E=MC2

I have to admit I am a little disappointed in this CD. I have been a huge Mariah fan since her first self-titled CD, and for every one that followed, minus Glitter. I was thrilled with Emancipation of Mimi and thought it was a fabulous CD and amazing come back! However, if you're expecting another Emancipation, this isn't it.

There are many songs I do like on this CD, and others do grow on you. The hooks, the beat, the rhythm pull you in. And yes, I realize that no artist wants to put out 2 identical style type cds...but I wish this CD had been a bit more pop or mainstream and a little less R&B. Because honestly that's the Mariah that I love. So, depending on which style you prefer Mariah, that will decide how you feel about this CD. Realizing that many of Mariah's recent fans are R&B, I'm sure this CD will be more up their alley than mine.

Some of my favorites are: I'm that Chick, Touch my Body, Migrate, Side Effects and Bye Bye.

Mariah is back in wonderful form with an added twist to many of her songs.

As a hardcore Mariah Carey fan, I was so very excited for this album. I had been waiting for it ever since I finished listening to her fantastic 2005 comeback album "The Emancipation of Mimi". Mariah herself said that this new album would be the dessert to the main course that was TEOM. Unfortunately, that's not true. This album is such a departure for Mariah...it's vapid, soulless pop-n-b. The beats are run-of-the-mill, the lyrics are sophmoric, and all in all, each song sounds like it could have been done better by Beyoncé. This is the worst album in Mariah's discography. It finds her nearing 40 and yet still trying to desperately for fit in with young R&B singers in their 20s. Mariah can't be a Beyoncé, she can't be a Ciara, she can't be a Keyshia Cole. And why would she want to be? She's supposed to be a legend but this music is far from legendary. Not to mention, her voice is in tatters. Her once glorious voice is now breathy, brittle, and barely there.

If this were a Beyoncé album, I'd give it five stars. But this is music from a LEGEND. I'm disappointed.

Once again Mariah has come out with a record reflecting both her hardships, as well as lightening up with some 'fun' songs with little significance and nothing but a happy sound. And once again, she is incorporating strong R&B and Hip Hop elements, to reverberate her own music preferences.

She has been doing both since her deliverance from Sony amd all that came with it, but it is a shame that the quality of her music diminishes with these increasingly negligible lyrics ("I'm That Chick") and annoyingly untalented rappers.

The most blatant example is the track "Side Effects", featuring a rapper whose contribution should undoubtably have been kept to shouting "hey" and "ho" in the background, because that is what he does best.

By making such unwise choices, Mariah turns her album into one of those that require skipping WITHIN a song - and that is unnecessary.

For someone with so much talent and passion for music, she should focus on high quality rather than "a young sound" and strongly colloquial lyrics.

Nevertheless, I do like this album. "Migrate" is an excellent product of Mariah's attachment to "music for the clubs", "Stay in Love" is as close as she comes to ballads these days (successfully), and "Last Kiss" seems like a new "Always Be My Baby".

She is the old Mariah, she is the new Mariah, she's just herself and she is in her music.

All in all very enjoyable.

Okay, so I'm not going to do the whole spill on "Old Mariah, New Mariah".

We all know the old Mariah back in the 90's is gone.

"The Emancipation of Mimi", in my opinion was one of her best Cds....this however, is quite forgettable. I put it in my CD player once and rolled my eyes. I sold it back to FYE the next day. Mariah's music has, in my opinion, gone downhill. Mariah has a great gift, but she didn't use it on this cd. There's mabey 3 good songs on here, but that's about it. Not reccomended.