Butterfly is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on September 16, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album contained both hip hop and urban adult contemporary sounds, as well as some softer and more contemporary melodies. Throughout the project, Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she had written and produced most of the material from her previous albums. She also worked with many famed hip hop producers and rappers, such as Sean "Puffy" Combs, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott and the Trackmasters. With the latter acts producing most of the album, Butterfly deviated from the adult contemporary sound of Carey's previous albums.
With Butterfly, Carey continued the transition that began with previous album, Daydream (1995), which pushed her further into the R&B and hip hop market and away from the pop background of her previous work. During her marriage to Tommy Mottola, Carey had little control over the creative and artistic steps she took on her albums, however, after their divorce midway through the album's conception, she was able to reflect her creative maturity and evolution in the album's writing and recording. Carey writes in the booklet of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009), that she considers Butterfly her magnum opus and a turning point in both her life and career.
Five singles were released from the album; two worldwide commercial singles and three limited promotional singles. "Honey", the album's lead single, topped the charts in Canada and the United States, and reached the top-five in New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom. The album's fifth and final single, "My All", became a top-ten hit throughout Europe and topped the charts in the United States. To promote the album, Carey embarked on the Butterfly World Tour, which visited Australia, Japan and Taiwan, with one show in the United States. Butterfly was nominated for three Grammy Awards at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.
Butterfly received acclaim from music critics, many of whom embraced Carey's musical transition. Reviewers complimented the album for its mature sound and production, as well as Carey's musical direction. Though released during Carey's heavily publicized conflict with Sony Music, the album became an international commercial success, topping the albums charts in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, as well as the United States. It was certified five-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States and received the Million Award in Japan. Globally, Butterfly has sold over ten million copies.
Not unpleasant, and I can see how R&B fans would like this, but it's not for me.
Every track sounds exactly the same. Mariah doesn't really sing songs so much as just moan scales.
Try To Listen To A Non-Christmas Album Without Thinking Of Christmas: Impossible Edition.
It's got chimes. It's got Mariah Carey. It's got P Diddy. It sucks.
It's pretty bad. It fits every cheesy 90s stereotype, even the guy in the background whispering *MC* and *Break it down*. The only redeeming factor is it gave me a laugh
I know she has an amazing voice, but I find it jarring when she (or anyone) goes really high with loads of notes added in and she isn't even singing words - essentially just showing off. Also, pop r&b is probably the only genre I find virtually no enjoyment in. I don't care if millions of people love this album, objectivity can do one. 4.5/10
Almost 1 hour of Mariah Carey?
That is...at least, unexpected.
A good album if you want to listen to the same song for 50 minutes.
That clean and inoffensive hip-hop/pop/soul mix does not mean anything in the end, but I assume that there are some nice songs for some busy days when you won't turn off your mind and do not think or enjoy the music at all.
I don't think I realized how much 90s r&b was used in Disney movies credits but this really brought me back to childhood. It's definitely a genre I can't totally get into but none the less this album is a gem. Breakdown is my favorite. But how can we get Fourth of July to be an actual holiday classic?
There have always been great vocalists - but traditionally it's understood the vocals serve the song by complimenting the music or telling a story. Ideally both.
There were vacuous warblers before Mariah, who treated the vocal track like a 1980's hair metal guitar solo. (Whitney turned to the dark side on Bodyguard, for example). But Mariah really nailed that "listen to the notes I can hit - and praise me!"
Sadly it really connected. Girls across the world sang her songs into their hairbrushes, and her influence is still obvious at every singing talent show anywhere across the world.
Her voice is a beautiful and powerful force. If only it could be used for good.
Well I just listened to an hour of syrupy nonsense. Mariah just makes noises and ooohs and aaaws her way through this drivel while some faceless backing band play soulless music. Every now and then some random guy will shout "oh yeah!" or something equally inane in the background.
Truly appalling and an affront to musicality in every way. The vocal performance is like she's practising in the shower in an absent-minded way, rather than actually singing on something that would be released to the public.
Not really a huge fan of the whole diva thing (it sounds too much like when people sing the Star-Spangled Banner and they feel compelled to go "AND THE ROCKETS' RED GLAAAAAEEOUUOOAAIIIEEEEEUUUUUER" for some reason). Also not a huge rap guy. Best song: Close My Eyes, which was the only one I really liked and wouldn't be out of place on a Zero 7 album.
Mimi's best album by fat, Emancipation might tip her crown but for now, I am a Butterfly stan.
Lead single is one of the best songs about (sea-men_ ever and her vocals are incomparable
Breakdown deserved to go diamond, I love the layering and the verses, Mariah's pen goes as hard as ever on this album and it's so cohesive and vital to her imperial era. Definitely a leg up from Daydream
But surprisingly my favourite song is Fly Away reprise, David Morales popped off with the house remix, something for the gays and girls to dance to in the summertime I see. Happy Pride everyone.
That's a real fucking legacy to leave. No notes. Not a single skip.
Mariah Carey, pop darling, is known for her silky smooth voice which has graced 17 albums thus far. This her 5th album. Do you want to know something I didn't know? Carey is credited as the PRODUCER for this album! He made these songs!! All this time I thought she was a pretty face with a voice being used by other producers in the game, but no! She's the songwriter, producer, did her own background vocals too. That's hilarious.
Anyway, this album marks a turning point in her discography (from what I read). She pivoted from a more watered-down adult contemporary pop sound to a more hip-hop + R&B sound. This is evident in Honey, the album's opening track. Unfortunately, Honey is also the strongest track as the rest of the album falls back into slow jams that are just okay. It's a bit disappointing because it feels like I listened to the same song in 10 or 11 different ways, just not very engaging. Mariah Carey is a wonderful voice that is delegated to the same shtick over and over and over again. This is also a divorce album, so maybe it's warranted. Marvin Gaye did it better, in my opinion.
Another place, another time - to be honest too tied up with work and business to really get the most out of Mariah’s beautiful whistling voice but undoubtedly she is God
6/3
Mariah's golden voice over flawlessly executed blends of R&B and Hip-Hop production.
Standout Tracks: Honey, Butterfly, The Roof (Back In Time), Breakdown, Babydoll, Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)
There’s some really good tracks on this thing. Very mellow, the group vocals and harmonies are really nice, I think some songs feel maybe a tiny bit redundant. Babydoll is a standout. Feels so sexy and groovy. Honestly I had a great time with this lol
In my 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.
In my opinion Mariah Carey's Butterfly doesn't signify her apex, but her decline. Butterfly is the point that she starts falling victim to the 'Diva' personality that would consumer her. The problem is, most of the music on this album is not diva-esque. Why is on this list? I'm not sure when her earlier albums are more representative of her influence. Here she's just a harmonizer that works with the 'Make-It-Big' writers and producers of the era that stumbled upon a formula for hit records.
She has the hit records, but the quality of her music is behind her at this point.
2.5/5.
The Roof Shook Ones Part II sample 🔥, otherwise a very well produced album and Mariah Carey obviously has an incredible voice. Just not the type of music for me
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally. Mariah is my all-time favorite singer. If I could give this album 100 stars, I would. I would certainly appreciate more of the artists like Mariah I actually listen to, and way less garbage that you've been showing. I don't listen to garbage at all. I am extremely picky about my music.
Mariah Carey Butterfly
Honey is a classic. She is really an incredible singer. I love all the super slick production on the 90’s r&b ballads. Well done album the whole way through- I liked the butterfly reprise too. The prince cover is sounds so drastically different from the rest of the album but it works.
Glad to see Mariah's first album post-Tommy Mottola show up here, a fun listen where she was able to get away from his borderline abusive control that extended to her work - which sounded far too much like Celine Dion prior to this point.
& you see the result in the variety on this album - the hip hop influences on Honey & Breakdown, the sexy R&B groove of The Roof and Babydoll, AND disco inflections on the Fly Away - while staying true to her gospel, sometimes schmaltzy roots on Butterfly.
She might have had catchier songs & gotten more comfortable with going straight R&B with later albums but this is still a solid, fun listen that's notable in her overall insane discography.
I especially like the RnB and Hip Hop elements on this. A few of the ballads produced by her usual collaborator up to that point have a soft piano sound that has a distractingly cheesy 80s feel. But overall the songs and the production give a lovely floaty feel. The vocal production is particularly great. I like the way her voice is blended in two or sometimes three distinct ways with further backing vocals present. My indie kid head was even reminded of how Kate Bush and Liz Fraser's vocals were produced.
Oh look, the men are triggered again. This is not my favorite Mariah album but it's the last of her golden era. It's more of a stereotypical 90s R&B album, though there's still some timeless bangers. I think I'd rather have Daydream on the list to represent Mariah at her peak. Or the Unplugged album.
When I was in 7th grade my boyfriend gifted me this CD for Christmas. We barely saw each other in person between classes, we definitely hadn't kissed, I don't even think we held hands in the halls...but we talked a LOT on the phone every night. He really knocked it out of the park with that gift, and 30 years later, I still think of him when I put this album on lol
This is my second favorite Mariah Carey album, after Daydream. I was discovering music on my own, requesting songs on the radio, obsessed with MTV. I'm pretty sure I had some sort of sexual awakening to this album cover. For me, this album is a classic. Maybe not one of the very best, but represents a very important time in my own music discovery journey. 1997 was really a formative year of music for me.
Nine-year-old Joey had this on cassette and would walk around the parks of his apartment complex singing these songs out of tune with his headphones on. Thirty-eight-year-old Joey streamed this album from his phone, through his apple TV, to his house-wide sonos soundsystem in his living room in the woods, shocked that he remembers 75% of the lyrics to all of these songs, and unsurprised that he is still completely tone deaf.
This record captures such a moment in time for the intersection of Hip-Hop and R&B, and for pop music more generally. Mariah continued her swerve into Hip-Hop style production and features that she helped pioneer on her preceding record Daydream (O.D.B.?!). Mase, Bone Thugs, Dru Hill, Da Brat and The Lox — production from Q-Tip and Missy, Mobb Deep and Malcolm McLaren samples — all on the same record. She would deepen her connection to Hip-Hop on her two subsequent records, with it becoming the dominant influence of her music. And despite all of the star power and trendy influences on display, her ballads are my favorites on this record, and she maintains her gospel influences to boot, showcasing her now-classic harmonies and runs that epitomize that genre, and she reinvigorated the historical intersection of secular and popular music; a clear line can be drawn from Aretha to Mariah.
With that said, the clash of genres (and their associated culture and values) can be jarring. This seems to be one of the main criticisms of this album, and I half-agree. Mariah continued to merge the old and the new, and she would perfect her brand of pop r&b by the mid-aughts, ushering in nearly a decade of popular music that followed the same blueprint.
Lastly, a rare and successful Prince cover (with thong aficionado Sisqo no less)!
This was wonderful -- I especially love My All, as it's been a favorite of mine from Mariah for at least 20 years. Excellent vocals, great grooves, awesome writing and amazing performances. Four stars.
-music channels music videos at 3 am vibes
-passionate vocals
-a personal album for Ms. Mariah Carey
-I like the R&B, downtempo instrumentals around this album, as well as the funky, hip hop-ish instrumentals
-awesome Prince cover ("The Beautiful Ones")
-it isnt usually my type of pop music, but it was an enjoyable listen, for sure
-favorite songs: Honey (<3), the title track, Fourth Of July (<3), Breakdown, Close My Eyes, The Beautiful Ones
-least favorite song: Fly Away
Good album, but not her best. Love Mariah's body of work, especially in the first half of her career, but I found it interesting they chose this one instead of Daydream or Music Box.
Pop/R&B is not necessarily my jam, but I got to give her an extra star just for her voice. And if she hadn’t chosen this genre, we likely never would’ve heard of her so I don’t fault her for that, but I would love to see her do a soul or funk album.
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
Please stretch more syllables. Every syllable needs to be at least five times longer than in casual speech... God I hate that vocal technique so much.
This album is just so boring. The production quality is pretty good, but that’s the only compliment I can give it. I don’t know what I’m supposed to enjoy about this. It's just an hour of the same uninspiring and unimaginative stuff I’ve heard on radio a million limes. Most songs here are over 4 minutes long, which is not a lot, of course, but, holy shit, I now understand why average pop listeners have no patience for anything over 3 minutes. I guess they're just used to nothing fucking happening in their songs, so they have no faith in music being able to build up to something interesting. The songs are not long, but they feel like such a drag. They’re so monotonous and uninteresting. The only songs I kind of enjoyed was Fly Away but only because it has a somewhat decent house beat. Also, what's the point of a cover if the only thing you're doing to the song is making it worse? They looked at an actual great pop song and thought, “Nah, that’s not what pop is about. Let’s make it boring.”
It’s not complete trash. I guess if you’re into vocals, you may like her voice? I mean, she does all the same shit other vocalists in her genre do and no more. But I guess some people like it? For me though, it was a waste of time.
Go girl give us ✨️nothing✨️
I'm not a fan of Mariah's apart from her iconic Christmas song. She is undeniably talented but this album was such a snoozefest
Someone get this girl some caffeine and belt out them notes like I know she can. Instead she just kinda yuuuuuhhuhuhhhuhh'd all over the place
Wasn't as bad as I had expected tbh but it does lose a star due to the fact it was too damn long
2 ⭐️
Been a while since I’ve quoted my wife’s reactions here, so I’ll throw in a review-in-progress from the car: “This sounds like H&M music. Who would go to see this in concert?”
I would buy a reasonably-priced T-shirt to this album. Clearly a painstakingly-machined exemplar of its genre, I applaud Carey’s vocal aerobatics while finding the music vapid.
She's definitely a great singer. And she knows it. But I don't think that necessarily translates to good music, in the same way that I don't think Joe Satriani's music is a good listen, or why I'd rather watch Cordarelle Patterson run a return than watch Usain Bolt run a 100 m. Bolt is obviously the better sprinter, and one of the greatest athletes ever. But the context matters. The way it works with other elements. And Carey shows off "range" technically, but artistically and conceptually, this is a very limited album. I never wanted to just turn it off, but I never really engaged with it either. It's a high floor, low ceiling work, and I would love to hear her push outside the rhythm & pop genre.
I’m not going to lie to you, we’ve been through far too much for that.
I made it through about 30 minutes of this record, started losing interest and then put on Guided By Voices.
I hope you can forgive me.
I will defend Mariah Carey’s first album to my grave and would defend it on this list but this is garbage. Not sure why it was picked over the other one. She’s very talented though so I can’t really justify 1 star.
Bit of a gear change from Nick Drake to this one. Gotta say a couple of the poppier tracks are pretty groovy. But her vocalisation is not for me and the rest of the album is just a compilation of RnB ballads which gets boring. Slick production but often feels overproduced. 1 star felt too harsh but it's definitely not for me!
Great voice and respect to her success. Prefer the R&b vibes to the ballads. The R&B stuff is pretty nostalgic of some 90s teenage house party vibes. But on the whole, not for me.
Look, Mariah undeniably has a great voice and that's on display here. And if one of these tracks popped up while I was shopping, or on hold for some company's customer service, I'd be fine with it. But listening to 1 hour straight of what felt like essentially the same song was more than I could take.
She does have a pretty voice and some of the sounds are nostalgic for me as a kid growing up in the 90s. With that being said, fuck this shit for me personally.
Highlight: The Beautiful Ones (Prince cover)
The problem with Butterfly is that Mariah uses her melismatic style WAY too much. It’s predictable- go low, go high, flutter (pardon the pun) around one syllable. All the songs sound the same, which is a trap many pop and pop adjacent acts fall into.
This album might be on the list largely because it’s a departure from Mariah’s usual style. It embraces hip hop and subtle samples (see Honey). The Prince cover is good, not spectacular.
Sorry, honey. This album has not aged well.
Overall: 1/10
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Absolutely nothing to distinguish it from the tsunami of pop R and B in the nineties/early noughties than her voice. Which is a taste I have yet to acquire.
That was painful. I feel like I spent an hour drowning in a field of marshmallows with unicorns farting rainbows all around me and believe it or not, but farting unicorns sound exactly like Mariah Carey does on this record.
BL: Almost dreading myself for this one, I've never at all considered myself to be a Mariah fan or even know much at all outside the obvious hits, I've always cast her aside and never really paid any attention to her or the music she produces, maybe this will turn out to have been a mistake, and I'm removing any bias I may come into this listen with but truth be told I'm not holding out much hope. We'll see Mariah - We'll see.
AL: Just as bad as I expected. Over produced late 90s girl vocal pop is some of my personal least favourite forms of music. I felt the same with the Brittany Spears record, I find this type of music to be almost entirely devoid of substance. One track stuck out to me but only because of the rap feature which was quite catchy, but still incredibly mellowed out and weak as opposed to some potential other offerings this album could've served up. Maybe it's unconscious bias to this genre as a whole, but overall I found this to be incredibly weak
FT: "The Roof"
1/5
I couldn't make it through this one, to be honest. The songs themselves are pretty by-the-number R&B tracks of the time, but I can't stand her whistle notes. It goes right through me.
Could not get through it. Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I do appreciate that she diversified her sound (expanding from pop to include hip hop) but I don't really like it any better.
I'm sorry Ms. Carey that I've never put on one of your albums before. I've been doing a disservice to myself.
Every single song is beauty. This is my Christmas Album. Its getting played all day during Christmas.
This makes me realize I messed up my previous ratings cause some of them shouldn't be as close as they are to this one.
The whole album got added and saved.
It dont sound like something I would listen to daily, but definitely when the mood is right.
Now I feel like hootin and hollerin.
Im bout to go sing My All in the shower
10/10🔥
I’ve been a Mariah fan (Lamb) since I was 8 years old and I’m 37 now. Daydream was my first Mariah album I owned on cassette and I bought Butterfly on CD when it came out. Butterfly is my favorite Mariah album.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours listening to it over the past 28 years.
To many Lambs, Butterfly is Mariah’s magnum opus. It’s the first album where she’s writing from her own experience instead of generic adult contemporary pop. The lyrics and storytelling are beautiful. She sings about loss, falling in love, lust, and feeling like an outsider because of being racial mixed and the challenges it causes. My favorite tracks are Babydoll, Fourth of July, Honey, and Breakdown.
Mariah always incorporated some R&B into her previous albums but I love that she was able to go full out here once she departed from Tommy Mottola. I feel like R&B suits her vocal style better than adult contemporary. The tracks are so dreamy and at times do feel like they are floating like a butterfly. I’m so happy to have gotten this album today.
For all of Mariah’s fame to come after this album, this is her at her best. I absolutely love the true R&B showcased here, while she still has the room to let her vocals shine. Really amazing stuff. Also, the Bone Thugs fit so well on “Breakdown,” and I loved it so much.
Best Track: Breakdown