Monday 29 November 1999

Mariah Carey back at last with one of the 90s best...

Just one hearing of Mariah Carey's new album - Rainbow - is enough to confirm that there aren't enough stars to label it with. Two years on since her last outing to the studio and what seems like a roller-coaster ride for Carey from that time on has given her just the kind of breathing space to exceed herself. And speaking of breath, or breathing, if you shut your eyes and let the music get into you... it will be like oxygenating yourself! This is one of the two albums by a female artiste - the other being Lauryn Hill's Miseducation - that will go down as having the best music to remember the 90s by.

The Rainbow set, completed om the island of Capri, in Italy, has guests Jay-Z, Joe, Da Brat, Missy Misdemeanor Elliott, Usher and da ultimate dog-stylist Snoop Doggy Dogg. "Heartbreaker", the first single from the album is already a big No. 1. The song was originally written by Carey for a movie that she is to star in (which got delayed until 2000), but Carey reaffirmed a commitment to audiences by having it put out as a preview to the album. A good move, it seems as the single soared to the top of the pops making it her 14th No. 1 andf making her the most successful female artiste - up there with the Beatles (20) and Elvis Presley (18). Her voice is sublime on the track - whether or not she has been moved by the mercurial events in her own life - but she sounds as good as the best Brazilian chorinho, literally crying the new song than singing it. The style also breaks through on a reworked version of Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Ain't no Fun", where Carey sings in the high pitched manner of Nate Dogg, who guested on Snoop Dogg's own original with Warren G. These two tracks are probably the two best tracks on the disk and could very well be the two best tracks that she has ever laid down in her illustrious career.

The album makes a watershed in Mariah Carey's journey through music, also building a bridge between her early, squeaky-clean vocals with the earthier R&B rap and hip-hop sound of the nineties. And while she may still be one of the biggest stars in the pop mainstream, she has managed possibly the smoothest crossovers into the more raunchy and risqué world of rap and hip-hop. Will she reign supreme here? The music says so, albeit possible with a little help from her "new friends" from the hot and rhythmic world of the streets in the 'hood, down below.

So fans of Carey, as well as those who might have left her to follow Whitney Houston or Shanice and a whole lot of other artistes, will rejoice now. The verdict is in - Carey is in with her biggest performances of the decade. Back with a Big Band. What's left, I suppose, is to wait for the remixes. And these too are set to be as exciting as anything by her could be. It appears that she has already completed remixing the power-ballad, "Thank God I Found You" with DJ Clue having twisted the cut to include a mid-tempo and R&B-style rhythms. Hot stuff to look forward to, soon! Till then it is good to hear - once again - the glass shattering high register of Carey's voice that laces the album - especially on "Heartbreaker" and another great ballad, "Bliss".

Carey says that she almost didn't do the upper register stuff, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis rescued the vocals on some of the tracks. Thank God for that. Not only does the album have Mariah Carey as we've always known her, but a classic album that shows off the artiste in all the rainbow hues that make her who she truly is... one unique and alluring woman.

(Telelife)



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