Emotions – Mariah Carey

In 1991, Mariah Carey was well on her way to being the hottest thing since sliced bread. Her 1990 debut was a smashing success, potently marrying lovestruck balladry with the occasional dance groove. She was seen by many as the next Whitney Houston.

What people tend to forget, though, is that Whitney Houston’s albums weren’t very good. And at least in the beginning, Mariah’s weren’t, either

1991’s sophomore effort Emotions is in a close race with 1993’s Music Box (the one with Hero on it) as the worst album of Mariah’s career. Coming barely a year after her debut, it has the scent of “rush job” all over it, and definitely ranks as a step down from that fairly solid effort.

Reviewing this album is very easy: it has exactly three good songs on it. They were all singles, and you can find them all on Mariah’s Greatest Hits album. The title track (which allowed Mariah to start her career with 5 consecutive #1 singles-a record that has yet to be broken) is a peppy dance tune with a little gospel flavor. Mariah, who hadn’t really learned to control her voice yet, wails all over the place, but at least this time, her singing is in the same joyful sprit as the song, which, it must be added, bears more than a passing similarity to Best of My Love, which was a #1 hit for…you guessed it, The Emotions. Coincidence? Doubtful.

The other two singles were Can’t Let Go, a pained breakup ballad with a fairly loud percussion track, which gives it an edge over the piano and orchestration jobs that most of this album contains. Nearly 20 years later, it’s still one of my favorite Mariah ballads. Everything falls into place, including the infamous dog-whistle at the end. Oh, there was also Make it Happen, an inspirational, I-made-it-and-so-can-you song, which is cute coming from Mariah, who hadn’t made the transition into full-on divadom yet.

The rest of the album? Take a flier on it. The C&C Music Factory-produced dance jam You’re So Cold is passable, but the rest of the album is cut from the same ballad mold. Not to mention the fact that Mariah hadn’t yet learned the art of subtlety, so every song on Emotions contains full-volume Mariah, and quite frankly, I don’t need a woman screaming at me for 45 consecutive minutes. If I wanted that, I’d be straight and married.

The remainder of the album is fairly indistinguishable. And You Don’t Remember, like most of the album, has a vaguely gospel vibe in the melody and chorus, but is yet another breakup song. The Wind is an inferior sequel to the haunting Vanishing, which appeared on her debut, and If It’s Over is co-written by Carole King, but can’t hold a candle to even the worst song on Tapestry…then again, there are no bad songs on Tapestry. So what am I saying?

I’m saying that Emotions is not the Mariah album you want to pull out when you want to hear her, unless you want to hear her at her worst. It sounds like a strike-while-the-iron-is-hot job designed to replicate the sound and success of her debut. I’ll be somewhat charitable and say it’s not the worst album of her career (again, Music Box is jaw-droppingly awful…worse than Glitter), but it certainly comes close.