The Official Mariah Carey Thread

[explodingbird]

What is there to say about this woman that hasn't been said? We all know her, even if not all of us love her - she's a musical legend, with one of the most talked-about and memorable voices (for better or for worse, depending on your taste) in the history of music. She's broken a few records, she's flopped, she's risen back up, she's lost and regained fans, she's grown worryingly orange the past few years...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey

She's Mariah, the 21st century R&B diva. I'd say pop diva, but Madonna or Kylie can have one of those, they've earned it.

So, I'm a huge fan of hers (although I... hate the way she looks these days, damn those implants. I long for the 1991-1997 period. She was beautiful then). She's coming off the massive success of The Emancipation of Mimi and apparently ready to send us a new album next spring (awesome. That was fast compared to last time). Anyone else wanna discuss her, good or bad? Discuss, then. But no flaming amongst yourselves. And try to keep any insults (because I know some people hate hate hate her) short of outright bashing (don't want the thread closed, people!), mmmkay?

[voltron]

Well I've loved her for a good portion of my life, and she is undeniably talented. People like to put her down for many reasons, but they're just jealous of everything she's accomplished, and how many circles she's spun around the people that they like. 0=)

In all seriousness though, I do love her. I had the opportunity to meet her before The Emancipation of Mimi came out, while It's Like That was still the single. We Belong Together was on the verge of being released. She was filming a special for BET, and I was invited to go to the taping. It started about 2 hours late, and there were maybe 30 or so of us in the audience? So, graciously, Mariah had her people order us some pizza and soda and stuff. I live in Boston, but I'm originally from New Jersey, and this was at the NBC/BET studio in New York, so it was nice to have some good pizza because you can't get it in Boston. Anyway...it started and she performed It's Like That, We Belong Together, Shake It Off, and Vision of Love. She recorded each song several times, and it was live. Some people have seen the videos from the show and think she lipping it, but I can assure you that it differed each time she sang it, and personally I don't think they picked the best performances to air...maybe she looked the best in them? Anyway, she sounded amazing. They had premiered WBT on Hot 97 about a week before, so some of us already knew the lyrics, and sang along with her and she was really touched since it wasn't released yet.

The next section of the show was an interview with AJ (who used to be a host on 106 & Park). They cut a lot of that, along with most of the SIO performance from the actual show. But she's ridiculously funny. She plays the diva bit up, but she's really down to earth. She was constantly cracking jokes, and she made the 5 or 6 hours go by like nothing. Then, after people started leaving, she signed stuff for the people who waited a couple extra minutes and she talked to us. She signed my copy of Butterfly for me, and my copy of Charmbracelet which I ended up giving to a friend. She's beautiful, tall, fairly thin (though that's changed a bit), and just amazing. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met, and she's sincerely thankful to her fans. You could tell it wasn't an act.

Then, this past summer, I saw her on tour in Boston. My seats were third row, floor. She sounded and looked amazing, and was great! She responded to the signs that people held up, sang happy birthday to the guy in the row in front of me because his sign asked her to sign I'll Be There for his birthday. She sang Happy Birthday and I'll Be There.

So that was kinda long, but those are my MC moments. Love love love her!

[Mad_Cactuar]

She's one of the artiste's I seriously dislike for no reason. Maybe because her music never appeals to me.

However, she has some undeniably OMFG-FRICKING-AMAZING-WTF songs, namely We Belong Together and Shake It Off. Those are the only 2 that I like.

[..:Hot:Like:Wow:..]

Sorry to say but I hate Mariah Carey, just looking at her makes me -------. and when I saw the video of her dissing Madonna, that made me dislike her more. I must admit though, I LOVE "Hero" and a couple others.

[voltron]

Originally Posted by Kingofpop

Sorry to say but I hate Mariah Carey, just looking at her makes me -------. and when I saw the video of her dissing Madonna, that made me dislike her more. I must admit though, I LOVE "Hero" and a couple others.

That video cuts off the beginning part. In an interview before that, Madonna had said "If I were Mariah Carey, I think I'd kill myself" or something to that extent. So they asked Mariah what she thought about that comment. MC's comment was much more tasteful, in my opinion.

[Cyria]

I'm not a fan, but Mariah does have some great songs and I was rather glad when she made a comeback last year. I've run into stories about her being nice to her fans and that makes me think better of her because she seems to be genuine that way. She may be a diva, but at least she has the career and records to make it understandable and still remembers her fans.

Vision of Love is favourite of mine, We Belong Together when it comes to the newer songs. I think she can be beautiful but wish she'd dress better these days.

[bondingo]

I've always been a fan of hers. I originally got into her music during the Butterfly period, when the video for Honey was frequently played on VH1 and MTV. I have that album, and I bought her "#1's", which is fantastic. I'd say my favorite period of hers would be Daydream-Rainbow. I think her very best songs were from that time. I do like her Emancipation of Mimi stuff, but I think that she's sacrificed a bit of her true music in order to be more commercially successful. That's the only problem I have with her, like with "It's Like That", which I find somewhat ridiculous.

[moombasista]

OMG I love Mariah! That crazy *****!

I met her a few times and she has an awesome sense of humor. She's really sarcastic!

But anyway, yeah I think she's one of the most amazing artists out there.

She writes, produces, sings, plays instruments and she's crazy!

DAYDREAM is like one of the best pop/R&B albums EVER! It was seriously ahead of its time.

I really hate the way she looks now too. It's like ew... plastic surgery gone wrong or something.

Plus, it looks like she's got too much botox in her face.

On the vocal side, she still got it even though it's not a strong as it used to be.

She's still WAY better than "crack wrecked my voice" Whitney.

(that comment that she made was in response to Madonna's comment)

[explodingbird]

(Good, the duplicate's been removed. Why do my threads keep cloning theirselves, anyway? it's FREAKY!)

So, she's one of my favorite singers ever, although I don't listen to her anywhere near as much as I used to. Her voice is a little anemic now, but it blew me (and many others) away back in her heyday - I think Rainbow actually started her slight decline. Not a bad album. Glitter was crappy, but I liked half of it - I may be the only person in the world who loves Want You. I love how dark and twinkly and sexy it is. Eric Benet's was like the only GOOD guest spot on the whole album. Way too many guest spots, and BAD ones to boot.

Charmbracelet was pretty, but very safe and boring. Her voice was HORRIBLE. I was honestly worried at how tattered it sounded, like she'd damaged it beyond repair. It's still annoyingly gusty now though.

Butterfly - minus The Beautiful Ones - and Daydream are her two best albums, bar none. Emotions is definitely very underrated, though. It's her fourth-best (Merry Christmas is her third-best. I LOVE that album so much).

The video for Honey is awesome, and one of her last good videos. Boy had a cute video, though. Didn't really care much for any of the videos off Mimi, although the album itself was really very cool. Three of the four bonus tracks on the re-issue, though, sucked. Don't Forget About Us was pretty, and... I wish Sprung had made the U.S. edition. Secret Love can stay on the international versions and away from me - it's horrible.

More Mariah thoughts to come later.

[Halla]

another thread for an artist who I like

actually one of my current favorite US/EU songs is 'Say Somethin' feat Dem Franchize Boys (So So Def remix)'

I think Emancipation of Mimi is Mariahs best album. I know her vocal abilities peaked on her earlier albums but I don't care about that. I love EoM's hip-hop beats & I'm a fan of JD's productions. Mariah + JD = awesome music

[criminal]

When I got cable TV, Heartbreaker was one of my favourite videos, then I liked Through The Rain, not sure on the title, but something like that. When she released It's Like That, I kind of enjoyed it, didn't think much of We Belong Together at first, but it got to me after a while. Get Your Number is a great song. After those experiences I decided to download TEOM and what I heard was a surprisingly GREAT album. Fly Like A Bird, anyone? I rarely buy CDs and I actually bought TEOM. That says something.

[mitch179]

i really lyk Mariah Carey. My fave songs would probably be Hero and All I want For Christmas is You.

[bondingo]

Originally Posted by explodingbird

The video for Honey is awesome, and one of her last good videos.

You didn't like the video for Through the Rain? That one made me cry. I also thought that Heartbreaker was hilarious

[explodingbird]

Originally Posted by bondingo

You didn't like the video for Through the Rain? That one made me cry. I also thought that Heartbreaker was hilarious

I remember thinking Through the Rain was okay. But then it was ruined for me forever by the sheer AWESOMENESS of the Mad TV parody video, I'm Not Insane (also featuring Whitney Houston!).

Heartbreaker was cute, though. It was Mariah still looking pretty even AFTER her boobs started to inflate and she overdid the tanning. I think. I know she had her twins sometime around/after 1999, around the same time she started to look a bit orange.

[extepan]

i really liked her 'butterfly' album. the lyrics are beautiful and poetic. the songs are emotional. unfortunarely, the next two albums did not compare to 'butterfly'. it is a pity.

[bondingo]

Originally Posted by explodingbird

I remember thinking Through the Rain was okay. But then it was ruined for me forever by the sheer AWESOMENESS of the Mad TV parody video, I'm Not Insane (also featuring Whitney Houston!).

I completely forgot about that parody. Debra Wilson is a comedic genius, which is why I'm no saddened by her leaving the show

[moombasista]

My favorite video is Loverboy LOL

I just loved how she tried to make a top out of a bandana

[..:Hot:Like:Wow:..]

lol, I found the video incredibly funny for some reason...... massive flop.

[voltron]

Originally Posted by Kingofpop

lol, I found the video incredibly funny for some reason...... massive flop.

The single was ultimately #2 on the hot 100 though, so by that standard it was successful.

[explodingbird]

Yeha, but remember, it only rose to #2 AFTER Virgin Records slashed the price of the single to 49 cents (back when physical singles were still actually important in the U.S. and sales of them actually counted for something). I used to have that single, the one with only the original and the remix on it, I believe. Wow, that was completely POINTLESS. The cover sucked, and I still maintain that she looks completely ****ty in that video. Yeugh.