MARIAH CAREY: E=MC² [ALBUM REVIEW]....

E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by the legendary diva Mariah Carey. The concept for the creative album title means that it's the Emancipation of Mariah Carey to the second power; a clever play on Einstein's famous mass–energy equivalence formula. Mariah worked with her long-term pal Jermaine Dupri who helmed a major contribution towards the album's production. It also sees solid production from noted producers such as Bryan Michael Cox, Swizz Beatz, Danja, Scott Storch, Trickey Stewart and Stargate among others. E=MC² will hit stores on April 15th and yet, it leaked as early as this morning.

The album opens up with the club-stomping Danja-produced Migrate which sees man of the moment T-Pain contrasting his vocoded voice over the track. Everything about the song is contrived as hell and appears to be really fake. The hood-like lyrics are not indicative of a woman who turned 38 little over a week ago. Leave the chicken-head lyrics to Ciara, or hell, even Beyonce. We all know Mariah is a lot better than that. Mariah has always been a fluid songwriter and this right here was a tragic step down. It's as if she is losing herself clasping at straws and desperately bidding to appeal to the urban (younger) audience. That said, the beat is infectiously hot and she rides it well. This is then followed by lead single Touch My Body - one of the weaker offerings on the album - though I thought I wouldn't say that since this was produced by the very same team responsible for Rihanna's smash hit single, the infectiously edgy Umbrella (Tricky Stewart, The Dream). To this day, the mellow midtempo cut still struggles to draw me in. A string of disastrous 'live' performances didn't help her case but hey, she got her 18th no 1 and broke records so the song served its purpose.

The patois-flavoured Cruise Control sees Mariah engaging in a plasticine Jamaican accent. This has Jermaine Dupri written all over it and I found it rather hilarious and equally refreshing to hear Mimi go all Island on our asses. Maybe she should hit up Rihanna for some lessons on how to execute the art of singing in patois. Damian Marley is featured on the song to give it more of an added dancehall flavour, although it has a very contemporary R&B sound. It's a catchy tune for the summer blues and I got my laughs. You could tell Mariah had lots of fun with the song. One of the standout tracks (and possibly one of my favourites) would have to be the sophisticatedly melodious midtempo ballad I Stay In Love. Vocally and lyrically, this song totally amazed me. Bryan Michael Cox really hooked Mariah up with this one. The melodies are beautiful. Vocals are stunning. This is the fire that I like to hear from Mariah. In fact, the song could easily have come from Butterfly era which was a flawless era for Mariah.

The grinding slammer Side Effects which is produced by Scott Storch is a great contender for a future single. She should release it as an ode to sticking her fingers up at ex-hubby Tommy Motola whom she claims made her life hell. I find it funny that she uses the very sound that her ex-hubby Tommy wasn't in favour of. It's as if she's saying a big fat F*CK YOU, whilst letting him know exactly what he put her through. Nice one. The track also features rapper Young Jeezy to give it more urban appeal to the very heavy Hip Hop hybrid. It has some serious bass and would do really well as a summer hit. One track that wasn't to my liking was the Swizz Beatz effort O.O.C. (Out Of Control). It didn't do anything for me at all musically, or lyrically. So this was most definetely one song that I had to pass up on. The discoed-funk I'm That Chick is pleasant and very reminiscent of Michael Jackson's Rock Wit You. It definitely has that early 70's Off The Wall type sound. Very old-skool with a modern twist. Probably Stargate's best work to date. Thanx For Nothing is a compelling guitar-laced midtempo cut courtesy of Jermaine Dupri. It had the potential to be a stunner but Jermaine's vocals all over the song just ruined it for me as was the case with Last Kiss, another track co-produced by JD *sighs*

Love Story, which is again produced by Jermaine Dupri is a recycled version of We Belong Together. It felt like I was listening to a remix of the same song. Nice ballad but totally derivative. Still, it could be a smash. The Stargate-produced Bye Bye is the confirmed second single and is a tear-stained ode to losing a loved one. In Mariah's case it's her father. Production-wise, it follows the same pattern as previous Stargate ballads but vocally it shows Mariah can still hold her own. I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time is a nice track with an early 90's oldskool-R&B type sound. There's an old-skool sample in there somewhere. Nice. The Bryan Michael Cox-produced For The Record is the theme song taken from her fragrance commercial for M By Mariah Carey. I was quite curious to how this would sound. It doesn't disappoint. Mariah's harmonies flow effortlessly on the pretty chilled out slow jam. The album closes off with the churchy I Wish You Well which delivers the gospel touch giving the song higher sensitivity. Another song well sung which sees Mariah singing from the heart with great inner emotion.

To round everything off, this album is not touching The Emancipation of Mimi. You could tell that she was trying to replicate that album but I think less of Jermaine Dupri would have given the album a fresher approach. I know they've been working for many years now and they have a musical chemistry between them, but after a while some of the tracks started to sound the same. He practically gave her his "signature" sound instead of being creative and giving her a new vibe. E=MC² is a very solid album. I enjoyed some songs more than others, and she will get my 10 dollars come fortnight Monday. She didn't disappoint even if she didn't match her last effort production-wise.

Rating: 3.5/5