I quite like 'Loverboy'!

 

And 'The Art of Letting Go' is a rather nice, underrated song. Having said that, it must be at least 5 years since I've actually listened to it!

Ready for some more, stay tuned!!!!!

Diggin' this track by The Neptunes

52. Never Forget You | 6.238 Highest Scores: 9: (Jord), Lowest Scores: 4: (Jade, dandy*)
51. Say Somethin' (ft Snoop Dogg) | 6.261 Highest Scores: 8.5/8: (gooddelta, elgornio, AaronTM), Lowest Scores: 4: (rafik4u)
50. Bye Bye | 6.275 Highest Scores: 9: (gooddelta, Lukuzz), Lowest Scores: 0: (Jessie Where)


At #52 is Never Forget You, released in January 1994 as the B-side to "Without You" and Columbia Records promoted it to American urban contemporary radio stations as the 4th single from Mariah's 3rd studio album Music Box. Mariah co-wrote the track with Babyface and the pair produced it with Daryl Simmons. Upon release Billboard allowed both songs to chart together because both gained strong radio airplay and managed to reach a #3 peak on the US Billboard charts. This remains Mariah's sole double-sided chart appearance. Definitely the most forgotten single from the 'Music Box' era, due to many factors such as it not getting an international release or a music video. This also doesn't compare to the greatness of the other singles as this is a very paint by numbers ballad with a very plodding tempo and lacks anything memorable about it.

At #51 is Say Somethin', released in April 2006 as the 6th and final single from Mariah's 10th studio album The Emancipation of Mimi and features guest vocals from American rapper Snoop Dogg. This marks their 2nd collaboration following 'Crybaby' from 1999. Written by Mariah Snoop Dogg, Chad Hugo, and Pharrell Williams, and produced by The Neptunes, making this one of the few songs from Mariah's discography where she doesn't share production credits. After completing many tracks for the album, this song leaked and was promoted to the lead single, until L.A. Reid suggested to her that she travel to Atlantis to work with Jermaine Dupri and they ended up recording the first 2 singles & therefore this got pushed back. Upon release the track released to rhythmic and Top 40 radio stations in the USA & at the same time 'Fly Like A Bird' was serviced to Urban and Gospel stations, but 'Say Somethin' was the only one given an international release. The song only managed a #79 peak on the Billboard charts and failing to match the success of the previous singles. However it performed better worldwide by attaining top 40 peaks in Australia, Ireland, UK and Italy. This is an enjoyable little bop with its breezy synth shuffle, interesting production and the easy chemistry between Mariah and Snoop Dogg, which makes everything worthwhile. Not one of her strongest moments, but its a cute and fun little number nonetheless.

At the #50 spot is Bye Bye, released in April 2008 as the 2nd single from Mariah's 11th studio album E=MC2 and was co-written by Mariah herself alongside its producers Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Johntá Austin. Lyrically the song is about her deceased father in the verses, and a universal salute to departed loved ones on the chorus. Upon release the song received generally positive reviews and it managed a #19 peak on the US Billboard charts. Worldwide the song achieved relatively weak charting, by reaching a top 10 peak in New Zealand & top 40 peaks in UK, Canada & Ireland. While I do commend the sentimental message behind the track and the simple piano driven melody is nice, but found it a weak single choice that ended up killing the era. This was probably a bit too sappy to fully connect with casual listeners and was perhaps better staying on the album.

Edited August 9, 20231 yr by Nina West

Here's another re-cap of the results 50-60:

50. Bye Bye - 6.275
51. Say Somethin' (ft Snoop Dogg) - 6.261
52. Never Forget You - 6.238
53. The Art of Letting Go - 6.225
54. You're Mine (Eternal) - 6.2
55. Angels Cry (ft Ne-Yo) - 6.119
56. Loverboy (ft Cameo) - 6.095
57. I Want To Know What Love Is - 6.071
58. Up Out My Face (ft Nicki Minaj) - 6.025
59. Boy (I Need You) (ft Cam'Ron) - 5.976
60. You Don't Know What To Do (ft Wale) - 5.95

Edited July 27, 20231 yr by Nina West

Bye Bye being the second single from E=MC2 was a bit of a campaign killer :drama: I guess they were thinking it would be another One Sweet Day with the sentiment? I don’t mind Bye Bye but I’d have kept it as an album track or maybe the final single if it had to be one.

 

I don’t play Never Forget You often because honestly I forget that it was actually a single, but it’s nice enough.

 

Say Somethin’ is also fine. I suppose it is one of the more “accessible” songs to be found on The Emancipation of Mimi, but it felt like it came too late in the campaign, it felt old on arrival, so maybe one single too far. Released 8 months after Shake It Off/Get Your Number (in terms of songs included on the original track list - Don’t Forget About Us was new!) and 14 months after the album’s release.

'Bye Bye' is AWFUL :puke2:

 

A literal 0

I love Bye Bye haha, also absolutely love The Art Of Letting Go

The morales version of Say Somethin’ was so much better than the original

A silver smash! *.* I wish the label hadn’t got cold feet with it. I’d love to know exactly why they felt the need to pull it. :thinking: When it was new it honestly felt like it was shaping up to be a hit. Bizarre!

I'd love to know too, can't seem to find anything about it online. :thinking:

 

'Bye Bye' is pretty faceless, typical 2008 R&B, I guess I see the thought behind releasing it but yeah, doesn't really do anything for me. 'Say Something' and 'Never Forget You' are fairly placed, both decent songs but not standouts in Mariah's discography.

Make or break up, can't take this madness

49. I Stay In Love | 6.3 Highest Scores: 10: (rafik4u), Lowest Scores: 2: (Jessie Where)
48. Save The Day (ft Ms Lauryn Hill) | 6.325 Highest Scores: 9: (Josh), Lowest Scores: 3: (Lukuzz)
47. Bringin' On The Heartbreak | 6.325 Highest Scores: 9.5: (Lukuzz), Lowest Scores: 3: (vibe)


At #49 is I Stay In Love, released in October 2008 as the 4th and final single from Mariah's 11th studio album E=MC2 and was written by Mariah, Bryan-Michael Cox, Adonis Shropshire and Kendrick Dean, and produced by the former two. The song received generally positive reviews, despite many criticizing the similarities to one of her previous singles "We Belong Together". Despite 2 high profile TV performances such as The X-Factor & American Music Awards, the track performed weak commercially by failing to chart on the Billboard Top 100 & could only manage a #95 peak on the UK singles chart. This is a pleasant enough ballad with a stunning piano driven melody and a nice brooding atmosphere, but coming from an album that's so fun and vibrant, this doesn't quite stand out & maybe something more upbeat could have worked better as the final single.

At #48 is Save The Day, released in August 2020 as the lead single from Mariah's compilation album The Rarities and samples vocals from Ms Lauryn Hill on the song "Killing Me Softly" by The Fugees, therefore she's credited as a featured artist. The song was originally written for Mariah's 14th studio album "Me I Am Mariah" and the idea was to reunite a variety of musicians to conceive the song as a charity single, but during its recording session Mariah revealed on her Twitter account in 2012 that the song was in holding pattern for a very special reason. The song finally got released in 2020 where Mariah felt that it was an appropriate time to release the song. The song and album of unreleased material was a real treat at the time with some fantastic gems namely ("Here We Go Around Again") being unleashed to the public & 'Save The Day' is another gem with the gorgeous scaled back piano the gently runs throughout with Mariah's soulful harmonies perfectly fitting into the groovy soulful beats & while the use of Lauryn Hill's vocals was a nice touch, I wish that it was a proper collaboration.

At #47 is Bringin' On The Heartbreak, released in June 2003 as the 3rd and final single from Mariah's 9th studio album Charmbracelet. The song was originally sung by English rock band Def Leppard. Mariah co-produced her cover version with Randy Jackson and the single version featured a newly recorded solo and extra guitar overdubs performed by Dave Navarro. Upon release the song failed to enter the US Billboard Top 100 & only gained a limited release in Europe where it managed top 40 peaks in Switzerland & Belgium, as well as charting outside the top 50 in Austria. Mariah performs an interesting and decent cover version of this somewhat obscure Def Leppard track where the electric guitars are replaced with piano, strings and acoustic guitars with her vocals are quite and low in the chorus before they builds up towards the end where she adds her trademark high pitched notes. A fabulous cover version, but Mariah's done far better.

Edited July 30, 20231 yr by Nina West

I like ‘Bringing on the Heartbreak’ but it almost feels like it’s heading somewhere that it doesn’t really reach. I’m left wanting a bit more from it.

 

I don’t even recall how the other two go like.

'Migrate' should've been the 2nd single and follow up to 'Touch My Body'... why it wasn't and they went for 'Bye Bye'... insane!

 

(EDIT: Sorry I forgot to vote. I planned to, but there were too many I wanted to refamiliarise myself with and didn't have time to </3)

'Migrate' should've been the 2nd single and follow up to 'Touch My Body'... why it wasn't and they went for 'Bye Bye'... insane!

 

(EDIT: Sorry I forgot to vote. I planned to, but there were too many I wanted to refamiliarise myself with and didn't have time to </3)

 

 

YES I totally agree that 'Migrate' should have been the 2nd single, it had far more potential & would have garnered strong radio play as it already charted on the Hot 100 upon the album's release. Not saying it would have been another chart topper, but could have went top 5/10 at least.

 

This would have been my run of singles from "E-MC2"

 

Touch My Body

Migrate (ft T-Pain)

I'll Be Loving U Long Time

For The Record

I'm That Chick

 

 

If 'Migrate' becomes a success then there would be more hype for 'I'll Be Loving U Long Time' & give it a full international push/release. For the 4th single have the fan fave 'For The Record' released which could have easily fared better than 'I Stay In Love'. If the previous singles are successful then maybe give 'I'm That Chick' a possible 5th single for the European market to close out the era as that was screaming to be a potential single.

Edited August 4, 20231 yr by Nina West

'Migrate' should've been the 2nd single and follow up to 'Touch My Body'... why it wasn't and they went for 'Bye Bye'... insane!

 

TOTALLY!

 

Also 'Stay the Night' was a missed opportunity from Emancipation.

If you cling to your pride and just push them aside

46. Infinity | 6.35 Highest Scores: 10: (Lukuzz), Lowest Scores: 3: (vibe)
45. Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) | 6.5 Highest Scores: 11: (Herbs), Lowest Scores: 4/4.5: (elgornio, Josh, vibe, dandy*)
44. Never Too Far | 6.5 Highest Scores: 10: (Liam.k.), Lowest Scores: 4.5: (Lukuzz)

At #46 is Infinity, released in April 2015 as the lead & only single from Mariah's compilation album #1 to Infinity. Mariah wrote the song in collaboration with Eric Hudson, Priscilla Renea, Taylor Parks and Ilsey Juber. Mariah and Hudson also produced the track. The song was the only new recording to be included on her 3rd greatest hits album, which was an updated collection of her 18 US number one singles. Upon release the song garnered a positive response from music critics and it managed a #82 peak on the US Billboard charts, becoming her 47th entry on the Hot 100 in 25 years since 1990. Worldwide it managed a top 20 peak in Spain and minor peaks in Japan, Sweden & France. In the UK it missed the UK top 100 by peaking at #154. The track is okay enough and fits in well with the other tracks on the compilation. However it does suffer quite a bit from being overproduced, especially within it's structure & her vocal range isn't very well represented. The lyrics are fun and interesting and the retro feel is a nice throwback to her glory days. Other than that its just fine I guess.

At #45 is Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme), released in April 2000 as the 4th single from Mariah's 7th studio album Rainbow, as well as being released as a double a-side with "Crybaby" in some countries. The song was written by Mariah & Diane Warren as well as being produced by Mariah herself and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The track was at the center of a very public controversy between Mariah and her label Sony Music, based on the very weak promotion due to her divorce from CEO Tommy Mottola. Mariah wanted to release this as the album's 3rd single as it held very personal lyrical content, but Sony wanted a more upbeat and urban track to be released instead which is why 'Crybaby' got chosen instead, which led to a very public feud between the artist and the label. Upon release the song was not commercially successful due to its limited release by reaching a top 40 peak in Belgium and charting in the lower peaks in Italy and The Netherlands. In the USA due to Billboard rules charting credit wasn't given to this and only given to 'Crybaby' & only shared a double a-side status on the dance charts there. A great song with a powerful message that everybody can relate to. The slow tempo blended beautifully together with the pop & R&B beats, as well as Mariah's fantastic vocals on top form here & I love the way it builds as everything comes to a soaring climax. This is such an underrated gem that deserved so much more success & if it wasn't for label politics, then this could have easily smashed.

Another ballad drops at #44 with Never Too Far, released in August 2001 as the 2nd single from Mariah's 8th studio album & soundtrack Glitter, which also makes this the last from that era to feature here. Written by Mariah herself and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and unlike the lead & the movie itself it received positive reviews. There was no music video filmed for the single due to her recovering from a breakdown, instead a video was created using a scene taken directly from the film "Glitter". Upon release the song failed to make much impact on the American charts by only managing a #105 on the Bubbling Under charts. However it did fare better in the UK and Australia where it reached top 40 peaks where it was released as a double a-side with 'Don't Stop (Funkin' For Jamaica)". In December 2001 the song got re-released as a charity single in the USA as part of a medley with 'Hero' which was performed on her taped special 'A Home For The Holidays With Mariah Carey' & managed to reach an #81 peak on the US Billboard charts. This is yet another underrated Mariah ballad that could have been a smash hit if it wasn't apart of the flop Glitter era. A shimmering and emotional ballad with a very grand and lustrous feel to the production and of course Mariah's mammoth vocals soars over the entire track and packs an almighty punch.

Edited July 29, 20231 yr by Nina West

Justice for both of the Snoop Dogg collabs x

 

I quite like 'Loverboy' too, didn't know what to make of Glitter as it's a pretty infamous era but I enjoyed it more than I expected

^ !!!! her power tbh x

Some other UK first week sales I managed to find if anyone is interested to see. Memoirs one of her strongest first weeks but has the perception of being a flop! That's the risk of a Q4 release back then...

75,000 - Daydream (#1, 1995)

56,000 - Music Box (#1, 1993)

38,000 - #1's (#10, 1998)

34,769 - E=MC² (#3, 2008)

28,758 - Butterfly (#2, 1997)

26,552 - Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (#23, 2009)

26,000 - Rainbow (#8, 1999)

20,876 - The Emancipation of Mimi (#7, 2005)

19,000 - Charmbracelet (#52, 2002)

18,000 - Greatest Hits (#46, 2001) {"fewer than 18,000"} [peaked at #7 in 2005]

11,190 - The Ballads (#17, 2008) [peaked at #13 in 2008]

9,314 - #1 to Infinity (#8, 2015)

6,547 - Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse (#14, 2014)

3,357 - Caution (#40, 2018)

2,536 - Merry Christmas II You (#101, 2010) [missed out on Top 100 by 6 sales :drama: ]

2,393 - The Rarities (#44, 2020)

1,232 - Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special (#154, 2020) [peaked at #106 in 2022]

 

I couldn't find these unfortunately:

 

Mariah Carey (#6, 1990)

Emotions (#10, 1991) [peaked at #4 in 1992]

MTV Unplugged (#3, 1992)

Merry Christmas (#45, 1994) [peaked at #32 in 1994]

Glitter (#10, 2001)

The Remixes (#35, 2003)

 

I'm really surprised that she's only had two #1 albums here :o

 

Let's get this to another page & I'll post the results for 43-41

I absolutely adore Infinity, beautiful song imo

The next 3 to drop will all from the 90's decade