The titular "Mimi" of The Emancipation of Mimi is, by all accounts, an alter-ego of Mariah, a persona that captures Ms. Carey's true feelings and emotions. In case you didn't know what "emancipation" means, Mariah helpfully provides a dictionary definition of the word in the opening pages of the liner notes for her eighth proper album: it means "to free from restraint, control, oppression, or the power of another" or "to free from any controlling influence" or "to free somebody from restrictions or conventions." So, on The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah frees herself from the constraints of being herself, revealing herself to be...well, somebody that looks startlingly like Beyonce, if the cover art is any indication. Mimi, or at least the sound her emancipation, sounds remarkably like Beyonce, too, working a similar sultry, low-key, polished club groove. And that's the main story of The Emancipation of Mimi: since the reserved, tasteful adult contemporary pop of 2002's Charmbraclet failed to revive her career, she's done a 180 and returned to R&B, in hopes that maybe this will create some excitement. It's not a bad idea, particularly because Mariah could use any change at this point, and it's not executed all that badly either, as all 14 tracks — heavy on midtempo cuts and big ballads, with a few harder dance tunes featuring big-name guest rappers scattered along the way — all follow the same deliberately smoky, late-night template.

While the Neptunes provide the best dance cut here with "Say Something" (featuring a came by Snoop Dogg), especially welcome are some nice old-school '70s smooth-soul flourishes, best heard on James Poyser's deliciously sleek "Mine Again" and such Big Jim Wright productions as "I Wish You Knew" and "Fly Like a Bird." As good as those Wright-helmed cuts are, they are also the times that the mixes slip and don't hide the flaws in Mariah's voice, and it sounds as airy, thin and damaged as it did on Charmbracelet, where her ragged vocals dealt a fatal blow to an already weak album. Here, apart from those Wright tracks, the producers camoflauge her voice in a number of ways, usually involving putting the groove and the sound of the production in front of the vocals. While the tunes aren't always memorable, it does make for a consistent album, one that's head and shoulders above the other LPs she's released in the 2000s, even if it doesn't compare with her glory days of the '90s. Ironically enough, a big reason why The Emancipation of Mimi doesn't sound as good as those '90s albums is that Mariah never sounds like herself on this record. When she's not sounding like Beyonce, she sounds desperate to be part of the waning bling era, dropping product placements for Bacardi, Calgon and Louis Vuitton, or bragging about her house in Capri and her own G4, all of which sounds a little tired and awkward coming from a 35 year-old woman in her fifteenth year of superstardom. Disregarding these two rather sizeable problems, The Emancipation of Mimi still works, at least as slick, highly-crafted piece of dance-pop — it might not be as hip as it thinks it is, nor is it as catchy as it should be, but it's smooth and listenable, which is enough to have it qualify as a relative comeback for Ms. Mimi Carey.

_____

They think she's trying to sound like Beyonce on the record, lol. They call 'Charmbracelet' a decent album then turn around & call it weak. Then, thinks that 'Say Something' is the BEST dance track on here....oh jeez.

MIMI CELEBRATES HER 35TH BIRTHDAY!

Scorpion said:

She never wears anything flattering, does she? I mean, honestly, if she weren't famous she looks like she'd be behind the counter of the Wal-Mart cosmetics dept., 50lbs overweight and in leopard leotards. She's always thisclose to whipping off all her clothes and talking about rainbows. If this is a big comeback for her, you can bet she'll go back to that.

Sounding desperate and creepy, I'd have sex with her !

The same reviewer gave JLO'S "REBIRTH" 4 stars!!! and Mariah's new album 3 stars, so I doubt he knows what his talking about. Still maybe DEF JAM didn't get thier PAYOLA to him in time.

p.s girlfriend doesn't look fat! maybe a round, but there are other "divas" out there who are looking a whole lot fatter and trashy than this

[Edited 3/27/05 20:05pm]

twink69 said:

wow, then this must indeed be a huge pile of steaming shit to outstink all over piles of shit.

Scorpion said:

wtf? as in "Calgon.... take me awayyyyy"??? yeah, that's real fuckin' bling