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'''''Daydream''''' is the fifth [[studio album]] by American [[singer-songwriter]] [[Mariah Carey]], released on October 3, 1995 by [[Columbia Records]] as the follow-up to Carey's commercially successful 1993 album ''[[Music Box (album)|Music Box]]'' and 1994 holiday album ''[[Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)|Merry Christmas]]''. ''Daydream'' was slightly different from ''Music Box'', as it leaned increasingly toward [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] and [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] and less pure [[Pop music|pop]] sound. A decision which came from Carey but was not well-received initially by her record label.
'''''Daydream''''' is the fifth [[studio album]] by American [[singer-songwriter]] [[Mariah Carey]], released on October 3, 1995 by [[Columbia Records]] as the follow-up to Carey's commercially successful 1993 album ''[[Music Box (album)|Music Box]]'' and 1994 holiday album ''[[Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)|Merry Christmas]]''. ''Daydream'' was slightly different from ''Music Box'', as it leaned increasingly toward [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] and [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] and less pure [[Pop music|pop]] sound. A decision which came from Carey but was not well-received initially by her record label.
Nevertheless, mostly critics praised the slightly differences of sound from her previous records, some proclaiming ''Daydream'' as her best album. In terms of sales, ''Daydream'' exceeded all the expectations &ndash; eventually becoming one of the [[List of best-selling albums worldwide|best-selling albums]] of all time. Reaching 10 million copies in the United States &ndash; and over 20 million worldwide<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=1coWtdDeJSMC&pg=PA14 ''Mariah Carey revisited'']</ref> &ndash; ''Daydream'' is Carey's second album to have achivied diamond status in the U.S. ''Daydream'' was listed by the [[National Association of Recording Merchandisers]] in their Definitive 200 Albums of All Time as the 116th most influential and popular album in history.<ref>{{cite web |title = Definitive 200 | publisher =The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |url=http://www.rockhall.com/pressroom/definitive-200 | year = 2007 | accessdate = 2009-04-05}}</ref>
Nevertheless, mostly critics praised the slightly differences of sound from her previous records, some proclaiming ''Daydream'' as her best album. In terms of sales, ''Daydream'' exceeded all the expectations &ndash; eventually becoming one of the [[List of best-selling albums worldwide|best-selling albums]] of all time. Reaching 10 million copies in the United States &ndash; and over 25 million worldwide<ref>http://www.thelondonpaper.com/</ref> &ndash; ''Daydream'' is Carey's second album to have achivied diamond status in the U.S. ''Daydream'' was listed by the [[National Association of Recording Merchandisers]] in their Definitive 200 Albums of All Time as the 116th most influential and popular album in history.<ref>{{cite web |title = Definitive 200 | publisher =The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |url=http://www.rockhall.com/pressroom/definitive-200 | year = 2007 | accessdate = 2009-04-05}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==

Revision as of 01:03, 17 May 2009

Untitled

Daydream is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on October 3, 1995 by Columbia Records as the follow-up to Carey's commercially successful 1993 album Music Box and 1994 holiday album Merry Christmas. Daydream was slightly different from Music Box, as it leaned increasingly toward R&B and hip hop and less pure pop sound. A decision which came from Carey but was not well-received initially by her record label.

Nevertheless, mostly critics praised the slightly differences of sound from her previous records, some proclaiming Daydream as her best album. In terms of sales, Daydream exceeded all the expectations – eventually becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. Reaching 10 million copies in the United States – and over 25 million worldwide[1] – Daydream is Carey's second album to have achivied diamond status in the U.S. Daydream was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers in their Definitive 200 Albums of All Time as the 116th most influential and popular album in history.[2]

Background

Carey's third studio album, Music Box (1993) was a commercial success and her fourth studio album, the holiday collection Merry Christmas (1994) also achieved this feat. The period between Merry Christmas and Daydream was a transitional time to Carey, period protagonized by the widely reported tension in Carey and music executive Tommy Mottola marriage.

From the beginning, Mottola – who was the then-president of Sony as well, which owns her then-label – always tried to control everything on Carey's musical career – was Mottola who had the producers and songwriters to work on her sound and he even decided which song could be worked in the studio. Carey confessed that she never tried to change this situation because "[she] used to be insecure and cautious, and so [she] would listen to what the people said."[3] But, once they got married, she realized that Mottola's possessiveness was beginning to affect their personal life as well.[4] With the course of the time, the tension between the couple began to increase – as stated in a Vanity Fair article, the couple "began to argue at the drop of a hat."[4]

The tensions had its peak when she announced that she would take her music in a new direction when recording her fifth studio album, Daydream. Carey had a better involvement in the album's process than in her previous albums, spending more time working in the studio. "I went into this phase of recording, recording, recording and doing it really fast," she told Time. "This time, I had more time, and I focused more on what I wanted to do."[5][6] Carey wanted to incorporate pieces of others genres to her songs—including hip-hop and rap—claiming these styles were missing in the early albums. However, she stated the initial reaction of her record label was not positive to this decision: "Everybody was like 'What, are you crazy?'. They're very nervous about breaking the formula."[5][7]

Recording

One of early choices to appear on the album was the slightly uptempo "Fantasy." The song samples Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love," an idea which came from Carey.[5] Mottola instantly approved the song, but struggled when Carey proposed the track would also be produced by rapper Sean Combs, as well would feature rap over the song by Ol' Dirty Bastard from gangsta rap group Wu-Tang Clan. Even he acknowledged the value of rap, it was not his favorite kind of music, and could change drastically the safe and profitable music of Carey.[5]

From there, Carey started to have a different way to work on her album: she would not hide anything she was doing, but she would not claim details if Mottola did not ask.[8] During the writing sessions of Daydream, that produced the track "One Sweet Day," Carey decided the song would be a duet with the R&B/soul group Boyz II Men. When hearing the song, the group were excited, and coincidentally, they were working in some lyrics which could notch perfectly in the song's arrangement. Once again, Mottola had a negative reaction to this decision.[8] Though Carey had tried to impact a different side of the marriage, claiming "as far the music goes," she and Mottola were still very much in sync.[8][6]

Music

Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine observed that Daydream positioned Carey directly between urban R&B and adult contemporary music.[9] As stated by Time, Daydream started an evolution which continued with Butterfly (1997) – toward more R&B and hip-hop and less pure pop sound.[10] "One Sweet Day" is one of the exceptions of this move, as it saw gospel shadings found in previous records such as "Make It Happen."[11]

The album saw a new artistic maturity of the singer, featuring a consistently strong selection of songs, with its lyrics being significantly more stronger and smarter than previous, showing the matureness of Carey also in her songwriting.[12][13][6] As Carey got credit for writing or co-writing all the songs in this album (excluding the cover of Journey's "Open Arms"), the lyrics reflected some personal issues of her life which she was going trough.[14]

Release and reception

Daydream was released on October 3, 1995 in the United States and sold 224,000 copies in its first week of sales. However, the album moved 760,000 copies during the Christmas week of 1995 – the fourth biggest one-week sales for a female performer (as of December 2005).[15][16] Having shipped 10 million copies in the U.S., the RIAA certified the album diamond.[17][18] Daydream is one of the first sixty-two albums to have achieved the diamond status.[18]

The album's lead single "Fantasy" debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Carey the first female artist and just the second performer ever to accomplish the feat.[12] "One Sweet Day" was chosen as the follow-up and, despite repeating the previous feat of debuting at number 1, it spent sixteen weeks at the top of the chart, holding the record for the longest run at number 1 of all time.[12] "Always Be My Baby" did not debut at the top, but eventually become the third song of Daydream to reach number 1 in the U.S.[19] "Forever" and "Underneath the Starts" were released as the fifth and sixth singles respectively in selected countries and "Open Arms" was released as a promotional single in some countries of Europe.

Daydream received generally positive reviews from critics. Reviews applauded the little changes of style from previous Carey releases, some of whom adding that it is her best record.[14][9][20] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 4.5 out 5 stars. Commenting about the insertion of other genres, Erlewine claimed, "[she] certainly knows how to construct an album."[9] Reviewing for the Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker published a positive (B) graded overview also talking about the changes. To Tucker, Daydream most resembles in its emphasis on R&B grooves.[20] In other side, some critics felt the lyrics were a controlled exercise, with little emotion or heart.[19] Carey's cover of Journey's "Open Arms" was panned in mostly reviews. Erlewine described it as "second-rate."[9] According with Bill Lamb, the track seemed to be a uninspired song selection.[21]

The music industry took note of Carey's success—she won two awards at the American Music Awards for her solo efforts: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.[22] Daydream and its tracks were respectively nominated for six categories in the 38th Grammy Awards. Carey, along with Boyz II Men, opened the event with a performance of "One Sweet Day," which was mightily applauded.[23] In contrast, throughout the night, she was not called to the stage to receive even one Grammy. The cameras started to focus Carey, revealing the fact that become harder to her retain a smile. Her disappointment was becoming obvious.[23] Although many critics proclaimed Daydream as the best album of 1995, she ended that night with no awards.[23] Carey eventually was able to deal with this incident. "What can you do?" The singer asked. "I will never be disappointed again. After sitting through the whole show and not winning once, I can handle anything."[23]

Track listing

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Fantasy"Mariah Carey, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Dave Hall, Adrian Belew, Steven Stanley4:04
2."Underneath the Stars"Carey, Walter Afanasieff3:33
3."One Sweet Day" (with Boyz II Men)Carey, Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Afanasieff4:42
4."Open Arms"Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain3:30
5."Always Be My Baby"Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal4:18
6."I Am Free"Carey, Afanasieff3:09
7."When I Saw You"Carey, Afanasieff4:24
8."Long Ago"Carey, Dupri4:34
9."Melt Away"Carey, Babyface4:00
10."Forever"Carey, Afanasieff4:00
11."Daydream Interlude" (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix)Carey, Frantz, Weymouth, Hall, Belew, Stanley3:04
12."Looking In"Carey, Afanasieff3:35
13."Fantasy (Def Club Mix)" (Japanese edition bonus track)Carey, Frantz, Weymouth, Hall, Belew, Stanley11:17
14."El Amor Que Soñé" (Latin American edition bonus track)Perry, Cain, Manny Benito3:32

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position 		Certification Sales/shipments
Australian Albums Chart[24] 1 5x Platinum 350,000[25]
Austrian Albums Chart[26] 5 Gold 25,000[27]
Belgian Flandres Albums Chart[28] 6
Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart[29] 3
Canadian Albums Chart[30] 3 7x Platinum 700,000[31]
Dutch Albums Chart[32] 1 Platinum 100,000[33]
European Albums Chart[34] 2 3x Platinum 3,000,000[35]
Finnish Albums Chart[36] 12
French Albums Chart[37] 2 2x Platinum 600,000[38]
German Albums Chart[39] 1 Platinum 500,000[40]
Hungarian Albums Chart[41] 13
Italian Albums Chart[42] 6 2x Platinum 200,000[43]
Japanese Albums Chart[44] 1 Million 1,000,000[45]
Mexican Albums Chart[46] Gold 100,000[47]
New Zealand Albums Chart[48] 1 5x Platinum 75,000[49]
Norwegian Albums Chart[50] 3 Platinum 50,000[51]
Polish Albums Chart[52] Gold 50,000[53]
Spanish Albums Chart[54] 5 2x Platinum 200,000[55]
Swedish Albums Chart[56] 6
Swiss Albums Chart[57] 1 Gold 25,000[58]
UK Albums Chart[59] 1 2x Platinum 600,000[60]
U.S. Billboard 200[61] 1 Diamond 10,000,000[62]
Preceded by UK number one album
October 7, 1995 – October 13, 1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
October 15, 1995 – October 21, 1995 		Succeeded by
Dangerous Minds (soundtrack)
by Various artists
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
October 21, 1995 – November 10, 1995
December 30, 1995 - January 19, 1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
October 22, 1995 – October 28, 1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New Zealand Albums Chart number-one album
October 22, 1995 – October 28, 1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Als Geen Ander by Marco Borsato
 Dutch Albums Chart number-one album
October 28, 1995 – November 3, 1995 		Succeeded by
'Round the Fire by BZN

Personnel

  • Mariah Carey - vocals, producer, arranger
  • Walter Afanasieff - producer, arranger, programming, synthesizer, bass, keyboard instruments, moog synthesizer, drum programming
  • Tristan Avakian - guitar
  • Babyface - keyboards, background vocals
  • Boyz II Men - vocals
  • Terry Burrus - piano
  • Dana Jon Chappelle - engineer
  • Gary Cirimelli - programming, digital programming
  • Melonie Daniels - background vocals
  • Jermaine Dupri - producer, arranger, lead and backup vocals
  • Mick Guzauski - mixing
  • Dave Hall - producer, arranger, programming
  • Jay Healy - engineer, mixing
  • Loris Holland - organ, hammond organ
  • Dann Huff - guitar
  • Kurt Lundvall - enginner
  • David Morales - bass, arranger, keyboards, programming, producer, bass synthesizer
  • Kelly Price - background vocals
  • Shanrae Price - background vocals
  • Mike Scott - engineer
  • Manuel Seal - producer, lead and backup vocals
  • Dan Shea - synthesizer, bass, keyboards, programming, moog synthesizer, drum programming, synthesizer bass
  • Andy Smith - engineer
  • David Sussman - engineer, mixing
  • Phil Tan - engineer
  • Steve Thornton - percussion
  • Satoshi Tomiie - bass, keyboards, programming, synthesizer bass
  • Brian Vibberts - engineer
  • Randy Walker - programming

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.thelondonpaper.com/
  2. ^ "Definitive 200". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  3. ^ Shapiro, p. 90
  4. ^ a b Shapiro, p. 91
  5. ^ a b c d Shapiro, P. 92
  6. ^ a b c Christopher John Farley (2001-06-21). "Pop's princess grows up". Time. Retrieved 2009-04-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Mariah Carey Biography". People. Retrieved 2009-04-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b c Shapiro, p. 93
  9. ^ a b c d Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Daydream > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ David E. Thigpen (1997-09-15). "Butterflies Are Free". Time. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Shapiro, p. 95
  12. ^ a b c Jason Ankeny. "Mariah Carey > Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Biography - Mariah Carey". Wireimage. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  14. ^ a b Shapiro, p. 94
  15. ^ Neil Strauss (2005-05-30). "Blige leads Christmas surge; Carey passes 50 Cent". redOrbit. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  16. ^ Neil Strauss (1995-11-30). "The Pop Life". Time. Retrieved 2009-04-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Search Results". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  18. ^ a b "Metallica, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys, Green Day, No Doubt Among Top-Selling Artists Honored At Diamond Awards". MTV News. 1999-03-17. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Mariah Carey Biography". NME. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Ken Tucker (1995-10-03). "Carey'd Away". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Bill Lamb. "Mariah Carey 'Daydream'". About.com. Retrieved 2009-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Mariah Carey Career Achievement Awards". Mariahcarey.com. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  23. ^ a b c d Shapiro, p. 96
  24. ^ Australian Albums Chart
  25. ^ ARIA
  26. ^ Austrian Albums Chart
  27. ^ IFPI Austria
  28. ^ Flandres Albums Chart
  29. ^ Wallonia Albums Chart
  30. ^ Canadian Albums Chart
  31. ^ CRIA
  32. ^ Dutch Albums Chart
  33. ^ NVPI
  34. ^ European Albums Chart
  35. ^ IFPI
  36. ^ Finnish Albums Chart
  37. ^ French Albums Chart
  38. ^ SNEP
  39. ^ German Albums Chart
  40. ^ IFPI Germany
  41. ^ Hungarian Albums Chart
  42. ^ Italian Albums Chart
  43. ^ FIMI
  44. ^ Oricon Albums Chart
  45. ^ RIAJ
  46. ^ Mexican Albums Chart
  47. ^ Amprofon
  48. ^ New Zealand Albums Chart
  49. ^ RIANZ
  50. ^ Norwegian Albums Chart
  51. ^ IFPI Norway
  52. ^ Polish Albums Chart
  53. ^ ZPAV
  54. ^ Spanish Albums Chart
  55. ^ PROMUSICAE
  56. ^ Swedish Albums Chart
  57. ^ Swiss Albums Chart
  58. ^ IFPI Switzerland
  59. ^ UK Albums Chart
  60. ^ BPI
  61. ^ U.S. Albums Chart
  62. ^ RIAA
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