Album review: Mariah Carey's 'Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'*

She shows off her talent by coming off as just another girl at the nail salon.

On her recently leaked and soon-to-be-released 12th studio album, Mariah Carey and her latest producers, Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Tricky Stewart, attempt to get at something by distilling it. They're seeking the Essence of Mimi, the liquor in the oyster of Carey's famously luscious voice.But instead of showcasing this musical Olympian's dazzling way with a vocal run or her nearly unmatchable whistle register -- obvious choices when it comes to Carey's talent -- she and her team tune into a particular tone, the one that earned her another nickname, Honey.

There's a breathiness to this album that's not only sexy but emotionally intimate. Heavy on slow jams, quiet confessions and kiss-offs closer to the work of the rappers she admires than to Carey's soul sisters, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" capitalizes on an underrated aspect of the singer's talent: Her ability, even when she's scaling vocal heights, to still come off as just another girl at the nail salon.

Carey's lyrics -- she co-writes everything here, except for her fairly unremarkable cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" -- make this point most obviously. Even when fully dressed in the armor of her glamour, as when she advises an ex (Eminem? More likely it's Latin pop star Luis Miguel) to "pretend you on a sofa, and I'm on MTV" when he spies her walking by.

Carey still compulsively shares details about her runny mascara and her appetite for Duncan Hines yellow cake. "Bubble baths on the jet" might be a ridiculous fantasy, but it's not at all elitist. Any real housewife or career girl has been in that daydream.

What The-Dream and Stewart help Carey realize is that her vocal style also communicates this accessibility. Even at its most extravagant, Carey's singing has a warmth, a sensuality and openness to it that sets her apart from peers like Whitney Houston and younger pretenders like Leona Lewis. When she tones down her singing, those qualities dominate.

Not incidentally for a big-ballad singer who's hit 40, stressing her more endearing small voice keeps Carey from any embarrassing shortfalls.

Throughout "Memoirs" she locates that mode of expression in whispers, murmurs and late-night lovers' quarrels. (She tosses off some amusing zingers in the latter.) The tempos here lean back slowly, and the sound is thick, a little heavy, inevitably responding to the sonic shift that occurred in R&B in the wake of Nash and Stewart's first female foil, Rihanna, and their smash "Umbrella."

Even the more aggressive songs on this album -- "Obsessed," Carey's volley in that silly Eminem feud, and "Up Out My Face," in which she recovers via her now-husband Nick Cannon's specialty, the drumline -- proceed with a laid-back nod instead of a disco spin. After a while, the approach is too much of a mildly interesting thing, and Carey's restraint stops serving her agenda.

As every long-married couple knows, intimacy loses its power when the gestures that define it get repetitive. That happens about halfway through "Memoirs," when Carey's soft outpourings start to melt into each other, and it ceases to matter whether she's mourning a broken heart or celebrating a new start.

Nash and Stewart have settled into their own groove as producers; their unctuous, Caribbean-inflected, R. Kelly-inspired tracks work well song by song (especially on the sad ones, like "Languishing" and "Angels Cry," and the sex ones, like "The Impossible"), but there's a point where a trademark sound starts to be a cage, not a calling card.

"Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" will stand out in Carey's catalog as an experiment that illuminates her place in the pantheon without either boosting it or damaging it. I wouldn't be surprised if, a decade from now, Carey cites this effort as a personal favorite. It's that kind of wholly decent effort: a self-exploration that settles on its unpretentious insights by not pushing too hard.

--Ann Powers

Mariah Carey
"Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel"
Island Records
Three stars (Out of four)

Update: An earlier version of this post had the incorrect star rating. "Memoirs of an imperfect Angel" received three stars and not two and a half.

Comments

[Ram]

2.5 out of 4? are you freaking serious? clearly, this person doesn't know what true music truly is.

[Netra]

This CD IS HOT

[ERIKA ALVARADO]

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ALBUM TO HIT THE STORES.I HAVE BEEN A MARIAH FAN SINCE 1990 AND SHE IS JUST THE BEST OF THE BEST.I HOPE TO MEET HER ONE DAY OR AT LEAST SEE HER PERFORM...I LOVE HER.

[david]

The album is a true MASTERPIECE

[Nizzy]

I have heard the CD in its entirety a couple of times now, well it has been on constant replay since I got it two nights ago. And I must say that at first listen, you get a sense of "Butterfly" and also an empty feeling that it's missing something. Now, after listening to it a couple of times (probably over a dozen) I AM IN LOVE WITH IT.
Each song has that unique sound that "The Roof" had that always made me, as a huge fan, listen to it over and over again. The emotions are raw, she doesn't have to belt out every note to make it believable and that's what truly makes it good.
Each song makes you want to listen to it again and listen to the next song.
I can honestly say that this is Mariah in the 90's. Not that she was bad afterwards, but I personally like E=MC2 more than Emancipation of Mimi.

Best bets: Candy Bling, It's a Wrap (such an amazing voice, her age and strain in her voice just makes it so much better), The Impossible, Angels Cry, of course Languishing like Outside and Looking In, and Standing O.

Thank you Mariah, for giving us an album that has no filler (a.k.a: Lovin' U Long Time and To The Floor).

Grade: A+ (after a couple of listens)

[Anonymous]

I can't believe that Mariah Carey is getting into that fake ass business,fake beef with Eminem,that bitch career's over and she ain't even 40 yet.I KNOW SHE EVIDENTLY DID NOT HAVE A FLING WITH EMINEM,BASED ON SOME OF EMINEM'S DENIAL ABOUT THE NICK CANNON & MARIAH DISS BUT IT'S TIME TO HANG UP BITCH,YOU THROUGH

[Anonymous]

I can't believe that Mariah would get into this fake beef with Eminem,especially when she's not making any threatening moves on eminem.I can't believe she's getting into all that fake ass business,i thought she was bigger than this,however that bitch's career is over.I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT MARIAH EVIDENTLY DID NOT HAVE A FLING WITH EMINEM,BASED ON EMINEM'S DENIAL AT FIRST EXPLAINING THE NICK CANNON & MARIAH DISS,BUT IT'S ABOUT TIME TO HANG IT UP BITCH.IN MATTER OF FACT,THE REVIEW SUCKS,AND THE SAD ABOUT THIS IS YOU AIN'T EVEN 40 YET!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dana]

I don't like the album that much. It's one of Mariah's most boring albums ever. It really starts to drag halfway through it. I thought E=MC2 was better. Mariah lost her voice 8-9 years ago from forcing those whistle notes, so that's why she's doing a lot more whispering on her lastest albums. I would actually give the album a 1.5 out of 4.

[Something's fishy]

2.5 stars on the website but 3 stars in the paper? Bending over to placate the label?

[mindlikewarp]

I'm not saying this album is bad...it's actually quite good...but it is surely no "Emancipation of Mimi"...no where near that album...which is one of her best.

[LISA]

Standing O is huge. and as usual mariah let's it slip along the wasteside.

just like thanks for nothing.

Shame on Island Def Jam, your releasing HATEU, yawn.

While Rihanna and beyonce release the right singles.

[dt]

I've been buying Mariah's albums since 1991's "Emotions," and one thing i really love is that with each release, i feel like i've gotten to know her a little better. For instance, the first time i heard "Did I Do That?" (from 1999's "Rainbow"), i simply took it for granted that the song was a true story. I love that very quality in pop music, because i find so much of it gimmicky, cliched and lyrically boring - as if the songwriter is more focused on rhyming than exploring their own feelings, and turning those feelings into a lyric. "Imperfect Angel" comes across to me as more of a mood album (think Sade) than a Pop Rollercoaster (i think 1997's "Butterfly" achieves the latter). What i find so appealing about this new album is how strongly Mariah's personality shines through - that cheeky, playful side that we began to see in the late '90s - thanks to her lyrics. Mariah has a witty charm that most people write off as being ditzy. But once you've seen that side of her for what it really is - a delicious, unpretentious, often self-deprecating sense of humor - you begin to admire her not only for her humorous wit, but the fact that she doesn't seem the least bit concerned with trying hard to prove she's not a bimbo, just to appease the haters. As far as this album goes, it would appear to me that what Mariah is 'going for' is Intimacy. And if that is truly the case, she has pulled that off incredibly. All the best to her.

[Kiri-Leanne Parker]

Well Mariah Carey is my Hero and She have really good music
No matter what she does she wont ever stop being my Hero.
I think Obsessed was really good buh the Dis that came back at her was Out of order !
I just wish I could meet her and tell her how she is such an isperation too me !
I have all her Songs on CD's !
Shes AMAZING !
Eminem when he sung whiye Dido that was a really good song ever since then he has gone down hill !

[hana]

If I had to list all of Mariah's albums from top to bottom, Memoirs of an imperfect angel would be right on top!!

Each song is like a personal diary entry! Each song fits her voice well and the whole album shows a new passionate, sensual, creative and mellow side of Mariah!

Each song tells a different story and every single song is FRESH. I never get bored of listening to all the songs on this album again and again.

Definitely better than E=MC2 and even better than the Emancipation Of Mimi!! One of the best start-to-finish albums of her career!

Top Songs:
- Obsessed
- H.A.T.E.U
- Standing O
- It's A Wrap
- Up Out My Face
- The Impossible
- Angels Cry
- I Want To Know What Love Is

There's been a lot of bad talk about Mariah these days. If you ask me, this album is very underrated. It truly is a great album. If you close your eyes and listen to each song, you can really feel the emotion and story in every single song, as it gets your heart pumping and lifts your spirit.
Should you buy it? YES!

This is a huge turning point in a career and deserves much more publicity.

[lilfancy]

Remix album droppen soon.hahahahah

[quadarius]

i would give memoirs an 4/4 stars STANDING O..fav track its sad dat songs on her 2 previous didnt get put out as a single such as MIGRATE-FOR THE RECORD-SIDE EFFECTS-THANX 4 NOTHIN-INSEPARABLE-STANDING O-RIBBON-MORE THAN JUST FRIENDS-BETCHA GON KNOW-& even ITS A WRAP! SHE NEEDS 2 GO BACK 2 SONY! iTS SEEMS LIKE IDJ DNT WANT HER 2 SURPASS THE BEATLES! RELEASING DA WRONG SINGLES & SHYT! I PRAY DIS CHRISTMAS ALBUM DOES GREAT WHICH I HIGHLY DOUBT! KNOWING IM A ALL TIME LAMB IT MAKES DAT SOO HARD 2 SAY KNOWING HOW MUCH I LUV M.C.! HOPEFULLY SHE WORKS ON HER DIMINISHING VOICE!

[svetapiatakova]

why such a low score? this is a great album and you seem to get it ))

[Daniel91]

I think that this is a great album. It is one of the best work that she has done in years. I am very happy for her. This def. opens new doors for her. Listening to the tracks from betcha gon' know and basically till' the end makes you end up feel strong, hopefull and confident. I really love the idea behind this album. As she says herself this album tells alot of different stories. And of my upinion - inspirational stories. And that is something we desperately need today between all those artists.