Mariah Carey | New single "Almost Home" and Idol

[Deleted]

New thread. The other one is broken, and posts are disappearing.

[hidizzyguy]

Didn't I say a new thread should be started? I swear no one listens to me!!

Stay triumphant, y'all

[chocolatethunder]

So The Butler is being filmed in New Orleans, I'm hoping Mimi takes in some of the culture and music of the local scene and it inspires a deep album with some jazz and blues elements, go out and explore and let the creativity of the New Orleans inspire you.

[musicalsoul]

That would be great...I can already hear the sounds of her lower register over some jazz instrumentals.

[#LisaRinna]

Yay new thread!!

[Dreams]

Aug 24, 2012 3:31:42 GMT -5 musicalsoul said:

That would be great...I can already hear the sounds of her lower register over some jazz instrumentals.

Yes! Her lower register is wonderful and I wish she would showcase it more.


New pic, she looks great

Sun beaten yet exuberant from New Orleans to Cuba! lol

[hidizzyguy]

Cuba, you ain't aging well, honey.

[Leigh]

We are so getting an album entitled 'Sugar Cane' lol

(Jill E Beans video...)
plus.google.com/u/0/102943220293105257440/posts

[Dreams]

^ What song is she listening to? Can anyone tell?

[Gold Soundz]

Aug 24, 2012 10:20:49 GMT -5 Dreams said:

Aug 24, 2012 3:31:42 GMT -5 musicalsoul said:

That would be great...I can already hear the sounds of her lower register over some jazz instrumentals.

Yes! Her lower register is wonderful and I wish she would showcase it more.


New pic, she looks great

Sun beaten yet exuberant from New Orleans to Cuba! lol

Only Mariah has people photoshop her personal pictures before she puts an instagram filter on them and posts them, haha.

[Gold Soundz]

Aug 24, 2012 1:08:46 GMT -5 @chocolatethunder said:

So The Butler is being filmed in New Orleans, I'm hoping Mimi takes in some of the culture and music of the local scene and it inspires a deep album with some jazz and blues elements, go out and explore and let the creativity of the New Orleans inspire you.

I'm very familiar with New Orleans music. I lived there for four years :). It's the home of jazz! It's pure jazz, though, and not Memphis blues. Beyonce's "End of Time" is New Orleans'ish, but not really -- still, I'd love something like that from her. The only time I can think of New Orleans jazz being incorporated in a mainstream form is on Galactic's album "From The Corner to the Block." Here's the title track featuring Juvenile that I used to play on the radio all the time back in '07:



It'd be really cool if she'd incorporate real horns. I can't stand how cheap and fake the horns sound on songs like "Triumphant," "Obsessed," "Up Out My Face," etc. Getting a live horn section can't be that expensive, and it sounds so much better. Imagine how great UOMF would've been if it was all this:
youtu.be/5i7GEMQC2IY?t=4m28s

[Me. I Am Justin...]

^I love that Galactic album!

I was born and raised in south Louisiana, so I would totally be game for a festive New Orleans - styled record. Such a rich musical history exists down there. My hometown hosts the annual Louisiana Sugar Cane festival at the end of September...so you know I would be stanning for Sugar Cane.

[woahfred]

Aug 24, 2012 10:20:49 GMT -5 Dreams said:

Aug 24, 2012 3:31:42 GMT -5 musicalsoul said:

Yes! Her lower register is wonderful and I wish she would showcase it more.

I really love this performance. I agree, her lower notes are so rich. I've always liked "I Don't Wanna Cry" because she has some really amazing low notes on that one.

[xxzion72xx]

I knew she should have stayed away from this idol mess..she didnt need it, this has got to be her worst first single from an album ever....i had the same feeling when i heard madonna's first single from MDNA.

[Gold Soundz]

Obama's hilarious Mariah-esque shade:

The 25-minute interview, conducted in the library of the White House residence, was part of a multi-faceted campaign by Obama’s team to snag some of the spotlight during Romney’s big week. Obama denied the notion, widely if quietly held in political circles, that the fiercely competitive president is also driven to beat Romney because he does not hold him in high regard.

“I don’t really know him well,” Obama said. “The big arguments that I have with Governor Romney have to do with where we take this country forward.”

[Gold Soundz]

Aug 25, 2012 14:07:41 GMT -5 xxzion72xx said:

I knew she should have stayed away from this idol mess..she didnt need it, this has got to be her worst first single from an album ever....i had the same feeling when i heard madonna's first single from MDNA.

I'm not a fan of much Madonna after '89 (save "Secret," "I'll Remember," "Beautiful Stranger," and Music in it's entirety), but at least she sounded invigorated. The song itself is empty, and the better empty single to go with was "Turn Up The Radio," but I think a much more valid argument for "ageism" works there. Sure, she fell victim to current trends and was a bit late as she released the single/album when the dance craze started to give way for pure-pop, but I still see Mariah fans begging for another "Migrate"/"Side Effects" etc.

Of course I don't want Mariah to follow trends or hop on them late, but if the alternative is her digging deep into the past, I'd rather she did. The thing is, no matter how much she claims she's emulating the distant past (the 90s), she's not -- she'll just take what's already been refined post-Walter and make a carbon copy.

The people she's collaborated with (JD, Rodney Jerkins, Big Jim Wright) are dried up. Jerkins is probably the least so, but he hasn't put out a single track production-wise that was anything remotely special since his Golden Age (97-99) when he took Timbaland and Missy's sound and made it a bit less experimental and more melodic. Big Jim Wright is a remnant of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' Flyte Time crew who brought us such gems as TGIFY, Glitter, TTR, etc. He happens to appease Mariah. JD doesn't have a creative brain cell remaining -- he's too busy tweeting, promoting his social media website, and bitching about Usher and the state of R&B to actually help move R&B forward.

Jeff Bhasker proclaimed his love for her, Diplo will collaborate with anyone for money, No I.D. is on her label, all of Calvin Harris' dance music is rooted in the same R&B house that was found on her first two records and her remixes. These guys are all prevalent and very much on the radar. They're fresh and eager. They'd motivate her. Even if she handed them her Greatest Hits or No. 1's and said "make me another one of these -- pick any one," they'd know that they would have to make something that still sounded fresh. I just don't understand why Island hasn't aligned any of these collaborations up for her.

Edit: And yeah, I'm excited about the Q-Tip collaboration. That was the first one I actually was slightly enthused about. I loved his last album. Still, it's doubtful they'll make a single together, and it seems like they only did one joint.

[chocolatethunder]

I think her and Just Blaze could cook up something, i like his production even though he hasnt been in the spotlight recently,or try 40 he has some fresh beats and i think it would challenge Mimi.

[Gold Soundz]

^Yeah, but they didn't cook it up the first time. He brought her the only modern beats on CB, but he couldn't conjure up any real inspiration. Everyone thought her voice was dead on Charmbracelet, but it turns out she was just in a rut (like now) and being lazy. Sure, her vocals got better on the CB tour -- they became consistent live, but the vocals on Make It Happen (on release) and Dreamlover (a few months later) on the Today Show, even if slightly flat in places, were 100% live, and her "full" voice that she refused to use on the album sounded 10x what it did in Morocco.

[Cautionme11/16]

Aug 25, 2012 17:56:45 GMT -5 Gold Soundz said:

Aug 25, 2012 14:07:41 GMT -5 xxzion72xx said:

I knew she should have stayed away from this idol mess..she didnt need it, this has got to be her worst first single from an album ever....i had the same feeling when i heard madonna's first single from MDNA.

Jeff Bhasker proclaimed his love for her, Diplo will collaborate with anyone for money, No I.D. is on her label, all of Calvin Harris' dance music is rooted in the same R&B house that was found on her first two records and her remixes. These guys are all prevalent and very much on the radar. They're fresh and eager. They'd motivate her. Even if she handed them her Greatest Hits or No. 1's and said "make me another one of these -- pick any one," they'd know that they would have to make something that still sounded fresh. I just don't understand why Island hasn't aligned any of these collaborations up for her.

Edit: And yeah, I'm excited about the Q-Tip collaboration. That was the first one I actually was slightly enthused about. I loved his last album. Still, it's doubtful they'll make a single together, and it seems like they only did one joint.

I'm excited about the Q-Tip collabo, and actually the Darkchild production, too. Because though they aren't completely new to her, they're fresh in the regard of people she hasn't worked with alot, and more importantly, not recently. Also, I agree with what you said about the names you mentioned, and not having worked with them. However, I wouldn't totally rule them out, either. She's been EXTREMELY top secret this go round, and she has publicly stated, she's worked with alot of people she doesn't want to reveal just yet. So, it could very well be at least one of those names in the mix. In her defense, she ALWAYS brings in new names to the roster, and I can't imagine this time being an exception to the rule.

[Gold Soundz]

^Who knows. I just don't think Mariah's one to keep her trap shut when it comes to music ever. Whenever she's been in the studio, she's tweeted that she has and the producer she's working with tweets about it, too. When she thinks she has a hit on her hands, she tweets "SGSHW!" Before Twitter, she'd blab to sources like MTV. I think she was trying to let on that she had done more than she had because they were hard pressing her for details when she'd only completed 7 songs (a substantial amount of which were likely done with JD, at least one with Randy, at least one with Big Jim, etc.). When they asked her (on the conference call) what the album sounded like, she couldn't really give an answer, which led to them asking how far along she was, and she finally let on that she was about half-way through...only to say at the end that she couldn't wait to get back in the studio.

I would love to be wrong. It's much easier for me to be pleased with a final product when I have really low expectations, though. This is the first time in her career that my expectations have been this low, but I maintain that's a good thing.

Right now she's in New Orleans, and soon she'll be performing for football fans...then she'll be at the BMI awards, then she'll be promoting her nail polish in some fashion. Before we know it, American Idol prep will be here.

I just hope she works with as many people as possible, or at least until she finds someone new that she has chemistry with, and then really bunkers down. Even though Randy Jackson is her manager, she seems to be running the show these days.

[get2nomey]

I'm worried that Mariah is out of touch and over-the-hill. Say it isn't so. But after her last couple of albums and then the miserable "Triumphant Get 'Em" I don't know what to think of her anymore.

Has she finally given up on commercial success? It's starting to look like she has and that's a shame. She needs to bring it, after the Triumphant debacle. We'll have to wait a while it seems before she puts out more material.

I hope she does something to modernize her sound. :'(

[HolidayGuy]

Well, as much as she craves commercial success, she also probably understands to some degree that she can't maintain hit-after-hit status. And if she really did crave it as much as she used to, perhaps she would work with the go-to producers that everyone else is working with. She didn't do that with this latest single- who knows what will happen with other singles, though. I just can't see her having a RedOne/Max Martin/Dr. Luke production, but who knows. Her passion is pop/R&B.

[Love Plastic Love]

There are ways to modernize her sound without completely selling out, but I am not sure she knows how to do it or will allow others to guide her.

[Deleted]

This isn't even that current for R&B music in my opinion (let alone pop radio). With the exception of Meek Mill being on it, I could have seen this being on an E=MC2 re-release back in 2008.

[JamaicaFunk²]

Aug 26, 2012 10:16:33 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

There are ways to modernize her sound without completely selling out, but I am not sure she knows how to do it or will allow others to guide her.

I'm sure any pop and R&B producer would love to get their hands on Mimi and have control of those five octaves.

[Love Plastic Love]

Yep and many producers are talented enough to modernize a sound without completely erasing what Mariah wants or likes. Like, she doesn't have to sing a Kesha remake or something. I hope they are considering options.

Or I guess Mariah just may not care and we will just have to resign ourselves to a dated r&b cd ha ha.

[Gold Soundz]

Aug 26, 2012 10:16:33 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

There are ways to modernize her sound without completely selling out, but I am not sure she knows how to do it or will allow others to guide her.

It doesn't have to involve the aforementioned producers, either...nor does it have to be pure-pop. A good melody, a sweet synth line or sample, and a thumping beat over 80BPM goes a long way.

[Gold Soundz]

Oh, and I remember Jazzy saying something about Cher Llyod. It's too bubble-gum pop and juvenile, but on a fundamental level (melody, tempo), that's exactly what she needs. "Want You Back" is like "Party In The USA"'s mean sister. "Party In The USA" is like Fantasy on acid.

[divasummer]

I love MC but we've seen this video before from her. I feel like it's Breakdown, It's like that etc etc thrown into one. I don't hate it though.
I don't care if she wants to dress provocativly but something seems desperate at times in this video. She looks awkward in parts of this and that's what makes her look kind of desperate at times.
I'm still liking the song, maybe it isn't the greatest comeback single but it's not the worst I've ever heard either.

[Mic Technique]

Aug 26, 2012 11:32:34 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

This isn't even that current for R&B music in my opinion (let alone pop radio).

Yeah. Nevermind the fact she's all but abandoned her, at one time, faultless pop ambition, "Triumphant" sticks out like a sore thumb in the age of less is more R&B. And no, not in a good way either.