Music Box, Mariah Carey

When packing for my trip to NYC was becoming tiresome and I was feeling a little bummed that Mariah's Emotions hadn't quite lived up to her debut album, Music Box came around and pulled Mariah Carey right back to her dance-pop/R&B/ballad perfection.

With this being album number 3 I've listened to from her, she had the chance to either get me to come back for even more or chill out on her albums for a bit-- Music Box pulled me right back in the way her debut album did.

Stand-out tracks: "Dreamlover" "Now That I Know"

My favorites: "I've Been Thinking About You""Without You"

Mariah Carey knows how to open an album-- "Dreamlover" has whistletones to die for and a gentle boppy beat. This album has more intriguing gentle songs than either of her previous albums did-- between "Hero," "Music Box," "Never Forget You," "Without You," and "All I've Ever Wanted," we get a healthy dose of heart-wrenching, angelic, soaring ballads on this album. And while there are definitely a lot of them (and one more probably would have been overkill), 90s R&B ballads that show off vocal talent is the domain where no one holds a candle to Mariah Carey. All those gorgeous ballads makes the listener appreciate the fun and sass of "Now That I Know" and "I've Been Thinking About You" all the more impactful.

All I have to say in response to Music Box is-- you've got me hooked, Mariah.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED

Emotions, Mariah Carey

Between the fiasco that was buying tickets to The Eras Tour and a couple days out of town, putting my thoughts into words about music hasn't been the easiest to get to over the past week or so. But, in true me-fashion, I've continued listening to music in that time away.

As I packed for my trip to New York City this weekend, I listened to two different Mariah Carey albums-- first up, Emotions. If anyone recalls, I was pleasantly caught off guard by how much I adored her debut album, and Emotions continues her streak of near-perfect R&B/pop albums.

Stand-out tracks: "Emotions" "Till the End of Time"

My favorites: "Can't Let Go" "You're So Cold"

Mariah kicks off this album hard with a track that so easily gets stuck in your head with titletrack "Emotions"-- this one is fun and shows off her vocal talent, picking right up where she left off with Mariah Carey. She turns down the fun pretty quickly moving into both "And Don't You Remember" and "Can't Let Go" but her gorgeous wailing vocals above a ballad-y, sparse instrumental (with fun little 90s pop beats thrown in there to make it interesting) accurately conveys that range of emotions she was getting at with the album title. She hits her power streak with "If It's Over" and "You're So Cold," the first being arguably the biggest power ballad on this album and the second being the sassiest track of them all. The album leaves you with the happiest, most optimistic, heartfelt string of songs with R&B/dance-influenced "To Be Around You" and the wistful "Till the End of Time." I honestly wish "Till the End of Time" was the album closer, because "The Wind" closes the album without much interest with sparse piano and angelic-but-basic vocals-- the best thing about it is if you listen on repeat, "Emotions" opens the album again with a nice punch.

While her debut was hard to top, Mariah Carey made a valiant effort with Emotions. We see her stunning vocals more in their raw, dare I say emotional lens than we saw on Mariah Carey. This album is a little less cohesive than her debut, but I can definitely appreciate the theme of emotions that is definitely present across the full album.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

OBSESSED WITH SOME TRACKS

The High Road, JoJo

While Taylor Swift has become known for re-recording her early albums to own her own work, JoJo did it first back in 2018 with her debut album and The High Road (I, of course, listened to the re-recorded version).

I remember checking out The High Road from my library after watching JoJo in Aquamarine and playing it on repeat in my first-ever walkman. This album has stood the test of time and has made it to me streaming it through Spotify and AirPods sixteen years after it released. So it's safe to say I'm a pretty big fan of this album.

The fact that JoJo first put out The High Road at 15 years old is jaw-dropping, not only because of her mature vocals but the quality of the album as a whole. It goes well beyond anything any Disney teen has ever released. It's R&B pop influences, sky high vocals, and range of musical sounds would be impressive for a well established artist, much less one barely of high school age.

Stand out tracks: "Too Little Too Late" "The High Road" "Note to God"

My favorites: "This Time" "Coming for You"

JoJo kicks off this album with two upbeat, hip-hoppy songs in "This Time" and "The Way You Do Me." JoJo really hits her stride with her biggest hit "Too Little Too Late" (which honestly continues to hit has hard as it did back in 2006) into title track "The High Road;" JoJo's vocals are killer across this album, but these two songs are her at her absolute best. The 2000s-R&B influences kick in in the middle of the album with "Anything," "Like That" and "Good Ol'"-- these are fun songs, but nothing all that special. I've been thoroughly obsessed with "Coming for You" since I was 8 years old and it remains gorgeously hopeful and pining at the same time. The album closes with pared-back, emotional "Note to God," which again puts JoJo's stunning vocal range on full display in a way that will give you chills (and again, she put this dynamic of a song out at fifteen? ).

JoJo's early music is undoubtedly an underrated gem of the early 2000s, and it gained new power with her re-releasing them in 2018. The High Road is an album of sassy, emotional R&B/pop brought to a whole new level with one of the most dynamic voices in the business.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED