Mariah Carey returns to the music scene this week with her 12th studio album, Memoirs of an imperfect Angel, an album that does not reflect the apparent bliss she has been trumpeting for the past year.
Need I mention it one more time? She has only been flaunting her marriage to the world over the last year and unless you took up residence in a cave, you would know Mariah married Nick Cannon, who is 11 years her junior, in May last year.
Since then, Nick has seen his status escalate to new heights with choice roles as the new chairman of TeenNick (formerly known as Nickelodeon), hosting President Barack Obama’s Neighborhood Inaugural Ball and hosting the fourth season of America’s Got Talent, to name just a few gigs he scored since marrying Mariah.
Mariah has brought him to almost all her public appearances and it has been a kitschy "public display of affection" cringe-fest where she is constantly seen bringing him onstage, leaning into him, talking about him, tackily hugging and kissing him and basically feeding the hungry cameras.
So it is a surprise that Memoirs of an imperfect Angel is not a sugary sweet extension of her current state of euphoric happiness. What a relief that is! Imagine if it was an album full of more “I love Nick Cannon, I am so happy, sex with Nick is so good, I’m in love, yeay me!” narcissistic and plastic taunts, she would completely lose her fan base.
It was slightly more than a year ago that she released E=MC2 with much fanfare and promotion. From this album spawned her 18th Billboard Hot 100 No.1 Touch My Body and a No. 1 spot on the U.S. Billboard 200 Album Chart selling an impressive 463,000 copies of the album in her first week alone.
E=MC2 would have scored Mariah more No.1s as it was an album made to succeed, riding on the waves of The Emancipation of Mimi, released in 2005, with track after track of radio-friendly hits that had "longevity" and "winner" written all over them. However, she abandoned the project right at the start and left it to fade away. Even though her team tried to revive the album and promotion later on in the year it was too late. Damage was done and it is no wonder that Memoirs of an imperfect Angel was released so soon after.
On the first listen, you may feel like Memoirs of an imperfect Angel is boring, bland and that the songs sound very similar to one another. On the second listen, it may start to depress you because it lacks the energetic vibe that The Emancipation of Mimi and E=MC2 had.
The third time is the charm and when you listen to it one more time to give the album a chance, it dawns on you that this is not an ordinary album. It is not just an album full of manufactured formulated chart-toppers but is Mariah telling a story and is meant to be treated like what the title suggests – a memoir.
Memoirs of an imperfect Angel is anything but a happy blissful album. There is only one song, The Impossible, that Mariah says is dedicated to her husband Nick.
Everything else is about an ex-lover(s), someone who broke her heart and hurt her so bad that she is still reeling from the after-effects of that relationship.
The album has a cohesive structure and the songs are interconnected through lyrics and rhythm and are inter-related, almost as if she is speaking to one person in particular.
It is brave that Mariah Carey took this direction for her new album because it really has a story to tell, from being hurt by a lover who cheated, to being angry, to reminiscing, to feelings of remorse, to discovering redemptive love, pining for a lost love and finally maybe, accepting that one relationship has ended and a new, refreshing and real love has taken over.
How many albums can you truly think of that incorporate lyrical storytelling from start to finish? It is a big risk because of the advent of iTunes where people place their importance on singles rather than albums and the music industry is constantly churning out hits in order to grab the attention of the marketplace.
Mariah has always had a knack for creating listenable, likeable and memorable hits as is evident from her repertoire and reputation as a current mainstream music artist even after 20 years in the industry.
The new single and end track of her album is a pop ballad flavored cover of Foreigners’ I Wanna Know What Love Is and will be a clear favorite among Adult Contemporary listeners. It may attract the younger ones to rediscover this amazing gospel-infused song that topped the charts 25 years ago. The song provides some of Mariah’s trademark nerve-tingling, earth shattering high notes.
Let us not forget the radio-friendly track Obsessed with its catchy hook and chorus that can be sung to anybody whom you think is slightly delusional and crazy.
There is a raw passion and sentiment flowing throughout the album and her vocals are tinged with emotion; it is obvious right at the start with her opening track, Betcha Gon’ Know. The intensity is breathtaking and sets the tone for the rest of the album.
The catchier tracks like Candy Bling, Standing O, Up Out My Face and It’s a Wrap are disguised as upbeat songs but are actually songs where she is lashing out at this said ex-lover who had hurt her and you can really hear the pain and regret she goes through in these songs.
On closer reflection, each song is like an entry in a diary and it almost feels like a movie in audio format. What distinguishes Memoirs of an imperfect Angel from her previous two albums is it hardly has any airy, danceable songs. There is nothing on this album that screams "party track" except perhaps Obsessed, and she has already released that as her first single.
Also if you are wondering if there are any Mariah Carey-esque styled ballads on this album like We Belong Together and Don’t Forget About Us, her 16th and 17th Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles respectively, then you will be sorely disappointed.
Angels Cry is probably the closest you will find on her new offering yet it feels like an uninspired forgettable younger sibling of her famed No. 1s.
Languishing (the interlude) can be considered one of the most outstanding off Memoirs of an imperfect Angel. It channels some of Mariah’s most reflective moments from previous albums like Looking In from Daydream.
Technically, the album has been well-produced with Mariah, C. "Tricky" Stewart and "The Dream" Nash layering the tracks well to create a rare gem of an album.
Ultimately, it is so interlaced with grief and sorrow that it makes you wonder why she has released her most painful and reflective album to date at the height of her apparent happiness. Nonetheless, it is Mariah at her best and you can tell she put her soul into it. If you want a frank portrayal of the superstar, look no further than this effort.
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