How did Butterfly beat classic ballads like Love Takes Time

Or even Cant let go or One swet day :o

Because it’s better than all of them :teresa:

 

Clearly too ahead of its time in 1997!

Can't skip foreplay, kill the kitty cold case (Uh-huh)

21. Big Energy (Remix) (ft Latto & DJ Khaled) | 7.761 Highest Scores: 11: (Simon, JosephStyles), 10: (JackTheeStallion), Lowest Scores: 5: (Qween)


Just outside the top 20 at #21 is Mariah's latest release to date Big Energy, a song by American rapper Latto & was released in September 2021 as the lead single from her second studio album 777. A remixed version featuring Mariah & DJ Khaled was later released in March 2022, with an interpolation of Mariah's song "Fantasy", which also heavily samples "Genius of Love". Latto has stated that she first conceived the idea of having American singer Mariah Carey on the remix back in November 2021. Although she was her first option, she didn't think she'd accept. Upon release the song in both forms became a huge success by reaching a #3 peak on the US Billboard charts, making this Latto's first top 10 hit. It also managed top 10 peaks in Australia & Canada, top 20 in Ireland & New Zealand as well as a top 30 peak in the UK, earning Mariah her 40th top 40 hit there.. The remixed version of the song was nominated for the Song of the Summer Award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, earning Mariah her first nomination at the ceremony in fourteen years since "Touch My Body" in 2008.

I'm actually SHOCKED that this has ranked so high on here, given that its so recent & the fact that its beaten so many other great songs. Anyway this is a decent collaboration where Mariah's sample of 'Fantasy' is used effectively here & tastefully upstages Latto's rap verses, but Latto does manage to keep up, thanks to the sparkling production & catchy melodies. DJ Khaled's contribution is rather annoying & barely adds anything to this number. While it was nice for Mariah to be featured on a hit single again, I only wish her part was bigger & a lot more prominent.

Edited August 11, 20231 yr by Nina West

Time for another results re-cap 21-30:

21. Big Energy (Remix) (ft Latto & DJ Khaled) - 7.761
22. Butterfly - 7.666
23. Get Your Number (ft Jermaine Dupri) - 7.619
24. Someday - 7.595
25. Make It Happen - 7.571
26. Through The Rain - 7.547
27. Don't Forget About Us - 7.547
28. One Sweet Day (ft Boyz II Men) - 7.425
29. Love Takes Time - 7.38
30. I'll Be There (ft Trey Lorenz) - 7.357

Really pleased that 'Honey' has made the top 20 :wub: it's one of my top favourites of hers but it feels a bit underrated in discussions of her discography

 

'Big Energy' matching its U.K. chart peak in this rate

Just before the top 20 countdown begins, here's a reminder of what's remaining from each era:

Mariah Carey – 1/5
Emotions – 1/3
Music Box – 4/5
Merry Christmas/II You – 2/3
Daydream – 2/6
Butterfly – 2/5
Rainbow – 1/5
Glitter – 0/3
Charmbracelet – 0/4
The Emancipation of Mimi – 2/6
E-MC2 –1/4
Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel – 1/5
Me I Am Mariah –1/4
Caution – 0/2
Greatest Hits –1/4
Other – 1/9

'Butterfly' so deserved better in the charts, such a divine song.

 

'Big Energy' is good for what it is but not sure I'd have it quite this high... Especially over quite a few it has beaten!

When the shadows are closing in
And your spirit diminishing

20. Anytime You Need A Friend | 7.833 Highest Scores: 10: (Nina West, Jord), Lowest Scores: 5: (rafik4u)


Kicking off the top 20 is Anytime You Need A Friend, released in May 1994 as the 5th and final single from Mariah's 3rd studio album Music Box. The song was written and produced by Mariah and Walter Afanasieff, and is influenced by pop, R&B and gospel genres. The album itself focused heavily on pop oriented and radio friendly material, this song deviated from the formula, finishing as the only gospel-infused song on the album. Upon release the song was well received by contemporary music critics and achieved strong charting positions worldwide. In the USA it reached a #12 peak, her first to miss the top 10 there, but fared much better elsewhere with top 5 peaks in Canada & New Zealand, as well as top 10 peaks in UK, Iceland & Netherlands. This would be one of the very few times that one of Mariah's singles would chart higher in the UK than in the USA.

A brilliant track that quite rightfully earned Mariah another much deserved top 10 hit. This has been noted as Mariah's own favourite track of 'Music Box' & its not hard to see why as it's one of the few on there where she really gets to show off her mammoth vocal range without losing sight of the song's meaning. The blend of Mariah's inspirational vocals contrasts beautifully with the gospel choir, allowing her to focus on hitting some incredibly high notes with the strength of the choir behind her. A fitting end to the "Music Box" campaign & talk about ending the era with an almighty bang.

Big Energy is one of the bops of last year but yeah high up here!

 

Love "Anytime You Need A Friend" too.

Random: I'd always been under the impression 'Anytime You Need a Friend' was a #3 hit, so quite surprised to find out it was only a #8!

Big Energy is good but WAY too high

Santa's gonna come and make him mine this Christmas night

19. Oh Santa | 7.9 Highest Scores: 10: (Jord), Lowest Scores: 5.5/5: (Nina West, vibe)


At #19 is the first version of Oh Santa, released in October 2010 as the lead single from Mariah's 2nd Christmas album & 13th studio album Merry Christmas II You. Mariah wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. Upon release the song received a positive response from music critics, with many praising its composition and style. In the USA it became a record breaking entry on the Billboard Adult Contemporary songs chart by topping the charts in its 2nd week & charted high on most of its component charts. The song finally managed to crack the US Top 100 in January 2011 by peaking at #100, making this Mariah's 40th entry on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later adapted to be the finale of 'A Christmas Special', a 2015 Hallmark Channel X-Mas movie. Mariah would re-record and re-release the song 10 years after its release, but more on that later...

This frantic but rather festive little bop works perfectly as a Christmas song. Brimming with energy, quick fire verses, sassy back up singers and a earworm chanting chorus. While this in no way compares to Mariah's other iconic festive classic or will ever surpass its success, its still a fun little bop, but I wouldn't rank it this high. I do feel that this does try a little too hard to recapture that said song's magic, which obviously failed as this was very overlooked upon its original release, despite the rave reviews. Personally I've never really connected with this, its fine but nothing amazing.

Big Energy deserves to be this high!! Mariah made a great song even better *.*

 

Glad the collab version of Oh Santa! is the higher of the two!

I would never have called Oh Santa making the Top 20 of the results, let alone both versions! I do like it a lot though, particularly the collaboration version.

 

Anytime You Need a Friend :wub:

Anytime You Need a Friend is epic

 

There is definitely a bias towards her more upbeat songs with the way some songs are appearing higher than people expect

'Big Energy' and 'Oh! Santa' are better songs than 'Butterfly' and 'The Roof'?? Wowwww

 

At least 'Anytime I Need a Friend' is top 20, as it should be.

I promise that I won't forget the milk and cookies

18. Oh Santa (ft Ariana Grande & Jennifer Hudson) | 8.075 Highest Scores: 10: (JosephStyles, rafik4u), Lowest Scores: 5: (Nina West)


We're finally getting to the 8 averages now in at #18 is the 2nd version of Oh Santa. Mariah re-recorded a new version of this song for its 10th anniversary. The new version features vocals from Ariana Grande & Jennifer Hudson. Released in December 2020 as the lead single from Mariah's second soundtrack album, Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special. Upon release the new remixed version received positive reviews & actually fared better on the charts than the original version did by peaking at #76 on the US Billboard charts, surpassing the original version's peak of #100 & reaching a #50 on the UK singles chart, making this the first time any version of this song has charted there, as well as charting in several other countries such as Canada, Germany & Sweden.

I do actually find this version an improvement over the original with the girl group arrangement giving a fresher take on this fun little bop, adding more variety, such as Ariana's soft harmonizing vocals, Jennifer's belting powerhouse vocals set against Mariah's vocal acrobatics. Each of them adds something different which can throw off the dynamics of the song a little bit at times, but there's enough to enjoy here. Don't think this will ever reach the heights of X-Mas classic (since Mariah already has one of those), however its still a good effort & maybe in a couple of years, this could find more love and appreciation.

It's a cute song,! Whenever I hear it makes a refreshing change from hearing the main one over and over again.

A big ONE's gonna drop next, any guesses?

Without You