Whatev's Mariah Carey Top 50!

They are both exquisite. Petals is more cinematic, and probably more sophisticated lyrically. But there is a dark rawness to Looking In that I love. I can understand how she recorded it alongside the alt-rock angst album.
 
The way I approach these things is, like, what tracks would I take with me to a desert island?

And Looking In just isn’t one of them, lovely and important as it is.

I’m not trying to sell Mariah’s best songs to clueless music fans like some sort of hip Guardian journalist. Just picking my absolute favourite songs.
 
Whatevar said:
I’m not trying to sell Mariah’s best songs to clueless music fans like some sort of hip Guardian journalist. Just picking my absolute favourite songs.
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#unapologeticbitch

I mean, I used to be that girl who slipped Mariah deep cuts (Breakdown, The Roof, Say Something, Long Ago, Babydoll, Caution, what have you) into a playlist but these days I go balls-to-the-wall with Hero Live at the Tokyo Dome, Against All Odds (solo) and Out Here On My Own, and if you don't stan... well, it makes me question your taste level.
 
40
Vision Of Love
Mariah Carey

The debut single. Grammy winner for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and was also nominated for Song and Record of the Year in 1991. Went on to inspire a host of singers in subsequent years. Although it's very early 90s-sounding, it's hard to think of anything else like it. I especially love the backing vocals which were all done by MC herself. Made #9 in the UK and, of course, #1 in the US for 4 weeks. What else is there to say? I don't listen to it often but I don't feel the need to skip it either. A classic.

 
Waaay too low for me. Vision of Love is the ONLY song that could compete for my #1 spot. It's an extra-dimensional classic that transcends life itself, sonically and lyrically.
 
39
The Roof
Butterfly

First appearance from my favourite album and I know lambs is gonna lose their shit over this but SUCK IT UP. It's a great sultry track, but ultimately not climactic enough to make the upper echelons of my list - the rescue-in-a-fire stuff. Now famously known to be about her putting it about with baseball player Derek Jeter. Love the music video - definitely one of her best looks ever. It was released as the third single from the album in Europe, but received limited support from Columbia/Sony due to their ongoing conflict at the time. Built around their "Shook Ones" sample, the extended remix features a rap verse by Mobb Deep, but is otherwise not much different. I didn't know it actually charted at #87 in the UK despite not being officially released here!

 
38
H.A.T.E.U.
Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel

The title stands for Having Another Typical Emotion Upset. I was obsessed with this song when the album first came out and, though I still really like it, my enthusiasm has been marred slightly by some terrible live performances and that shoddy video (what happened to the second verse?). Released as the third single, it did NOTHING. It's all so sad and bitter, the vocals are raw and emotive, and I love the build up to the whistle note, which isn't just shoehorned in, it actually fits perfectly in that moment. I also like the demo recorded by The-Dream, Can't Wait To Hate You, which suggests that Mariah wrote the best bits of the final song.

 
Vision of Love is just... *ugh* iconic

The Roof... would vie for my #1.

H.A.T.E.U. is lovely, and well placed. Mariah added the best bit (the middle eight) to The Dream's rathing plodding demo.
 
The Roof is the best use of a sample in the history of music. To the point where it sounds more natural to The Roof than it does to the original.
 
The Roof is likely my number 2 these days. It's ASTONISHING. It still annoys me it never really had a proper release and is now "just" a fan favourite when it should be a LEGENDARY R&B CLASSIC.
 
"H.A.T.E.U" would feature in my top ten, I'd say. "The Roof" wouldn't be far behind.
 
(Sorry, couldn’t work out how to get out of the quote box and it was typing my response in there so just posted. Hold on!)
 
And it isn’t boring at all. It’s a slow jam. There’s plenty of drama, from the opening breakdown bars, the “EHEHEHEHEHEHEHHHVERYTIIIIIIIME” pay off, the lyrical interplay (probably her best lyric for me), to the fact it soundtracks a woman coming alive after a life in chains to the recently discovered backstory.

Just reading that back has got me FEELING LIBERATED and wanting to FINISH THE MOET.
 
If you had to pull together the songs that show Mariah is an artist, then The Roof would unquestionably be on the playlist (alongside Breakdown, Vanishing, Looking In, Betcha Gon' Know and Giving Me Life... which I imagine are all languishing (interlude) outside Whatev's Top 20)
 
Although I have to appreciate Ms. Whatev having the audacity to serve us a Top 10 entirely made up of Charmbracelet deep cuts that she regularly listens to while lying languorously on a plush carpet all the while in a silk dressing gown, dabbing an expensive fragrance between her breasts.
 
Loufoque said:
If you had to pull together the songs that show Mariah is an artist, then The Roof would unquestionably be on the playlist (alongside Breakdown, Vanishing, Looking In, Betcha Gon' Know and Giving Me Life... which I imagine are all languishing (interlude) outside Whatev's Top 20)
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I mean that's basically half of my Mariah top 20 right there :disco:
 
Suedey said:
I mean that's basically half of my Mariah top 20 right there :disco:
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As it should be. With the other half being pulled-me-back-from-the-brink-of-suicide gloopy empowerment ballads, and vocals, dahling, vocals.
 
If you haven't perfected your lip to Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme), are you even turn-of-the-millennium homosexual?
 
You know Ms. @Whatevar literally did a full rendition of Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) at her Cambridge interview. And they let her in straight away, without any A-levels, due to the overwhelming feeling of empowerment.
 
Loufoque said:
You know Ms. @Whatevar literally did a full rendition of Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) at her Cambridge interview. And they let her in straight away, without any A-levels, due to the overwhelming feeling of empowerment.
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Excuse me? I’ve got 5 A levels and had 2 Cambridge interviews, neither of which mentioned Mariah, thank you very much.

Although I do remember in the first year having to get permission to miss an English Literature tutorial with the late Dr Julia Swindells in order to go to London for the MTV Presents recording. She was very supportive - a great woman.
 
shocked real housewives GIF by RealityTVGIFs
 
37
Love Takes Time
Mariah Carey

Easy to cast this aside, so let's take a moment to appreciate Mariah's second single and the first to be produced by Walter Afanasieff. Probably the closest thing to those epic ballads that would follow on Music Box later on, it was a last minute addition to the album, which was already being pressed when they added it (she was saving it for the second album). "Tell me HOW to STOP THE RAIN" and the "You might say... and I know that you do insiiiiiiiiiiiiide..." middle-8 are the highlights, but the whole thing is so melancholy and beautiful lyrically, musically and vocally, and I've never really tired of hearing it after all these years. And she did all the gospel-tinged backing vocals, which I LOVE. It was #1 in the US for 3 weeks, but didn't perform well elsewhere and stalled at #37 in the UK. We just weren't ready.

 
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