Mariah Carey - The Rarities OUT NOW

Loufoque said:
Friday night is going to be quite a ride. After One Night, @funky is going to be ready for some safe fun only, and then by the time Loverboy hits, he'll be on all fours, door open, begging for anyone to butterfinger his tangerines.
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babe I’m six months into lockdown living alone. I reached that stage back in July
 
I always wonder how stuff like "Here We Go Round Again", which is quite good, but doesn't really fit with the theme of the first album is produced to professional level and then doesn't even get used as a bside. It has the same writers as other stuff, so it can't even be a royalties thing...it's ODD!
 
Sheena said:
I always wonder how stuff like "Here We Go Round Again", which is quite good, but doesn't really fit with the theme of the first album is produced to professional level and then doesn't even get used as a bside. It has the same writers as other stuff, so it can't even be a royalties thing...it's ODD!
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Yeah, didn’t they ever try to sell more copies of a maxi single back in the day by including it on one of her 90s singles?
 
HeLikedTurner said:
Yeah, didn’t they ever try to sell more copies of a maxi single back in the day by including it on one of her 90s singles?
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Exactly. I can understand demos that don't make it, but the stuff I'm hearing on this would have been perfectly good as a bside...it's WEIRD.
 
Can’t help but feel “Here We Go Around Again” could have given her another #1 if it had been released at the time.
 
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Not “Can You Hear Me” sounding more and more essential with every listen? The vocals overshadowed the actual song at first, but it’s actually rather gorgeous too.
 
I've only had a single listen of the album but Can You Hear Me was a highlight. The quality control overall on this is so good though, it's hard to pick favourites just yet.
 
Sheena said:
Exactly. I can understand demos that don't make it, but the stuff I'm hearing on this would have been perfectly good as a bside...it's WEIRD.
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The only plausible reason I can think of is they might have wanted to sit on it for the next album/project but somehow it got forgotten...
 
Loverboy :( I expected it to be way faster. In hindsight this could have been released at the same time as I'm Real and it still wouldn't have done much, maybe it's just not a very good song :o I still love it though
 
KC's Definitive Rate

09 Here we Go Around Again - I love how uplifting this is. The vocals are monumental. They're obviously the centerpiece. "The end of that was iffy" lol
07 Can You Hear Me - Again, the vocals are insane. But the tune is going to take time to warm up to (currently scheduled to be by 5pm tonight).
10 Do You Think of Me - Omg that BEGINNING :disco: The sensuality is fucking OVERFLOWING with this one.
10 Everything Fades Away - I mean, this has ALWAYS been a 10.
07 All I Live For - So 90s it HURTS. The melody is a bit featherweight compared to the rest of the album.
08 One Night - This is SUCH a Daydream track :disco: "Sashaying all the cars roll by" YAAAS
10 Slipping Away - Soooooo sweet. It's such quintessential 90s R&B.
10 Out Here On My Own - This song was MADE to be sung by Mariah. I love Irene Cara, but she was simply warming it up for Mariah.
10 Loverboy - The scandal ALONE makes this a 10, but it's a fabulous festive mess regardless :D It does work with her vocals better too.
08 I Pray - I can NEVER say no to Gospel-riah. I wish this was longer :emoji_cry:
10 Cool On You - Omg it's I'm That Chick's EVIL TWIN!! :disco: :disco: "Ain't not comin' back from that" is THE line.
10 Mesmerized - HOOOLY shit this is amazing. Serving Andrea True Connection 70s Hustle :disco: The ending whistles!!!
09 Lullaby of Birdland - This is sooo fucking OVERDUE. This is the jazz gem we've been aching for!
08 Save The Day - Still love it.
10 Close My Eyes (Acoustic) - This song will NEVER get anything less.
 
Has anyone used the download card from the debut reissue vinyl? The sticker says it’s definitely been remastered, so I presume the download files are also the remastered versions? Gonna try it when I get home.
 
Sheena said:
I always wonder how stuff like "Here We Go Round Again", which is quite good, but doesn't really fit with the theme of the first album is produced to professional level and then doesn't even get used as a bside. It has the same writers as other stuff, so it can't even be a royalties thing...it's ODD!
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I’m completely speculating but I imagine a lot of artists with big record deals record all kinds of stuff, then they get cut from the final album edit, some make b sides, some get passed to other artists, and what’s left gets archived. You’d assume they save the quality stuff for a future album but artists with artistic control (and you’d assume someone as big as Mariah, even in the Tommy days, had some) feel like they’ve moved on thematically and the songs are no longer relevant

but if Mariah CAN have so much album-ready songs out there, it makes you wonder how much great stuff is sitting in studio libraries all over the place...

The streaming world is now opening up so many opportunities for more of this :disco:
 
Apparently she confirmed that a new video for "Underneath The Stars" is coming soon, during the Tokyo Dome video premiere last night?
 
First listen rate (I'm always conservative when I hear songs for the first time so anything 6 and above is GOOD):

08 Here We Go Around Again - brilliant, although doesn't sound quite right on the debut album. Bit too 80s R&B, maybe they left it off because they wanted her to sound fresh and forward, which the album was in 1990.
05 Can You Hear Me - this is a basic ballad, which means it probably would have worked on Emotions, which can be a bit basic at times compared to the 2 albums that bookend it.
10 Do You Think Of Me - well this is incredible. Very Music Box, starts off very "All I've Ever Wanted" and climaxes into "Anytime You Need A Friend", so they clearly didn't need it for the album. But it does actually stand on its own - the instrumentation of the guitar and horns is gorgeous.
99 Everything Fades Away - in no world of mine is this a fucking European bonus track. Fuck OFF. One of the greatest ballads of the 90s, one of the greatest diva moments ever, and one of the very greatest things she's ever done.
09 All I Live For - oh I just felt a huge tingle of nostalgia run up my spine when this kicked in and I've never even heard it before. Can we just go back to the early 90s PLEASE :( This doesn't fit on the end product of Music Box, but then again neither does "Dreamlover", and that's one of the best things she's ever done and was a huge hit. The gospel choir was very dominant in this era wasn't it? It fades too quickly, needs another chorus. But I'm here for this. Fabulous.
07 One Night - this starts off very gloopy, as a lot of the Daydream ballads are, but then moves into a 90s groove / pop hybrid that reminds me of En Vogue, Color Me Badd, Dana Dawson and others. I can see why some of these songs were left off their respective albums.
08 Slipping Away - this is the perfect seque between Daydream and Butterfly, but doesn't quite settle into either era. It's too groove R&B for the former, but too soul standard for the latter. She would have started playing with hip-hop influences later in the year while recording Butterfly and moved away from this sound, and so probably dropped it. She's still singing almost entirely in her lower octave here, even in 1996, so something definitely happened in 1997 because her voice on all of Butterfly, even though it was still very strong, is noticeably different. I love this sound though. Very similar to "When Christmas Comes"(@dUb).
06 Out Here On My Own - I feel like I've heard this before? Does it sound like something else? This starts off very boring but it climaxes well - the piano reminds me of early Elton John. Doesn't feel strong enough for an album, but then again neither does half of Rainbow. The ballads are mostly strong on Rainbow though, so this wasn't really needed.
05 Loverboy (original) - it's OK. So fascinating hearing her voice and therefore technique changing when the songs are chronological.
04 I Pray - her 00s ballads are just a pale imitation of her 90s ballads, I'm not even sure it's a vocal problem; she just strips the soul out of them all. Even with the gospel crescendo I'm not feeling this.
07 Cool On You - something happened between 2005-2008, I don't know whether it was because the evolving R&B sounds started to suit her better or whether there was a notable effort to incorporate some retro sounds into her R&B jams. Either way this is an example of Mariah relaxing, having more fun, singing well, and producing some stuff leagues better than the Glitter/Charmbracelet era. Liking this.
08 Mesmerized - why on earth would you leave this off an album? This is brilliant. Classic 70s soul. Alicia Keys influences. She sounds great on it too. It would be difficult to place what era this was from if it didn't have the year next to it.
07 Lullaby Of Birdland - I mean I love a bit off jazz-soul. I might pick this up again towards Christmas.
05 Save The Day - I can't get into this. Her voice sounds bad at the start and the sample is cheap and reductive. I don't HATE it though. Could Jermaine Dupri just FUCK OFF her tracks already. We get it, you produce Mariah tracks, we don't need to hear you namechecking them THANK YOU
10 Close My Eyes - Well this is a nice surprise. God this takes me back. One of her greatest ever songs. I have always loved the vocal and piano arrangements on this one and the acoustic version works for that reason. Her voice is more stretched now but she does it well - this is clearly not an easy song to sing. The chord sequences in this track are incredible, and very reminiscent of her 90s work (Anytime You Need A Friend, Everything Fades Away, Whenever You Call, All I've Ever Wanted), I just wonder why she doesn't really sing these sorts of ballads any more, they are signature Mariah sequences.

All in all, a superb album. I'll be listening to this again!
 
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Haven't listened to all the live tracks yet, but it sounds great. Just Be Good To Me is great, but I've never heard a bad version of it, at least any version that respects the original, such a classic. I prefer Deborah Cox's version though.
 
We appreciate the positivity of that @funky review, but we need to get a few things STRAIGHT!

funky said:
05 Can You Hear Me - this is a basic ballad, which means it probably would have worked on Emotions, which can be a bit basic at times compared to the 2 albums that bookend it.
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Where's that Wendy Williams "I can't" GIF? Emotions is the best - and most soulful - of her first three albums! Only basic bitches stan Music Box!

10 Do You Think Of Me
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- well this is incredible. Very Music Box, starts off very "All I've Ever Wanted" and climaxes into "Anytime You Need A Friend", so they clearly didn't need it for the album.
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I think this and All I Live For are very much needed on Music Box, which - Dreamlover and Now That I Know aside - is extremely monotonous, and her least enjoyable 90s album for me.

08 Slipping Away
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- this is the perfect seque between Daydream and Butterfly, but doesn't quite settle into either era. It's too groove R&B for the former, but too soul standard for the latter. She would have started playing with hip-hop influences later in the year while recording Butterfly and moved away from this sound, and so probably dropped it.
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It was intended for Daydream, but Tommy rejected it, probably for its lyrical content, which charted their marital collapse.

06 Out Here On My Own
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- I feel like I've heard this before? Does it sound like something else? This starts off very boring but it climaxes well - the piano reminds me of early Elton John. Doesn't feel strong enough for an album, but then again neither does half of Rainbow. The ballads are mostly strong on Rainbow though, so this wasn't really needed.
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I can't (reprise). It's a cover of the Irene Cara song from Fame, and is the best song on this album!

04 I Pray
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- her 00s ballads are just a pale imitation of her 90s ballads, I'm not even sure it's a vocal problem; she just strips the soul out of them all. Even with the gospel crescendo I'm not feeling this.
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Fly Like A Bird, Camouflage, Portrait say hi!

08 Mesmerized
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- why on earth would you leave this off an album? This is brilliant. Classic 70s soul. Alicia Keys influences. She sounds great on it too. It would be difficult to place what era this was from if it didn't have the year next to it.
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Totally - it just goes to show that she was onto something during the #Beautiful era, but she was dragged down by the weight of commercial expectations and her own desperation to secure a "hit" rather than just deliver a great body of work, which she was still more than capable of doing.
 
I *can’t* at people who don’t stan Emotions AND Music Box. They’re both sublime!

ImmenseValidAyeaye-size_restricted.gif
 
funky said:
She's still singing almost entirely in her lower octave here, even in 1996, so something definitely happened in 1997 because her voice on all of Butterfly, even though it was still very strong, is noticeably different.!
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I think the very beginning of her vocal decline was probably during the recording of Butterfly. It's very hard to tell because she sings in a generally much smaller range across the Butterfly album compared to before - almost no belting whatsoever - which is clearly a deliberate choice but makes it much tougher to decipher when the decline actually began and which part of her voice it punished first. I've heard people claiming her singing technique while recording Butterfly is actually what damaged her vocal chords, because that "whisper singing" (sorry I don't know the technical term) is supposedly much worse for the vocal instrument than full use of your range. but who knows.
 
Emotions is better than Music Box. Emotions is her most underrated album by far. It always feels a bit forgotten, even by the core fanbase, sandwiched between the debut with its iconic run of singles and Music Box being a huge multiplatinum phenomenon, but Emotions is by far the tightest of her first four records, as well as being the most fun, most sonically varied, and introducing the next-level songwriting that would define her 90s discography.
 
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