CD - E=mc2 - Mariah Carey

3:50pm Friday 25th April 2008

I HAVE never been a fan of Mariah Carey but there were always two words I associated with her music. One of them was playful, and when her songs weren't being that, they were powerful - in emotion and volume.

But those words are not really at all apt for the songs on E=mc2. Apart from the odd one, they are all extremely lazy-sounding R 'n' B efforts.

The one high point of the album for me turned out to be the bonus track which some people may not have heard. Heat is extremely catchy and, although in it Mariah is threatening her love rival, it's a lot more fun than any of the other tracks.

If emotion is want you want from your music, you can't go far wrong with Bye Bye, where Mariah sings about people dying and how we never really say goodbye to them. It's a sweet song, if a little maudlin.

Overall this album failed to impress me and Mariah recruiting young, black, male rappers I'd never heard of to join her on tracks did nothing to increase my enjoyment.

HC

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