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E=MC² (Mariah Carey album)

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Untitled

E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by American pop and R&B singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on April 15, 2008 in the United States.[4]

Album title

Before the confirmation of the official title, the album was planned to be named That Chick, a reference to one of the album tracks.[5] The album name means "(E) Emancipation (=) equals (MC) Mariah Carey (²) to the second power". It is a play on Einstein's famous mass–energy equivalence formula and is the sequel to her 2005 album, The Emancipation of Mimi.[6]

Production history

Carey reportedly said she had been writing new songs while traveling on her latest tour.[7] It was reported that Carey was recording her new album and booked a whole month in Anguilla's biggest villa and had a studio built in it. R&B producer Bryan Michael Cox visited Anguilla and contributed songs to the album.[8] On February 1 2008, a video of Carey and Jermaine Dupri during one of their late night studio recording sessions in Carey's TriBeCa triplex was posted on Carey's official website.[9]

Announced producers and collaborators

In an interview with VIBE, T.I. mentioned that he would be one of the producers for Carey's album.[10] Other announced producers include Polow Da Don[11] and Will.i.am.[12] Carey stated in late 2007 that she was trying to choose from 22 tracks to put in the final album.[13]

Musical and lyrical content

The album's music appeals to a lot of genres such as Pop, R&B and Hip hop, but some of her songs also include Gospel and Reggae beats.[14] She experiments for the first time with reggae tones on "Cruise Control"[5] and also uses a Jamaican patois during the second verse.[15] On "Side Effects" she speaks about her marriage to Tommy Mottola describing it as a "private hell", the "emotional abuse" she saw during this time and the side effects from which she still suffers. MTV's author Jennifer Vineyard said it's "like a rock power ballad" and compared the music style to that of Bonnie Tyler and Pat Benatar.[15] Two songs from the album sample melodies of other songs: one of them is the Seventies-soul-recalling[16] "I'm That Chick" which samples Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall". The other song is "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time," which samples DeBarge's "Stay with Me" and recalls the melodic riff of the "Hill Street Blues" theme music.[17][15] Her second single "Bye Bye" is about the loss of her father, Alfred Roy, who died of cancer in 2002, and his absence during her childhood. Although the lyrics of the song mostly seems to be personal, she tries to keep the topic universal, so that everybody "who just lost somebody" can refer to it.[15] The closing track "I Wish You Well" is a piano ballad kept simple with gospel influences. In the song she quotes some parts from the Bible.[15]

Critical reception

The biggest challenge for this album was keeping up with the quality of her previous album[6] which was acclaimed by most critics.[18] E=MC² received even better reviews than her previous album,[19] with many of them saying it was a worthy successor to her last album.

Billboard stated "She's proclaimed emancipation before, but Mariah Carey's never sounded as free as she does on her 10th album." and described E=MC² as "a pop album with equal parts levity and gravity".[20] The Observer said that "each track is precision-tooled to sound as if it were born to be banging out of a Hummer in Miami on a sunny Saturday".[21] Plenty of critics agreed that her voice is still in a good condition, Fox News and RWD stating "Her infamous eight-octave range has suffered a little wear and tear over the years, but Carey still can flutter from great highs to mellow lows like no one else"[17] and "Vocally and sonically, this is yet another outstanding release from the world's biggest selling superstar",[22] respectively.

Some critics were not as enthusiastic and mainly criticized this album for trying to copy the songs from The Emancipation Of Mimi, while noting that Carey was not using the full range of her voice. Caryn Ganz, a Rolling Stone critic, found that "nearly every song confines Carey to four-note verses, offering little room for her glorious range" [16] and the LA Times said it's the "most striking" thing about the album, but they also characterized the album as "nearly a clone of The Emancipation of Mimi".[23] Bleu Magazine's critic, Adam Benjamin Irby, agreed and said that the ballads "are all trying desperately to recapture the magic that was 'We Belong Together' [...] Overall, these facsimiles aren't terrible, they're just boring and forgettable at this point".[6] In contrast to the Rolling Stone and the LA Times, MTV praised her voice on this album and said that Carey can "really sing [when she's] not focused on vocal gymnastics".[15] Jody Rosen shared the opinion, saying that she "has definitively been emancipated — from her need to decorate every damn song with more octaves than Maria Callas".[24]

Sales and impact

E=MC² debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 463,000 copies sold, making it the biggest opening week sales of her career. With six number one albums, Carey is now tied with Janet Jackson in U.S. with the most number one albums for a female artist, behind Madonna with seven and Barbra Streisand's eight chart toppers.[25] In its second week, the album topped the chart again with 182,000 copies sold, for a total of 646,000 copies sold to date.[26] E=MC² is Carey's first album to spend two straight weeks at #1 since 1995's Daydream. Her 2005 album The Emancipation Of Mimi had two weeks on top, but were non-consecutive.[27]

On the UK Album Chart, it debuted at number three, selling 34,800 copies.[28] This was her highest peak position in the UK since Butterfly, which peaked at number two.[29] It debuted at the top on the United World Chart with 617,000 copies sold and hold the top position for another week, selling 906,000 units to date.[30] In the Philippines, the album reached Gold status selling over 15,000 copies in just eight days.[31]

Legacy

On April 15, 2008, the same day the album was released, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proclaimed April 15 officially as "Mariah Carey day" in Los Angeles. It was in part of celebrating Carey's eighteenth number one single, "Touch My Body". [32]

Also, on April 25, 2008 through April 27, 2008 ; the Empire State Building was lit up in Carey's motif colors — lavender, pink, and white — in celebration of her achievements in the world of music. Carey is the first person in history to be honored in this event.[33]

Singles

"Touch My Body" was chosen as the lead single of the album. The song received positive reviews by music critics[34] e.g. Blender's critic calling it a "pop genius making genius pop".[35] It was a moderate success peaking in the top 20 in most countries,[36] but was way more successful in the U.S. Entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number fifty-seven[37] the song climbed to the top of the chart, becoming Carey's 18th number one single on the chart, pushing her to second place among artists with the most number one singles in the rock era and first place as a solo artist in the same category, surpassing Elvis Presley.The achievement was attributed to a record-breaking digital sales debut, as 286,000 copies were sold in its first week of availability.[38]

On Carey's official website, "Bye Bye" was announced as the second single from the album. The song premiered on radio April 7, 2008.[39] It has debuted at number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot 100..

Track listing

  1. "Migrate" (featuring T-Pain) (Carey, Hills, Belawa Muhammad, Faheem "T-Pain" Najm) - 4:18
  2. "Touch My Body" (Carey, Crystal "Cri$tyle" Johnson, Nash, Stewart) - 3:25
  3. "Cruise Control" (featuring Damian Marley) (Carey, Dupri, Johnson, Damian Marley, Seal) - 3:33
  4. "I Stay In Love" (Carey, Cox, Kasseem Dean, Adonis Shropshire) - 3:32
  5. "Side Effects" (featuring Young Jeezy) (Carey, J. Jenkins, Johnson, Storch) - 4:22
  6. "I'm That Chick" (Johnta Austin, Carey, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Rodney Temperton) - 3:31
  7. "Love Story" (Austin, Carey, Dupri, Seal) - 3:56
  8. "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" (Carey, Davis, Mark DeBarge, Johnson, Etterlene Jordan) - 3:01
  9. "Last Kiss" (Austin, Carey, Dupri, Seal) - 3:36
  10. "Thanx 4 Nothin'" (Carey, Dupri, Seal) - 3:05
  11. "O.O.C." (Carey, Dean, Sheldon Harris) - 3:26
  12. "For the Record" (Carey, Cox, Shropshire) - 3:26
  13. "Bye Bye" (Carey, Eriksen, Hermansen, Austin) - 4:27
  14. "I Wish You Well" (Carey, Poyser, Mary Ann Tatum) - 4:35
Bonus tracks
  2. "Heat" (Will Adams, Carey, Jon Fletcher, Keith Harris, Jalil Hutchins, Johnson, Larry Smith, R.Muller) – 3:34
  3. "4real4real" (featuring Da Brat) – 4:13

Promotion

Carey heavily promoted the album in North America, having appearances on Saturday Night Live[40], MTV's 52/52 segments[41], The Hills premiere after party[42], being a mentor and performer on American Idol[43][44][45], The Oprah Winfrey Show[46], Live With Regis and Kelly, and Good Morning America.[47] She also had a BET Special (MC²: The Relativity of Mariah), which aired on April 16 2008.[48]

Additionally, she made promotional appearances overseas, appearing on The Paul O'Grady Show, The Friday Night Project[49][50], and T4 4Music in the United Kingdom; Le Grand Journal in France; and Deutschland sucht den Superstar in Germany.[51][52]

In addition to the above, Carey conducted autograph sessions for "Touch My Body" and "E=MC²".[53]

It was announced that Carey would perform in Dubai on Thursday, May 15 2008. The venue holds a capacity crowd of 15,000. Carey will be performing songs from her 1990 debut all the way to E=MC².[54][55][56][57]

Charts

Release dates

The album was released in a number of countries during April, 2008.

Region Date Label
Russia[1] April 8, 2008 Island Records
Poland[78] April 9, 2008
Germany,[79] Netherlands[80] April 11, 2008
France,[81] United Kingdom,[82] The Philippines (Deluxe edition),[83][84] April 14, 2008
United States,[85] Canada,[86] South Korea,[87] Spain,[88] Taiwan,[89] Hong Kong[90] April 15, 2008
Finland,[91] Japan,[92] Sweden,[93] Brazil[94] April 16, 2008
Australia[95] April 19, 2008
Mexico,[96] Thailand[97] April 22, 2008
U.A.E.[98] April 28, 2008

Notes

  1. ^ a b "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" start date of release
  2. ^ "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" album Length Amazon.com
  3. ^ "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" Amazon.com. Retrieved March 23, 2008
  4. ^ "Upcoming Releases". metacritic.com. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Sutherland, Mark. "Mariah Rolls With T-Pain, Dupri On New Album" Billboard. January 18 2008. Retrieved January 18 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Irby, Adam Benjamin. "Bleu Magazine review of E=MC2". TheBleuMag.com. April 5, 2008. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
  7. ^ "One on One with Mariah!". Entertainment Tonight. August 31, 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
  8. ^ "Billboard Bits: Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Mobile". Billboard. May 09 2007. Retrieved May 09 2007.
  9. ^ "Mariah and Jermaine Dupri in the Studio" Mariahcarey.com. February 01, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  10. ^ Shepherd, Julianne. "T.I. Versus Himself". VIBE. April 10 2007. Retrieved May 28 2007.
  11. ^ "Rihanna Makes Entertainment Weekly’s Love List: Get’s Blog Advice From Jay-Z". Whudat.com. June 22 2007. Retrieved November 02 2007.
  12. ^ "Mariah's Upcoming Release Is Oh So Sweet!" Mariahcarey.com. September 19 2007. Retrieved September 19 2007.
  13. ^ "Mariah is back on fire" mirror.co.uk. November 22 2007. Retrieved November 22 2007.
  14. ^ "Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" offers genre-crossing equation" Reuters. March 28 2008. Retrieved March 29 2008.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Vineyard, Jennifer. "Mariah Carey Album Preview: E=MC2 Is Focused On Fun, But Mimi Is At Her Best When She's Keeping It Real" MTV. April 02 2008. Retrieved April 08 2008.
  16. ^ a b Ganz, Caryn. "Albums Review: E=MC²-Mariah Carey" Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 08 2008.
  17. ^ a b Friedman, Roger. "Diva Alert: Mariah, Janet CDs Previewed". Fox News. February 15, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  18. ^ "The Emancipation Of Mimi Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
  19. ^ "E=MC² Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  20. ^ Album Review. Billboard. April 11, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2008
  21. ^ Flynn, Paul. "Mariah Carey, e=MC² (Universal) ". The Observer. February 17, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  22. ^ "Mariah And Janet: The Return". RWD. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  23. ^ Cromelin, Richard. CD:Mariah Carey's 'E=MC2'.LA Times.April 12, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  24. ^ Rosen, Jody. "Mariah Carey-E=MC²". Blender. April 15, 2008. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
  25. ^ a b Hasty, Katie. "Mariah Debuts At No. 1 After Monster First Week". Billboard. April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  26. ^ Hasty, Katie. "Mariah Carey Remains Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. April 30, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  27. ^ Grein, Paul. "Week Ending April 27, 2008: What's So Funny About A #3 Debut?". Yahoo! Music'. May 01, 2008. Retrieved May 01, 2008.
  28. ^ Wilkes, Neil. "Kooks storm to top of albums chart". Digitalspy.co.uk. April 20, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  29. ^ Mariah Carey - Album peak positions. EveryHit.com. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  30. ^ http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums.htm
  31. ^ Dayrit, Joseph. "Mariah Carey’s "E=MC2" reaches gold status in only eight days". Philippine Entertainment Portal. April 28, 2008. Retrieved May 02, 2008.
  32. ^ "Mariah Honored by the City of Los Angeles". Mariahcarey.com. April 21, 2008. Retrieved May 03, [[2008].
  33. ^ http://www.mariahcarey.com/news/news.php?uid=2197
  34. ^ "Touch My Body Reviews" Mariah Daily Journal. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  35. ^ "Listen: Mariah's New Sex Tape-Themed Smash" Blender. Retrieved April 08, 2008.
  36. ^ "Touch My Body- Peak positions" αCharts. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  37. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. Flo Rida Makes It Nine Straight Atop Hot 100. Billboard. February 21, 2008. Retrieved February 09, 2008.
  38. ^ Pietroluongo, Silvio. Mariah, Madonna Make Billboard Chart History. Billboard. April 02, 2008. Retrieved April 02 2008.
  39. ^ "Listen to Mariah's New Single 'Bye Bye'!" Mariahcarey.com. April 07, 2008. Retrieved April 08 2008.
  40. ^ [1]
  41. ^ [2]
  42. ^ [3]
  43. ^ [4]
  44. ^ [5]
  45. ^ [6]
  46. ^ [7]
  47. ^ [8]
  48. ^ [9]
  49. ^ [10]
  50. ^ [11]
  51. ^ [12]
  52. ^ [13]
  53. ^ [14]
  54. ^ [15]
  55. ^ [16]
  56. ^ [17]
  57. ^ [18]
  58. ^ "E=MC² Peak positions". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  59. ^ http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  60. ^ http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  61. ^ http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  62. ^ "HMV Canada: 'E=MC²' by Mariah Carey tops CD sales list". Canadian Press. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  63. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  64. ^ Sexton, Paul. "Duffy's 'Rockferry' Solid At No. 1 In Europe". Billboard. April 24, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  65. ^ http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  66. ^ [19]
  67. ^ http://www.ifpi.gr/chart04.htm
  68. ^ [20]
  69. ^ "E=MC² Peak positions". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  70. ^ http://italiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  71. ^ [21]
  72. ^ http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp
  73. ^ http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  74. ^ http://portuguesecharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  75. ^ [22]
  76. ^ http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mariah+Carey&titel=E%3DMC%B2&cat=a
  77. ^ http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums.htm
  78. ^ [23]
  79. ^ [24]
  80. ^ [25]
  81. ^ [26]
  82. ^ [27]
  83. ^ http://guides.clickthecity.com/music/?p=2974
  84. ^ http://www.mcareyph.com/v10/index.php?nid=1487&title=Mariah's%20new%20album%20out%20now%20in%20the%20Philippines!!!
  85. ^ [28]
  86. ^ [29]
  87. ^ [30]
  88. ^ [31]
  89. ^ [32]
  90. ^ [33]
  91. ^ [34]
  92. ^ [35]
  93. ^ [36]
  94. ^ [37]
  95. ^ [38]
  96. ^ [39]
  97. ^ [40]
  98. ^ Crane, Kelly. "Musical divas to hit Dubai". Gulfnews.com. April 30, 2008. Retrieved May 02, 2008.

References


Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
May 3 2008 		Succeeded by
incumbent
United World Chart number-one albums
May 3 2008 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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