Splitting between her classics ('Make It Happen,' 'Hero'), Carey plugged recent work too. The late-night grinder 'The Impossible' bounced next to the reinvented '80's hip-hop of 'It's Like That.'Ĭarey's roof raising 'Fly Like a Bird' and 'My All' had everyone on their feet in glorious applause. Swinging into her 'Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)' without any hint of the fatigue shown on recent television performances, Carey rose above my expectations. I waited to see if Carey could bring that balance that eluded her on record to a live setting. Carey's The Angels Advocate Tour was my first live initiation to Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey had been caught in the trap of balancing chart banality against art.Īll of these thoughts knocked in my head as the curtain dropped to the stage floor at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio on the night of February 10th. This new album, like Glitter (2001) before it, was an uncanny portfolio of Carey's best and worst on one LP. Regaining commercial, critical, and (mostly) creative ambitions on The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), that set the stage for Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009).

That stated, her discography never lacked for lost jewels ('All My Life,' 'Subtle Invitation'). Carey's overindulgence cost her uniformity and quality in the long term. Yet Music Box (1993), Daydream (1995), and Rainbow (1999) struggled for a creative compromise. Overnight, Carey's audience and music broadened. Butterfly (1997) delivered on that promise by incorporating mainstream hip-hop/R&B colors without sacrificing her lyrical and vocal abilities.

The song planted a seed of what promised to be an interesting switch. Carey propelled throughout the decade of her genesis with a blend of adult soul flecked with gospel and pop. It was 'Fantasy' that freed Carey from her genre bubble by injecting California hip-hop and dance into her music. In the wake of Whitney Houston, no other singer has worked the black female vocalist archetype as successfully Mariah Carey.

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