[TR24][OF] Mariah Carey - Music Box - 1993/2015 (Pop, R&B)

Linda Ronstadt was America's sweetheart of the '70s, because she was able to combine a pretty face, a pretty voice and a safe personality. Her songs might be full of big notes and high emotions, but they satisfied every predictable expectation of a love ballad or good-time rocker. Mariah Carey is America's sweetheart of the '90s for the exact same reasons. Music Box topped the Billboard album charts, yielding number-one singles like "Dreamlover" and "Hero." The titles, one a hollow Minnie Riperton knock-off and the other a stiff Barbra Streisand imitation, are tip-offs to Carey's reliance on untethered fantasy (she's the fantasizer in the lyrics and the fantasy object in the videos). These songs, co-written and co-produced like most of the album by Walter Anasieff and Carey herself, are constructed to show off her dizzying soprano, not to provide an original approach to a well-worn subject. Even when she gets a strong ballad to sing, like her current singles--Babyface's "Never Forget You" or Badfinger/Nilsson's "Without You"--she overdoes the self-pity bit so much that the song loses its dramatic tension.
Mariah Carey has been stung by critical charges that she's all vocal bombast and no subtlety, soul, or shading. Her solution was to make an album in which her celebrated octave-leaping voice would be downplayed and she could demonstrate her ability to sing softly and coolly. Well, she was partly successful; she trimmed the volume on Music Box. Unfortunately, she also cut the energy level; Carey sounds detached on several selections. She scored a couple of huge hits, "Hero" and "Dreamlover," where she did inject some personality and intensity into the leads. Most other times, Carey blended into the background and let the tracks guide her, instead of pushing and exploding through them. It was wise for Carey to display other elements of her approach, but sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion. --AllMusic Review by Ron Wynn
Personnel:
Mariah Carey – lead vocals, background vocals
Walter Afanasieff – keyboards, additional keyboards, synthesizers
Dave Hall – synthesizers, keyboards, rhythm programming
David Cole – keyboards
Babyface – keyboards, percussion, background vocals
Ren Klyce – Akai and Roland programming
Gary Cirimelli – MacIntosh and synthesizer programming
Ricky Crespo – programming
Shawn Lucas – programming
James T. Alfano – programming
Michael Landau – guitars
Kayo – bass
Robert Clivillés – drums, percussion
Mark C. Rooney – background vocals
Cindy Mizelle – background vocals
Melonie Daniels – background vocals
Kelly Price – background vocals
Shanrae Price – background vocals