Disco de Mariah Carey: “Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel”

MY REVIEW ---> 4/5

I will say the album is a grower, the more you listen to it the better it gets. The only song that still hasn't caught on right away is Standing 0, but the rest is flawless.

Mariah spills out her personal perception of the beauty and ugliness of love & relationships. Her lyrics depict relatable stories and captures her frolic personality.

Songs like Ribbon, Impossible, Inseparable, and More Than Just Friends paint a romantic, mushy picture of falling in love.

However the following moody songs lie in complete contrast: Betcha U Gonna Know and H.A.T.E U delineates the tough process of heartbreak, betrayal, and bitterness when love goes wrong.

Fun, sassy songs like It's A Wrap, Obsessed, Up Out My Face, and Standing 0 take sardonic shots at the person on the other end of the relationship.

Candy Bling, Angels Cry and Languishing are played as beautiful melodies, yet tainted with lingering sadness as each song exposes fear, emotional memories, and reminscent love stories.

Lastly the main theme of the album ends off with Mariah's own soft-powerful interpetation of the song I Want To Know What Love Is Throughout the album love came and left soon after. Her desperate plea to understand what love is, it rather appropriate for this album (despite the criticism)

I love Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel. I feel that many songs have grown on me as with any new album. I also feel that she could have done without The Dream & Tricky Stewart on a few songs but they are what's hot now. I know people who initially hated the album but after a few more listens they are loving the songs. The "90s" Mariah is gone so get over it and stop making that a reason to HATE the album. People grow and CHANGE with the times. Current favorite songs:

1. Betcha Gon Know

2. Candy Bling

3. Ribbon

4. Standing O

5. It's A Wrap

6. Inseparable

7. Up Out My Face

8. The Impossible

9. Languishing (This grows on me more and more.)

I just can't believe true Mariah fans can't find at least one song they love on this album.

This is why I buy everyone of Mariah's CDs without hesitation: Because they are amazing. This CD is so inspirational and has such a positive message inside the lyrics. I have listened to it over and over and everytime I get something new to think about and be encouraged about. That is ART!

She is such a talented writer. She writes her lyrics to encourage women world wide. Some of the stand out tracks are "Out my Face" which is a break up song. It's upbeat and perky and very catchy. It makes you want to yell out, "OUT MY FACE."

"Standing O" is another song that has completely turned around my perspective about relationships. The message of this song, suggests that if someone is going to cut off their nose to spite their face, they are such a fool that they deserve a standing ovation just to reiterate how dumb they are. This is a great break up song if you have ever been hurt in a relationship, you will love this song if you listen to the lyrics. And everyone has! That is why Mariah is one of the most sucessful artists in the industry. Because her songs everyone can relate to, everyone can get something positive from the lyrics.

Her voice is impeccable. Through all her struggles, Mariah has come out on top because her her beautiful and postive attitude and it's embedded into her music. If you are debating whether or not to buy "Memoirs of an imperfect Angel" I would highly recommend it. It has a great amount of tracks, heart and soul poured into it, and is inspirational. Her cover of "What Love Is" alone is outstanding. Other tracks that could be fillers on an album, are not only fillers. All her songs could stand on their own consistently. A++ Mariah for another album that is personal, reflective, and a hit.

I highly understand why people would not like this album and i understand why people love it. Its all a preference. Mariah can still sing very well according to the her vegas trip. But anyways the album is good. Yes a lot of whisper but i happen to like that style of singing. Do i prefer it than the belt? no. But i also dont prefer the belt over the whisper. I just like them both. Its just a style guys and another music idea. It fits with this album. At least she is not FALSETTO! LORD THEN WE ALL SHOULD COMPLAIN! Her style and technique she uses is amazing. I really like that lyrics more than anything. I feel what she is sayin. Hey and if you guys really feel like she cant sing she is still better than a good bunch of artist out there. Just look her up on youtube vegas concert. That will keep ya silent.

For longtime followers of Mariah Carey's music, "Butterfly" from 1997 remains her most enduring work - a gorgeous collection of tracks that worked as a 'concept album', and also individually - and some of the lesser known works from the album - "Fourth of July", "The Roof", and of course, the seminal "Breakdown", remain some of the greatest songs ever recorded in R&B history.

Which is why "Memoirs" is interesting on so many levels. Not only has Carey decided to revisit her R&B roots, she also pays homage to certain key musical forces along the way, most noticeably Marvin Gaye, and Sade. Those influences permeate this recording, and while it can loosely be called a 'concept album', it is sequenced in breathtaking fashion, with every song in the right place, not a note wrong; and Carey's infamous whistle register arrives at just the right places.

The great thing about Mariah Carey's music is that despite the glossy and overproduced elements of her early 1990s work, she has learnt to go with the times and make music that is current, yet always with a hint of throwback. Sadly, her last two records, while being eminently memorable, weren't quite in keeping with her usually solid output (I also consider 'Charmbracelet' to be a winning CD; though highly underrated). "Memoirs" corrects that, because it seems to reject radio-friendly pop, and rather immerse itself in the very root of R&B - some songs sound like love-children of Maxwell, India Arie and Erykah Badu, and this can only be a good thing.

The Erykah Badu comparisons are also very valid on certain key tracks on this record. Shades of Mary J. Blige (especially on a key track entitled 'Hate U') are all over the place, and Carey indulges the more bizarre sides of her (an entire two minute track is composed of a high school brass band repeating the same line ad nauseum), and her lyrics often veer into strange, almost transcendent madness. Consider this: "Not even a nail technician with a whole lot of gel and acrylic can fix this when I break; If we were two Lego blocks, even the Harvard University graduating class of 2010 couldn't put us back together again". Granted, things aren't always this far out. On most tracks, Carey sings about what she knows - love and relationships; but it wears thin after a certain point.

However, the music often makes up for the dubious lyrical content. Lead single 'Obsessed' is the worst thing here, and sadly, some of the interludes could have worked as full-fledged songs themselves. Prime amongst these is "Languising", easily Mariah's greatest ballad since the incomparable "Close My Eyes" from "Butterfly". The songwriting here is stellar, and only serves to reiterate that when Carey does it right, she really nails it. This one track is easily mightier than the entire output of "E=MC2", and marginally better than most anything on "Emancipation" (save for 'We Belong Together').

Also surprising are song choices that open and close the album. The Foreigner Cover at the end doesn't sound quite appealing in the beginning, but a repeat listen convinces you of its' greatness, at least for the first verse and chorus. This isn't a terrific song to close any album with, but it sounds comfortable and inspired enough to hold everything that came before it. And the gems here are many - "Angels Cry" has a killer chorus that would do great as a commercial single, and "Standing O" is something that grows on you, much like the latter half of her previous album.

Whats especially convincing about "Memoirs" is that Mariah isn't trying very hard to 'sell out' or garner any more No. 1 singles (whether or not that happens is of no consequence anymore). What she HAS done is create an album that rivals 1997s' "Butterfly" in terms of novelty and creativity. The unfortunately titled "Candy Bling" is actually a stunning tune and lyric that acts as a befitting sequel to "Underneath the Stars", and almost every song here some sort of reference point on "Butterfly". For that alone, I can award this five stars.

An artist in her element. Listened to purely as an auditory experience and not as a commercial product, this ranks very highly amongst Carey's vast back-catalog. Five Stars.