The E-Critic  

Music Review:  E=MC²

The Entertainment Critic Music Review By James Myers

www.theentertainmentcritic.com

www.theentertainmentcritic.net

www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com

E=MC²

Format: CD

Release Date: 04/15/2008

Label: ISLAND

Catalog No.: 001027202

UPC: 602517507586

Sales Rank: 18

Album Credits

Performance Credits 

Mariah Carey:  Primary Artist, Background Vocals

Crystal Johnson:  Background Vocals

Technical Credits 

Mariah Carey:  Producer, Executive Producer

Jermaine Dupri:  Producer

Bernie Grundman:  Mastering

Benny Medina:  Management

James Poyser:  Producer

L.A. Reid:  Executive Producer

Manuel Seal Jr.  Producer

Scott Storch:  Producer

Damian "Junior Gong" Marley:  Guest Appearance

Kuk Harrell:  Engineer

Michael Richardson:  Management

Chris "Tricky" Stewart:  Producer

Doug Joswick:  Package Production

Brian Garten:  Engineer

Swizz Beatz:  Producer

John Horesco IV:  Engineer

Bryan-Michael Cox:  Producer

Tor Erik Hermanson:  Instrumentation

Mark Sudack:  Executive Producer, Management

Kelly "Becky 4 Real" Sheehan:  Engineer

Carol Corless:  Package Production

Derrick Selby:  Engineer

Mikkel S. Eriksen:  Engineer, Instrumentation

B.M.C.  Instrumentation

James "Scrappy" Stassen:  Engineer

Nick Banns:  Engineer

Bishop Clarence Keaton:  Guest Appearance

Gina Rainville:  Management

Melissa Ruderman:  Management

E=MC² Tracks

1 Migrate / T-Pain 4:17

2 Touch My Body 3:24

3 Cruise Control / Damian "Junior Gong" Marley 3:32

4 I Stay in Love 3:32

5 Side Effects / Young Jeezy 4:22

6 I'm That Chick 3:31

7 Love Story 3:56

8 I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time 3:01

9 Last Kiss 3:36

10 Thanx 4 Nothin' 3:05

11 O.O.C. 3:26

12 For the Record 3:26

13 Bye Bye 4:26

14 I Wish You Well 4:35

E=MC² DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE BILLBOARD 200 WITH 463,000 COPIES SOLD, MAKING IT THE BIGGEST OPENING WEEK SALES OF HER CAREER. WITH SIX NUMBER ONE ALBUMS, CAREY IS NOW TIED WITH JANET JACKSON IN THE U.S. FOR THE THIRD MOST NUMBER ONE ALBUMS FOR A FEMALE ARTIST, BEHIND MADONNA WITH SEVEN AND BARBRA STREISAND'S EIGHT CHART TOPPERS. IN ITS SECOND WEEK, THE ALBUM TOPPED THE CHART AGAIN WITH 182,000 COPIES SOLD. E=MC² IS CAREY'S FIRST ALBUM TO SPEND TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS AT #1 SINCE 1995'S DAYDREAM.  THE ALBUM HAS SOLD 827,000 COPIES TO DATE.

ON THE UK ALBUM CHART, IT DEBUTED AT NUMBER THREE, SELLING 34,800 COPIES. THIS WAS HER HIGHEST PEAK POSITION IN THE UK SINCE BUTTERFLY, WHICH PEAKED AT NUMBER TWO. IT DEBUTED AT THE TOP ON THE UNITED WORLD CHART WITH 617,000 COPIES SOLD AND HELD THE TOP POSITION FOR ANOTHER WEEK, SELLING 1,075,000 UNITS TO DATE.^[ IN THE PHILIPPINES, THE ALBUM REACHED GOLD STATUS SELLING OVER 15,000 COPIES IN JUST EIGHT DAYS.

ON APRIL 15, 2008, THE SAME DAY THE ALBUM WAS RELEASED, MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA PROCLAIMED APRIL 15 OFFICIALLY AS "MARIAH CAREY DAY" IN LOS ANGELES. IT WAS IN PART OF CELEBRATING CAREY'S EIGHTEENTH NUMBER ONE SINGLE, "TOUCH MY BODY".  ALSO, ON APRIL 25, 2008 THROUGH APRIL 27, 2008; THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING WAS LIT UP IN CAREY'S MOTIF COLORS — LAVENDER, PINK, AND WHITE — IN CELEBRATION OF HER ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC. CAREY IS THE FIRST PERSON IN HISTORY TO BE HONORED IN THIS EVENT.

            The issue with Mariah Carey has been and always will be the same; is she a great pop artist and singer, or is she a diva with too much pretense and French pastry in her music to be taken seriously?  All too frequently in the past, the gifted singer with the 8 octave range has taken us on a joyride, a “need to decorate every damn song with more octaves than Maria Callas,” and very little emotion or substance.  Her last album, The Emancipation of Mimi was a near perfect album that featured more of her emotional rather than her vocal range.  E=MC²  is a better album, if that is possible, where we see a free and easy Mariah, that has produced a pop album, that is, "equal parts levity and gravity.”  If Mimi was her coming out party, than E=MC² is her coming home party; an artist that is in control and is totally comfortable in her skin.  To be blunt, this is one of the year’s best.

E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by American pop and R&B singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on April 15, 2008 in the United States.  The album name means "(E) Emancipation (=) equals (MC) Mariah Carey (²) to the second power". It is a play on Einstein's famous mass–energy equivalence formula and is the sequel to her 2005 album, The Emancipation of Mimi. 

            The album's music appeals to a lot of genres such as Pop, R&B and Hip hop, but some of her songs also include Gospel and Reggae beats. She experiments for the first time with reggae tones on "Cruise Control" and also uses a Jamaican patois during the second verse. On "Side Effects" she speaks about her marriage to Tommy Mottola describing it as a "private hell", the "emotional abuse" she saw during this time and the side effects from which she still suffers. MTV's author Jennifer Vineyard said it's "like a rock power ballad" and compared the music style to that of Bonnie Tyler and Pat Benatar. Two songs from the album sample melodies of other songs: one of them is the Seventies-soul-recalling "I'm That Chick" which samples Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall". The other song is "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time," which samples DeBarge's "Stay with Me" and recalls the melodic riff of the "Hill Street Blues" theme music.  Her second single "Bye Bye" is about the loss of her father, Alfred Roy, who died of cancer in 2002, and his absence during her childhood. Although the lyrics of the song mostly seems to be personal, she tries to keep the topic universal, so that everybody "who just lost somebody" can refer to it. The closing track "I Wish You Well" is a piano ballad kept simple with gospel influences. In the song she quotes some parts from the Bible.

            Her music has this floating, ethereal quality to it.  It is a soothing experience that makes you feel rested, peaceful.  A fluttering warbler, this music soars.  It is a quiet, reflective, emotional experience that leaves you wanting more.  Mariah dresses like a diva, but she sings like an angel; a gift that reminiscent of some of the best female singers of all time.  A girls girl, her personality and warmth is reflected in ever single song.  Guaranteed to make you imagination drift, this one is like a warm summer breeze.  One of a kind, dreamy and romantic, Mariah the singer has finally emerged.