Throughout her two-decade career, Mariah Carey hasn't been without flaws. She is at times a prime example of separating the artist from the art – save a few very specific career hiccups (Glitter anyone?). Spraypainting her crazy all over the walls of the music industry didn't help either. Luckily for Mimi, her music has withstood the test of time and Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel is a continuation of that musical grace.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: HIPHOP DX

Who says being a pop diva is easy? There is the constant pressure to look great and sound all-conquering while staving off a legion of younger sisters nipping at your stiletto heels. Which brings us to Mariah Carey, she of the 175 million worldwide record sales and the multitude of comebacks.

Carey's voice isn't what it used to be, and her last couple of records were lightweight even by her modest standards, brimming with adolescent lyrics and tarted-up production designed to keep her sounding fashionable. They restored her standing as a commercial force, but as an artist she sounded adrift.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE

She shows off her talent by coming off as just another girl at the nail salon. On her recently leaked and soon-to-be-released 12th studio album, Mariah Carey and her latest producers, Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Tricky Stewart, attempt to get at something by distilling it. They're seeking the Essence of Mimi, the liquor in the oyster of Carey's famously luscious voice.But instead of showcasing this musical Olympian's dazzling way with a vocal run or her nearly unmatchable whistle register -- obvious choices when it comes to Carey's talent -- she and her team tune into a particular tone, the one that earned her another nickname, Honey.

There's a breathiness to this album that's not only sexy but emotionally intimate. Heavy on slow jams, quiet confessions and kiss-offs closer to the work of the rappers she admires than to Carey's soul sisters, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" capitalizes on an underrated aspect of the singer's talent: Her ability, even when she's scaling vocal heights, to still come off as just another girl at the nail salon.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES

Don't judge Carey's Memoirs by her latest eye-rolling title. The diva's 12th album is neither self-indulgent nor silly. In fact, it's one of her more focused efforts, downplaying the hip-hop and club bangers of late for well-penned, creatively produced R&B ballads that showcase Carey's powerhouse pipes without sacrificing hooks and melodies. Imperfect, but susprisingly good. Download: H.A.T.E.U., Up Out My Face
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 1 | ...MORE | SOURCE: TORONTO SUN

Any Mariah Carey album carries a lot of weight – fan dreams, commercial expectations, the prospect of genuine pop thrill, the star's outsized persona – and 2009's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is no different. Trailing a pair of hits, "Obsessed" and her anthemic cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," it's a lock for commercial success, and it includes plenty of the soaring vocals and falsetto trills that fans love her for. It's also remarkably unified, with no guest features and a very special coup, in that every song on the album was composed by R&B's best songwriters of the late 2000s, Terius Nash (The-Dream) and Christopher Stewart (Tricky); they give each song the intelligent mid-tempo bump-and-grind they've made into a specialty. Personally, it finds Carey probing and investigating her inner life, with lines like "I can't wait to hate you" and "Why you so obsessed with me?" shot at targets both public and private.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | SOURCE: ALL MUSIC

Singing is fun again! And so is Mariah. On her 12th studio album, Mimi gets a face-lift from urban music's current hit-king The-Dream and his sidekick Tricky. The duo's textured, often quirky brand of r & b has birthed some of the biggest hits in recent memory - Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" - but here they opt for a lighter touch. "Ribbon" and crunk-laced single "Obsessed" are the closest "Memoirs" comes to hip-hop; the remainder is a throwback mix of ballads and midtempo r & b mini-sagas that let Carey wander into whispers, purrs, high-octave whistles and full-throttle force (check out "It's a Wrap"). Sassy and occasionally ridiculous lyrics ("love you like a freeze pop") bring out a playful side that offsets the time Carey spends languishing in lost love territory. She's at her best when dismissing, not missing, that no-longer-special someone, as on the track to download, "Up Out My Face."
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 1 | SOURCE: BOSTON HERALD

"I should crack you right in your forehead," Mariah Carey sings on the breakup tune "It's a Wrap." The song, on her latest CD, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," finds a hungover Carey kicking her lover to the curb with particularly harsh words. "Another early morning, and you walk in like it's nothing ... ain't no doughnuts, ain't coffee," she sings with attitude in her signature high-pitch tone. "Let me take a breath and regain my composure, told you more time, if you (expletive) up it's over."

But even though she's spitting venom, Carey's cooing on the doo-wop sounding song is so sensuous and sweet, even the song's intended target will remain under her spell – as will her listeners.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 1 | ...MORE | SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carey couldn't have picked a more ironic title for her latest CD. While the singer dubbed it "Confessions of an Imperfect Angel," much of the disc strives for a perfectionism you'd expect of someone caught in the dark grip of O.C.D.

From the treatment of the vocals, to the strategy of the songwriting, to the use of instrumentation, "Angel" reeks of idealization and self-consciousness.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE

There's always a moment on a Mariah Carey album when her voice sounds like a helium balloon suddenly released to drift into the stratosphere. She trills, she wails, she coos, and then somehow she crash-lands back into the melody right on cue with her diva tresses perfectly in place.

Her voice, with its many peaks and valleys, has always been her calling card. But "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," her 12th album released today on Island Records, presents her as more of an emotive vocalist and not just a singer with an impressive range. Make that Mariah Carey, song stylist.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: BOSTON GLOBE

When exactly did Mariah Carey stop singing? Even when she began flirting aggressively with hip-hop in the mid-1990s she was happy to impose her titanic vocals atop even the scrappiest production. And no matter how grimy her surroundings became - Ol' Dirty Bastard, anyone? - she remained inexorably Mariah, an impenetrable acrobat of technique.

Of late though, Ms. Carey has been whispering, as if newly scared of grand gestures. In 2005 it made for a surprise success with "The Emancipation of Mimi", one of her best-selling albums, but also one of her most deceptive. Though the melodies were straightforward, Ms. Carey was working hard, imbuing them with vulnerability and ache even while keeping her vocal power in check.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES

Nobody in contemporary R&B - not even Beyonce or Rihanna - plays the wronged woman quite so convincingly and dynamically as Mariah Carey. Her best songs this decade seem to emanate from the very moment when despondence becomes determination, as Carey gathers her composure and kisses off an errant man with so much style that he comes across as romantically radioactive.

Presumably, there are no personal reasons for this mix of vulnerability and strength: She has a publicly happy marriage to a much younger guy, which suggests she graduated from minx to cougar gracefully. So perhaps the subjects of these songs are critics and detractors who made "Glitter" a punchline and had a ball with her public breakdown a few years ago. To her credit, she has come back stronger after each pitfall, ultimately establishing herself as one of the most commanding pop presences of the decade.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: EXPRESS NIGHT OUT

"I should crack you right in your forehead," Mariah Carey sings on the breakup tune "It's a Wrap". The song, on her latest CD, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel", finds a hungover Carey kicking her lover to the curb with particularly harsh words.

"Another early morning, and you walk in like it's nothing ... ain't no doughnuts, ain't coffee," she sings with attitude in her signature high-pitch tone. "Let me take a breath and regain my composure, told you more time, if you (expletive) up it's over."
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: NEWSDAY

The title of Mariah Carey's 12th album portends an unrealized complexity. With no high-profile guests, little vocal gymnastics and use of the same producers - Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The Dream" Nash - throughout, this is as fuss-free an album the native New Yorker has made in her 19-year recording career.

It's not completely without cheese: there's an unnecessary gospel choir on the Foreigner cover "I Want to Know What Love Is" and equally unnecessary dashes of Auto-Tune here and there. The weightiness shows up in the romantic drama that's explored throughout; worthy enough for Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey, Maury Povich and the "Harvard University graduating class of 2010", all of whom Carey namechecks.
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 0 | ...MORE | SOURCE: TORONTO STAR

A dozen albums into her career, Mariah Carey is finally comfortable enough in her sexy skin to deliver a record that leans on songs rather than vocal acrobatics (and high notes that only dogs can hear). "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" is a very different offering for Carey. The hip-hop elements were shelved for this project, and instead she delves into the music with old-fashioned emphasis on R&B grooves, dance rhythms and accessible vocals with which n ormal humans can sing along.

This disc is so different from her past few records that even devoted fans should be careful to listen - and then listen again - before judging the sweet molasses jams. Without question the powerful and percolating slow burn of "Obsessed" - in which she lets Eminem know he's "delusional" about their rumored affair - is the best on the record. Carey is also excellent on her cover of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is".
BY LUCIFRID | 30. 09. 2009 | COMMENTS: 1 | ...MORE | SOURCE: NEW YORK POST