Mariah Carey - Rainbow

Rainbow, Mariah Carey's seventh studio long-player, is something like a concept album. Its theme is the various stages of the "emotional roller coaster," as she puts it, of her divorce and subsequent rebound. Carey continues to walk the line between streetwise hip-hop soul and adult-contemporary acceptability, with the former not surprisingly offering most of the disc's high points. "Heartbreaker," the first single, is a likeable piece of bubble-gum R&B with grit borrowed from guest Jay-Z; the remix, with Missy Elliott, Da Brat, and DJ Clue on board, is a different enough piece of work that its appearance only a few cuts after the original version doesn't jar. Another groove-intensive track, the Snoop Dogg duet "Crybaby," is so sly that one hopes the two collaborate again. Of course, it wouldn't be a Mariah record without at least one major lapse in taste; here that bill is filled with a cover of Phil Collins's melodramatic "Against All Odds." --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

 Mariah's midlife crisis, about 20 years too early.
By the time Mariah Carey released this album in 1999, she was no longer a pop star so much as an R&B star. Her sales dwindled a bit, but her career was far from over. However, when she released Rainbow, it seemed that she may have been heading into a slump.

Mariah Carey as an R&B singer was not a tough sell, and for the most part, she pulled it off. But here, she tries to be a teeny-bopper pop singer, similar to the Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Backstreet Boys types that were dominating the charts and radio at the time. It would not be that bad, but if you factored in the fact that she was pushing 30, looked like an airhead on the album cover, and was singing about subjects not exactly serious in nature, she just embarrassed herself here. I think this here is similar to many 70s stars who released disco albums when that was the hot style.

There's a lot wrong on here, but she did do some good. "Heartbreaker" is irresistibly catchy and fun, "Bliss" has some fabulous singing and sets a sexy mood, "Petals" is very moving lyrically and musically, and her duet with 98 Degrees and Joe on "Thank God I Found You," while forgettable, is a great pop product if anything was at the time.

This is not Mariah's best album by any stretch of the imagination. Like many released from that time, this was an album for the times rather than something to listen to for years and years. Most of the tracks on here are guilty pleasures at best, and forgettable filler at worst. At her worst, Mariah is better than some at their best, but people expect better from her. April 20, 2008

 Mariah's worst album
This has got to be her worst album ever most of the songs are bad

Track 1 heartbreaker 10/10 the best song on the album
Track 2 can't take that away 9/10 its a sweet song i like it
Track 3 bliss 2/10 its to long plus its a very weak song
Track 4 how much 2/10 okay beat but sounds like something from 1996 usher can not save this track
Track 5 after tonight 3/10 sounds like my all part 2
Track 6 x-girlfriend 2/10 its sounds like its on the wrong album
Track 7 heartbreaker 5/10 i hate this remix but missy elliott's rap is hilarious
Track 8 vulnerabilty 1/10 mariah please no inturludes
Track 9 against all odds 1/10 the only bad cover of a song that mariah has ever done
Track 10 cry baby 9/10 i really like this one
Track 11 did i do that 3/10 half mariah song half mystikal song make up your mind which is it
Track 12 petals 4/10 i like this one its sounds very personal
Track 13 rainbow 1/10 mariah please nooooooo interludes
Track 14 thank god i found you 10/10 the second best song on the album

August 19, 2007

 Mariah has some FINE tunes here! 4.5+ stars.
This definitely isn't her strongest work, but this CD will always have a special place in my heart because it was my first CD of hers that I owned. It was going to go in the trash or something until I took it off of someone's hands and I'm glad I did!

The best songs here are probably:

Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)
Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) An excellent cover, IMHO (in my honest opinion)
Crybaby
Thank God I Found You
Petals

She doesn't overdo it with special guests here. I mean there are 4 but I think that it was still balanced enough to not drag the album down. I wouldn't fully recommend this over some of her other CDs though. Buy the following ones before this one:

Daydream
Butterfly
Emotions

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Cover Art: A
Inside Art: A+
Songwriting: A-
Vocals: B-
Vocal Emotion: B-
Vocal Acrobatics: A-

Production: A+ (4.928571428571429 = 4.93 WOW!!)

4.642857142857143= 4.64

4.64 stars.

Overall: A+ May 28, 2007

 Could of been better
Heartbreaker- Sounds like it was recorded in seven minutes. The music is just all sampled, while the lyrics are typical tenth-grade poetry. The only good part is the high note towards the end.

Can't Take That Away- pretty good song. The lyrics are very meaningful and pretty, and Mariah actually sings here, intead of the weird whispers.

Bliss- oooh, sexy. I like this song. A bit long, but the lyrics are very sultry and paint a pretty vivid picture.

How Much- pure junk. "There For Me", which was originally recorded for "Rainbow", should be here instead.

After Tonight- good ballad, but I wish the topic was more meaningful.

X-Girlfriend- this is a good song (co-written by pop princess Kandi). I like the part where Mariah yells, "He's not your baby no more!"

Heartbreaker (Remix)- YES!!!!!! This should of been the original version of "Heartbreaker", while the Jay-Z version should of been the remix. Easilt the greatest track on the album.

Vulnerbility- just a warm-up for "Against All Odds". Not bad, however.

Against All Odds- beautiful ballad with beautiful lyrics. This sounds more like the Mariah I love.

Crybaby- way too long, although some of Mariah's ad-libs at the end are pretty cool.

Did I Do That?- uh, no. This song just sucks, plain and simple.

Petals- not really a song, more of a poem with some instrumentals. Probably her most personal song.

Rainbow- should of been a full song instead of just a brief interlude 'cause it's great.

Thank God I Found You- beautiful lyrics, but I wish this had just been her. Joe and 98 Degrees don't really enhance the song, they more just drown out Mariah's voice. October 16, 2006

 Rainbow - Mariah Carey
Easily one Mariahs best CDS ever!
All the tracks on the CD are great!
A good mix of slow songs and more up beat tracks.

HighLights are Petals; HeartBreaker; Against All Odds; How Much; Cant Take That Away August 1, 2006

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