🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲
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Post by 🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲 on Nov 12, 2019 23:46:58 GMT -5
Mariah's 11th studio album released on April 15, 2008. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 463,000 copies; the highest first-week sales of Mariah's career. It opened inside the top-five on the albums chart in Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the album has sold over 2.5 million copies. Four singles were released to promote the album. The album's lead single, "Touch My Body", became Mariah's eighteenth chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in United States history, surpassing the record held by Elvis Presley. Additionally, it gave Mariah her 79th week atop the chart, tying Presley for most weeks at number one. It achieved strong worldwide charting, peaking within the top five of the singles charts in Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. "Bye Bye" served as the album's second release. Although hailed by critics, and expected to have achieved large commercial success, the song stalled at #19 on the Hot 100, and managed to chart weakly internationally. The third single, "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" failed to garner success in any prominent music market. However, The fourth and final single "I Stay in Love" became her fourteenth chart topper on the Dance Club Songs chart.
The album title signifies "(E) Emancipation (=) of (MC) Mariah Carey (²) to the second power", which was meant to be a sequel to The Emancipation of Mimi. I love her correlation here with both albums. She considered Mimi the "main course", and felt that the new album would be treated as "dessert".
Not many fans like this album, but I personally consider this to be one of my favorites. I think it's her most fun album, imo. It felt like a girl's night out, celebratory thing. I like how she even tried a little reggae and spoke some Jamaican patois. I was like okay, girl!!! Go ahead, with yo bad self!!! lol I actually love all the songs on the album, including the bonus tracks!!! I used to have them on REPEAT back then. I'm glad it didn't have any lackluster covers like the ones on Memoirs and Me. I Am Mariah.
This era felt really special to me because that was when I was really serious about checking out her discography, even though I grew up hearing only the singles in the 90s. I had purchased TEOM in 2005, but didn't really start getting into her til E=MC² came out. I became a real fan since then. 2008 was a somewhat memorable year for me. I turned 20 that year. Madonna and Janet also came out with their albums around that same time, so that was interesting! Younger pop females like Britney, Katy, Gaga, and Beyonce came out with theirs too. President Obama won that year. Also, 2008 was the year when Mariah got married to Nick Cannon.
My most played tracks: Thanx 4 Nothin', Last Kiss, Love Story, For The Record, O.O.C, Side Effects, I'm That Chick, Heat, and 4Real4Real. Some of these tracks feel very personal to me because they hit very close to home. And yes, I even, had Touch My Body on repeat. Thought that song was so cute and funny.
Share your memories of this era and fave tracks!
Touch My Body: #1 Hot 100, #1 Dance, #40 Latin, #2 R&B, #7 Top 40
Bye Bye: #19 Hot 100, #33 R&B, #18 Top 40
I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time: #58 Hot 100, #36 R&B, #27 Top 40
I Stay In Love: #81 R&B, #1 Dance
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2019 7:08:05 GMT -5
My least favorite album by her. Just never connected with it.. the ballads are very weak, and the uptempos sounded like hits at the time (especially "Migrate") but just sound dated now and not a sound I'm nostalgic for. What's especially frustrating is she recorded this album that sounded like it came off the hit-making assembly line for 2008 so that she could continue the hot streak she re-established with The Emancipation of Mimi and then went on to make terrible single decisions.
I used to at least rank it above Glitter and Charmbracelet, but I even prefer those now. I still listen to "Touch My Body," "I'm That Chick," and "I'll Be Lovin U Long Time" occasionally but the rest not so much.
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Ling-Ling
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Post by Ling-Ling on Nov 13, 2019 8:37:56 GMT -5
One of her weakest IMO. What's sad is the song-writing is strong, so many great melodies and catchy hooks (this is arguably one of her catchiest albums). But the production is just terrible on so many tracks, it sinks the album for me. "I Stay In Love," "Side Effects," "Love Story," "Last Kiss," "Thanx 4 Nothing," "For The Record" and "Bye Bye" sound like they were produced by studio interns. Which is unfortunate, because most of those tracks could have been so much more with classic production. "Migrate" sounds dated now, but it's catchy. "OOC" is one of her most annoying songs. "I Wish You Well" just meanders around without grabbing. "Touch My Body" is still a jam. "I'll Be Lovin You Long Time" should have been bigger. "I'm That Chick" is cute, but I prefer the club mixes. The real surprise on the album for me is "Cruise Control" though. One of her funnest songs IMO.
This was such a reactionary album. Like she saw what was big with TEOM and was like "give me all the rhythmic ballads and midtempos STAT!" But she missed almost everything that made that album special (HINT: it was not stuff like "Shake It Off").
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Dreams
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Post by Dreams on Nov 13, 2019 9:27:02 GMT -5
OK let's do this!
Migrate - A bop, her lost #1 etc. etc. I wish the tempo was faster though. - 6/10
Touch My Body - One of her best midtempos ever. A killer melody with awesome fun lyrics. Adore it. Exellent video too. 10/10
Cruise Control - Depends on my mood. Sometimes I think it's dumb filler and skip it, other times I can enjoy it (love when she spells out C.R.U.I.S.E.) - 5/10
I Stay In Love - One of the worst on the album. Just an average song, skip it almost all the time. 5/10
Side Effects - This is one of the most overrated songs by the lambs. It had potential, but as is it's just there. It needed an electric guitar and a "Stay The Night"-esque vocal attack by Mariah to hit hard. 5/10
I'm That Chick - Nice, breezy disco bop with funny lyrics, but that one debut live performance > the studio version. You have a full voice, USE IT! (especially on a song like this). 7/10
Love Story - One of her worst songs of all time in my book. I struggle to think of any redeeming qualities to this dud. Welp, I guess it has a decent melody stripped back off the hideous production and obnoxious "ay bay bay" ad-libs. 3/10
I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time - Pure summer joy. One AMAZING melody thanks at large to the 80's sample. Mariah killed this, one of her best 00s songs. What would've taken it to higher highs would have been a "Fantasy"-esque, ostentatious vocal. 10/10
Last Kiss - Lol, 90% of Mariah's fans hate this song but I LOVE it. It's incredibly cute and I keep going back to it all the time. A guilty pleasure for sure. 😊 9/10
Thanx 4 Nothin' - Listen, I love the lyrics and the way she belts it out the end, but the production is so fucking derivative and could we plz lose the troll ad-libs THROUGHOUT??? - 6/10
O.O.C. - An instant favorite of mine. I'm a sucker for this, it's just FUN. 8/10
For The Record - By far the best ballad-y song on the record. Gorgeous strings, intro, lyrics, vocal production. A winner. If they HAD to release a ballad (which this album just wasn't strong on) it needed to be this. Would love a live performance of this one day. 8/10
Bye Bye - I can't even remember the last time I WILLINGLY went to my library/Spotify to listen to this dreck. BYE! 3/10
I Wish You Well - Every lamb in the land goes "OMG I Wish You Well!!!1". This unmelodious, stream of consciousness claptrap is the precursor to "The Art of Letting Go," "Camouflage" and the like. It just goes on forever and to top it all off it's pretty much all Bible quotes. Instant skip for me. 3/10
Heat - This is rather lame albeit HILARIOUS. 5/10
4Real 4Real - I actually think the way this one's sung and written is quite Mariah (post-97 Mariah that is) and it's cute overall but ultimately unremarkable. 6/10
The album overall ranks definitely in the lower tier of her catalog for me. I hardly ever revisit it and listen top to bottom.
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Post by Positive Tension on Nov 15, 2019 23:10:25 GMT -5
This is probably my favorite album of Mariah's, and it contains my favorite (not best, but favorite) song and video of her's, "Touch My Body." There are so many great bops on the album, and Mariah sounds so loose and free. Yes, the ballads are the weak point, but I do think "Love Story," "For the Record," and "Bye Bye" are pretty good. "Migrate," "Touch My Body," "Side Effects," "I'm That Chick," and "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" are easily 10/10s and are career highlights. The main downside, of course, is how the era was handled post-"Touch My Body." Had "Migrate" been the second single, followed by "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" and "I'm That Chick," she could've had at least 2-3 more top 10 singles and maybe even another #1.
This was also the first time I followed the charts from the beginning to the end of an album era for Mariah, and the anticipation of the release and nostalgia play a huge role in how I view the album/era. I didn't purchase TEOM until the summer of 2005 and didn't follow the charts closely until that fall, so I missed out on quite a bit. For E=MC2, I remember visiting Mariah Daily constantly, especially in the fall of 2007 when little tidbits of the album were released. The real start of it all for me was when Mariah showed up in that purple dress at the "Save the Music" gala- how svelte she looked and how much younger she looked! It was a big image change for her. I also remember looking at the "Touch My Body" thread multiple times daily and remembering how disappointed a lot of Lambs/non-Lambs were at the time. My fandom was at its peak then, and being as I was 20 going on 21 at the time, I have a lot of fond memories of this era.
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🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲
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Post by 🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲 on Nov 16, 2019 0:24:20 GMT -5
This is probably my favorite album of Mariah's, and it contains my favorite (not best, but favorite) song and video of her's, "Touch My Body." There are so many great bops on the album, and Mariah sounds so loose and free. Yes, the ballads are the weak point, but I do think "Love Story," "For the Record," and "Bye Bye" are pretty good. "Migrate," "Touch My Body," "Side Effects," "I'm That Chick," and "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" are easily 10/10s and are career highlights. The main downside, of course, is how the era was handled post-"Touch My Body." Had "Migrate" been the second single, followed by "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" and "I'm That Chick," she could've had at least 2-3 more top 10 singles and maybe even another #1. This was also the first time I followed the charts from the beginning to the end of an album era for Mariah, and the anticipation of the release and nostalgia play a huge role in how I view the album/era. I didn't purchase TEOM until the summer of 2005 and didn't follow the charts closely until that fall, so I missed out on quite a bit. For E=MC2, I remember visiting Mariah Daily constantly, especially in the fall of 2007 when little tidbits of the album were released. The real start of it all for me was when Mariah showed up in that purple dress at the "Save the Music" gala- how svelte she looked and how much younger she looked! It was a big image change for her. I also remember looking at the "Touch My Body" thread multiple times daily and remembering how disappointed a lot of Lambs/non-Lambs were at the time. My fandom was at its peak then, and being as I was 20 going on 21 at the time, I have a lot of fond memories of this era. Wow! All of this sounds ALOT like my experience during that era. I think it was also summer 2005, I purchased TEOM too! I remember visiting the Mariah Daily site too! I love the purple dress too. I used to go on the Beyonce board on imdb.com back then and I remember there were some Mariah fans not liking "Touch My Body", but I think they showed more love with "I'll be Loving You Long Time", "I Stay In Love", and "I'm That Chick".
Nice to meet another E=MC² fan! :)
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bgood2me
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Post by bgood2me on Dec 8, 2019 18:34:29 GMT -5
After Rainbow and Musicbox, this is Mariah's worst album. It sounds dated and while it had amazing songs like Migrate, forever a bop and a great showcase of her rapping abilities, and Side Effects, a lot of it felt generic and rushed... like Rainbow.
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jenglisbe
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Post by jenglisbe on Dec 8, 2019 18:51:08 GMT -5
Memories I remember being at a work conference the day the "Touch My Body" video dropped. I had to wait until my lunch break to be able to see it! In general I just remember the promo for the start of this era being unparalleled. In particular I loved the MTV commercials. I loved hearing "Migrate" for the first time via SNL. This was around the time I took up running, and the style of music combined with the time of year made it a great album to run to on my iPod. Leading to...
Tracks I devised my own version of the album, partly to make it better for running, and partly because I liked some of the unreleased tracks better than songs on the album. My tracklist: 1. Migrate (should have been the 2nd single) 2. Heat (so fun, great production) 3. I'll Be Loving U Long Time (should be one of her classic singles) 4. Cruise Control (love her timbre on the 2nd verse) 5. Touch My Body 6. I'm That Chick 7. Love Story 8. Thanks For Nothin 9. Side Effects 10. O.O.C. 11. Love Story (Acoustic Interlude) 12. For the Record 13. I Wish You Well
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#LisaRinna
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Post by #LisaRinna on Dec 29, 2019 9:00:02 GMT -5
"4Real 4Real" slays some of the main tracks.
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#LisaRinna
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Post by #LisaRinna on Apr 27, 2020 7:37:32 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 21:49:11 GMT -5
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jenglisbe
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Post by jenglisbe on May 2, 2020 7:48:38 GMT -5
Oh well, although this article dropped before the chart week was technically over, so I guess it could still potentially re-enter (but obviously not likely). It's sad we got two albums to #1 on iTunes but neither could make the Billboard 200.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 11:54:57 GMT -5
"Cool On You," which she recorded in 2007 during the sessions for this album is now available on The Rarities.
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divasummer
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Post by divasummer on Jan 25, 2021 17:39:18 GMT -5
I really liked this album from day one. "Touch My Body" was ok. I grew to love it and when she sang "Migrate" prior to the release. I liked but didn't love that either. I did think it would have been a better second single than "Bye Bye" though. Which I like but.... Three tracks which many fans dislike were my instant favorites. "O.O.C, Cruise Control and I Stay In Love". In my head "OOC was going to be the club anthem of the year and printed on hats, shirts etc. "CC was genius and I Stay In Love" was going to revamp the era... LoL. "I'll Be Lovin You Long Time" was cute and out of the remaining four midtempo ballads. I could have done without "Lovestory" and I think "For The Record" is my favorite. "I'm That Chick" was ok. It was nicely done but should have been done in a fuller vocal. As a whole I really like this cd!
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back2blk
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Post by back2blk on Feb 17, 2021 23:23:59 GMT -5
I appreciated that it was able to keep her TEOM momentum up for a while - at least until release date. I stan Thanx 4 Nothin pretty hard though.
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Ginger Spice
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Post by Ginger Spice on Feb 18, 2021 10:58:05 GMT -5
I listened to her Island albums for the first time in awhile this past week, and I like this one better than I remembered. I know it's been beaten to death, but God, the single choices were awful! "Bye Bye" and "I Stay in Love" should've never been released, even if the club mixes of the latter are fantastic, it wasn't worth it!
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🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲
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Post by 🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲 on Apr 15, 2023 21:52:04 GMT -5
Rated R&B did a review for its 15th anniversary. Worthy read.
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