ménagères dépressives et aux ados sans aucun putain de goût musical. Et cette voix... Parlons-en, de cette "voix". Elle ne chante pas, elle siffle, elle couine comme si elle s'était coincé les doigts dans la portière. Et le pire, c'est qu'elle a l'air de trouver ça "sexy". Il n'y a aucune émotion, c'est une putain de démonstration technique stérile. "Regardez comme je peux monter haut ! Regardez mes trémolos ! Regardez comme je suis une diva !". Mais ferme-la, bordel ! FERME-LA ! Putain mais ferme ta gueule !!! Musicalement, c'est le degré zéro, c'est produit par une armée de mecs (Puff Daddy, sérieux ?) dont le seul but était de fabriquer un produit vendable. C'est lisse, c'est plat, c'est sans âme. Les boîtes à rythmes sont molles du genou, les nappes de synthé te donnent envie de te pendre avec un lacet de Doc Martens (d'ailleurs le mien vient de casser ce matin... Ça doit être un signe), les mélodies sont tellement prévisibles que tu peux les deviner dix secondes à l'avance. C'est le son du vide, le son de l'argent, le son de l'industrie dans ce qu'elle a de plus cynique et méprisable. Ils ont même essayé de lui coller une crédibilité "street" en invitant Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. C'est comme mettre un survêt' Adidas à un caniche royal, c'est ridicule, ça ne trompe personne, et ça pue le calcul marketing à des kilomètres. Butterfly... Papillon... Légèreté, grâce, métamorphose... Mon cul, ouais. C'est plutôt la chenille processionnaire qui te file des boutons. Car la seule métamorphose ici, c'est celle de mon tympan en bouillie auditive. C'est l'incarnation parfaite de tout ce que j'ai combattu pendant des années. Cette musique qui n'est pas de la musique, mais un produit de consommation courante, comme un paquet de lessive ou un pot de yaourt 0%. Ça n'a aucun intérêt artistique. Zéro, nada, que dalle. Alors, pourquoi cet album est-il dans le Livre ? Mystère et boule de gomme. Stratégie commerciale de l'époque ? Quota R&B à remplir ? Une blague de Robert Dimery après une soirée trop arrosée ? Quoiqu'il en soit, le Grand Livre s'est chié dessus en beauté, car mettre ça dans une liste des "1001 albums qu'il faut avoir écoutés", c'est une insulte à la musique. Une putain d'insulte, c'est cautionner cette merde. C'est dire aux gens : "Oui, oui, cette soupe infâme, c'est de la culture !". Mais allez vous faire foutre ! "Butterfly" c'est l'enfer, mais pas un enfer flamboyant à la Jheronimus Bosch avec des démons rigolos et des supplices inventifs. Non, un enfer beige, insipide, climatisé, avec une moquette épaisse pour étouffer tout semblant de vie, et une sono qui crachote du Mariah Carey en boucle pour l'éternité. Voilà, "Butterfly", c'est la BO officielle de l'enfer, avec Mariah Carey qui couine "My All" ou "Honey" jusqu'à la fin des temps. Bref, une purge, une heure de ma vie que je ne récupérerai jamais, et une confirmation éclatante de mes préjugés les plus tenaces. Parfois, faut savoir écouter sa mauvaise foi. Note : 1/5 et je suis encore trop gentil, limite démagogique, c'est dire le niveau... Car ça mérite 0, putain un 0 pointé. Mais le système de notation m'oblige à mettre 1. Quelle époque de merde.

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.

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

Nope

Ugghhhh… lol

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.

Not my thing at all.

The WKD blue of music albums

xdd

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.

Not a fan.

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.

my poor ears

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.

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

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

Just terrible

I’m good without ever hearing this again

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

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

Nope.

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

Impressive vocal range but god awful music

I just don't like it.

f*ck that

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.

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.

Beğenmedim.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

No. Just fuck no.

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

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.

Boring as fuck

Belle voix. Musique insipide.

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

Worst so far

Seigneur dieu.

This is shit.

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

HORRIBLE! Reminds me of her DAMN Christmas song!

Esse álbum passa longe do meu gosto musical.

Somebody shoot me.

"no"

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.

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

No thanks

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, ⭐

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.

This is not for me.

No. Just no.

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!

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

Gehauche ist unerträglich

I really don't like the vocal style. Hit a note, for pity's sake, don't wobble all around it. The first track is soporific. Second track... more wobbling. Is this her trademark sound? Track 2 also makes me inclined to nod off. Sounds very like Michael Jackson; only he had a better voice. Track 3... ugh... more of the same. This is turning into a "cure for insomnia" album and I've only just woken up. Need coffee. Track 4. I have coffee. It isn't helping. Music to snooze to. 1/5.

Booooorrrrringggg. There is only so much a 5 octave voice can do with mediocre songs.

Hated.

I understand that Mariah Carey is on the list, but I don’t understand why they didn’t include the Ken Lee-album, which is far superior. This was a horrible listen

Utterly awful. Not a single redeeming feature.

Boring and uninspired music combined with boring and ok vocals - not for me

Before I start listening .... "oh fuck, not the warbler"! She likes a warble, I wasn't wrong, but this may not be the most 'warbly' she's ever been. Track 1 is decent. After that it gets very repetitive, very quickly. There are a few tracks of hers I like, but sadly, the 9.5 tracks that I made it through on this album weren't any of them. I had to switch off after 9.5 tracks as I was losing the will to live.

This is the Target of Pop albums. It's trying to be classier than Walmart, but only stupid people are getting tricked by the attempt. This was a really hard hour of listening.

Har hørt halve førstesangen, kan allerede si med ganske stor sikkerhet at detta ikkje e nåke for meg

Simply not for me. 1/10

Not even the cover could save this album. Wife likes Mariah Carey (or used to) and she said "why did they pick one of her worst albums?" I guess the only redeeming factor was that it was not her Christmas song because we here that way too much.

I only listened to about half and I unfortunately heard enough. I’m so sorry Mariah I wanted to like it so bad but there was absolutely nothing about this album that grabbed me.

Ugh.

Nope. I’m sorry. I couldn’t get to the end. Nobody should have this inflicted on them.

I hate this kind of music.

Nope.

I do not understand why anyone wants to make music like this. I won't call it bad. I've no doubt that everyone involved is extremely talented. And I suppose they made a bunch of money so perhaps that's enough. But neither the music nor the lyrics have anything interesting to say and the listening experience is the very definition of "meh".

Not my cup of tea

wat een zeemzoeterig gejank was me dat... hoe is dat in deze lijst geslopen? gelukkig genoeg emmers in buurt, want het was braken en schijten op hetzelfde moment

I came into this with an open mind, and did not enjoy it at all.

Oh boy another pop album of the CD era that is 20 minutes too long, just because they could. I strongly believe no pop album should be over 45 minutes unless you have an artistic point to make, or these are the strongest pop songs ever written. These are not the strongest pop songs ever written. I swear anytime something is described as "adult contemporary" what they really mean is "this is the most boring album ever and we have no other way of describing it that makes it sound good". Wow Mariah, you sure practiced your scales, now try to stick to one note and then write a memorable melody that will stick with the listener, because ever song sounds the same here. Mild tempo lofi r&b groove and then someone showing off all the scales they know. It doesn't really make for great music. Ok, so this isn't the worst album ever, it is "listenable" but tracks 2-12 are barely songs that never get start. Like for real is there a single chorus or bridge, it felt like every song just looped the verse for 5 minutes. I also started to get a headache by the end. How did you make a Prince song sound boring!!! High 1.

No.

Not for me. Nice pic tho

I know Mariah has talent but riffing every note gets old really quickly and it feels like that talent is mostly wasted across her repertoire. She’s like the EVH of R&B vocals - just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I had to take a break after each song to listen to something else more palatable. Throw in a star for Bone Thugs and Sisqo.

Can't stand her voice

Just makes me think of Junior High. Not something I ever listened to on my own, but ended up hearing it plenty somehow. Still no interest in it now.

I really did try to go into this with an open mind, and seperate Mariah from the one song we all know and hate her for. But my God I still couldn't stand every minute of this. One of the most pointlessly long and boring albums I have ever listened to.

Nope! Not even going to listen. Wish I could give this one less star