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About Randy from USA: MC is my favorite artist of all time and I love her songwriting skills on her introspective songs. My favorite album: Butterfly. My favorite song: Right To Dream.

Re: Crave (89,559) (89,562) by Randy from USA What's funny about this is that this was the title of her imprint with Sony that didn't last. What makes me mad is she said she named it after a song she wrote called Crave. She said she would talk about the song and its meaning one day. And we never heard about it again. (Saturday 11 May 2019; 12:14)

Re: BMA vocal analysis (89,453) (89,459) by Randy from USA I'm just curious. After 30 years of singing all around the world and in front of presidents, at star funerals and on live television, why are nerves still a valid excuse for someone considered one of the best singers of all time? (Sunday 5 May 2019; 20:36)

(89,358) by Randy from USA And my favorite part of this is she'll be 52 at the next album. So will she still be working with 25 year old rappers and producers or will it be enough already with trying to hold onto this "street diva" persona and we finally get a jazz album or an album of standards or a stripped album with mostly piano guitar and vocals? (Saturday 27 April 2019; 22:29)

"Remixes" that are better than the original (89,342) by Randy from USA I love Angel's Cry with Neyo. I love that you are all giving it some love. I started to think of some of the remixes that I love more than the original versions. Up Out My Face with Nikki. Fantasy with ODB but with the pop chorus in between. The Someday video version more than the album version. Obsessed with Gucci Mane. Breakdown and The Roof rap versions. (Saturday 27 April 2019; 13:44)

Mariah and Whitney (89,288) by Randy from USA At the risk of starting this debate for the umpteenth time, Special K, I sort of agree and disagree with you. During their primes, here is the truth, Mariah had the better voice. Whitney was the better singer. It has been well documented by producers that MC had a voice that was astonishing but often would doubt herself and re-record her vocals until they were perfect. She left nowhere to go live and then was so self conscious she couldn't let loose on stage. Whitney was the queen of improvisation and commanding an audience. Mariah sings like the record and doesn't do much else. Even if you look at Unplugged she gave you the Emotions intro and the rest of the concert sounds like you pressed play on the CD backstage. Oh she was singing live but she didn't do anything different from the records. And don't get me started on that Hero video from the Theater in 93. Whitney may have had the smaller range. But she def played with the song and did runs and riffs and extended notes and the band followed her. (Wednesday 24 April 2019; 01:13)

Re: Mariah's memoir (89,278) (89,287) by Randy from USA I want to hear about her childhood. Remember at one point she said if she talked about what happened in her childhood nobody would believe it? I think the book will be watered down though. Her ego and wanting to remain private about so many things ain't gonna let it be the whole truth. (Wednesday 24 April 2019; 01:05)

Re: Caution - now that we've had some time (89,274) (89,277) by Randy from USA I lie to you not. I never play it. I did move GTFO to my Bitter playlist and that's it. I do need to buy the physical CD to add to my shelf though. (Tuesday 23 April 2019; 18:17)

Re: When You Believe (89,263) (89,264) by Randy from USA Matty thanks for replying but for real if my future mate, who is late since the average age to get married is 27 and I'm 39, asks me to play My Heart Will Go On for our first dance at our wedding, I'm inviting a divorce attorney to the reception. That song is sad to me and is more One Sweet Day than romantic ballad. (Sunday 21 April 2019; 23:51)

When You Believe theory (89,239) by Randy from USA Since Hurricane Caution has blown over and has been downgraded to a cloud with rain floplets, I have a theory about When You Believe. I think that after the success of My Heart Will Go On from Titanic and it's ability to push two albums to 8 times platinum each, they thought that When You Believe with two divas could push the sales of three albums. But what I think is that Clive, Tommy and Jeffrey were a bit hasty in this pipe dream. Firstly, both artists were coming off albums that didn't match up to their previous blockbusters. The Preacher's Wife didn't sell as well as Waiting To Exhale or the Bodyguard. And as much as it pains me to say it, Butterfly didn't match the sales of Daydream or Music Box. So to me these women, while superstars, weren't necessarily gonna draw the same amount of buyers to the CD store as Celine who was coming off a hit album that won album of they year. Secondly, MC and Whitney were both in a vocal decline. The song, while lyrically amazing, doesn't soar as it would have had it been recorded in 95 or 96. And Whitney was a master of runs so she started running all over the place and lowering the keys to her songs when her voice started to fray. When MC's voice changed, she just looked like a deer in headlights on stage. Needless to say it wasn't a good time. So when the song came out and made it to number 15, it didn't help either album. Sure #1s sold about 4 million but it was on the strength of the actual compilation itself. My Love is Your Love went on to sell 4 or 5 million but it was on the strength of subsequent singles such as Heartbreak Hotel, the title track, and It's Not Right But It's OK, which won Houston a Grammy. Basically, I hate to say it but When You Believe was a relative flop. And it shouldn't have been a surprise. And it slowed the momentum of both MLIYL and #1s. Columbia should have led with I Still Believe or the Bryan McKnight diet. And Houston should have led with It's Not Right But It's OK. Starting with When You Believe caused MLIYL to debut at #13 and #1s to debut at #4, both albums coming in lower that week than stars with lesser careers and longevity: Alainis Morisette and Jewel. Thoughts? (Saturday 20 April 2019; 17:51)

Mariah performance (89,217) by Randy from USA Wait, are artists doing a tribute to her as well? Who? (Wednesday 17 April 2019; 18:13)

BBMA (89,112) by Randy from USA Doesn't she already have this or a similar award from them? (Thursday 11 April 2019; 17:23)

Through The Rain, Hero, or Can't Take That Away (89,054) by Randy from USA Ok B, Special K and whoever else. Which of the inspirational songs are best. They all have the same message. Through The Rain in my opinion has the strongest vocal, video and lyric. This actually is a run-away win that you can't debate and yet during the Genius interview, she dogged Through The Rain and lifted up the other two. Because Through The Rain peaked at #81. (Monday 8 April 2019; 00:00)

One thing Mariah does that pisses me off (89,039) by Randy from USA Diehards go here with me for a moment. I hate that when MC doesn't have a commercial success she downplays the genius of her work. For example, with Glitter. If you remember the Charmbracelet interviews, she said "Oh it was a soundtrack, a concept record and it came out in September 11th." My whole thing is Glitter is a strong record, lyrically and vocally. It wasn't until you guys started Justice For Glitter that she even went back to it. She threw it away because the mainstream threw it away. So here's what brings me to this post. She did it again with the Genius interview, which I just saw. She talked badly about Through The Rain, stating that the album Charmbracelet didn't do well because the record company wanted to go with a woe is me moment in selecting that song. Through The Rain is one of her best records lyrically and vocally and the video is perfection. So because something isn't successful it's somehow less than? Some of her number ones aren't that great to me. And I've stated on here recently that you all hate Bye Bye because of it being selected as a single but not based on whether or not it is a good song. Mariah has agreed with you all in interviews. My point, how can you hate on your own creations when your asked about commercial disappointment? No one is ever going to have as much success as you had so there were bound to be some valleys. Love the songs and realize there is no magic formula for a number one or else every artist would have them all the time. And music would be dull. (Sunday 7 April 2019; 07:16)

Re: Bye Bye (88,970) (88,977) by Randy from USA Thank you for this post. I love the song. (Wednesday 3 April 2019; 16:36)

Bye Bye (88,949) by Randy from USA Ya'll gonna stop hating on Bye Bye. I really like the track, have ya'll listened to the instrumental? Stargate did a really good job. To me it's a hood One Sweet Day. There are two things that make me love the song. The whistle plus the ad-libs that follow it at the end of the song. I scream it to the top of my lungs every time I hear it. The other reason I love it is because it quite personal and about singular experiences she's had. I know I know she's done it with Petals and Sunflowers for Alfred Roy, but so many times she refuses to give specifics about her inspirations because she wants the song to be universal. The only reason y'all hate the song is because it only went to number 19 and it was released instead of Migrate and ya'll feel it stopped the momentum of E=MC2. That's not a reason to call a song a bad song. No one knows what songs will hit or not. But don't call Bye Bye a terrible song. (Tuesday 2 April 2019; 01:02)

Re: Daydream (88,900) (88,910) by Randy from USA Tyler, the reason we love Daydream as a vocal album is because during that time, she was able to replicate album vocals live without assistance from a wall of background singers (at that time she had them on stage to back her up not to swallow her imperfections) and without a background track. (Saturday 30 March 2019; 09:02)

Final verdict (88,871) by Randy from USA When you look at MC fans in their 30s, they rank MIAMTEC and Caution near the bottom. It's so interesting to see how we all think so differently. I can't believe someone said Daydream was the beginning of the end of the voice when to me that's when she sounded best. It was Butterfly where her voice started to fray in my opinion. I also can't believe how far down most of you put the debut album. Well, I like Bye Bye and y'all cringe when I say that. B, Mariah is the sole producer on Vanishing and on an interlude or two throughout her catalogue. (Thursday 28 March 2019; 22:20)

Re: MIAMTEC and Caution (88,847) (88,861) by Randy from USA My feeling is because both albums were recorded at the same time and released around the same time it might have been someone's dream to put it on there. I have no proof, but it sounds a lot like the songs on the second half of Waiting To Exhale. That's all. Again, I have no proof but Whitney said there were people that wanted certain artist to be on the soundtrack and she said no. Circumstantial evidence. (Thursday 28 March 2019; 17:20)

Re: MIAMTEC and Caution (88,833) (88,836) by Randy from USA Special K off with your head. Not Daydream at the bottom. I still love you too but that's close to blasphemy. Underneath The Stars? Genius. Always Be My Baby? Unforgettable bass line. Melt Away? Shoulda been on Waiting To Exhale. Looking In? Putting dotted lines on your wrist. No cutting. Yet. I agree Butterfly is the greatest of all time. But Butterfly is Daydream on steroids which means Daydream is damn near Butterfly. (Wednesday 27 March 2019; 22:20)

MIAMTEC and Caution (88,811) by Randy from USA I just can't do this with you all. If you all think that these two albums are among her top three please post that fact and your age. There is no way I believe a MC fan above 25 years old would believe that. So challenge me. I am 39 and think they are the worst MC albums by far. Here's my ranking and I really didn't mean to start a list war, because I know veterans and die hards on this board hate them, but Caution in the top 3 makes me want to vomit up my Thanksging dinner from November. Here goes the best MC albums of all time: 1. Butterfly (1997) 2. Daydream (1995) 3. Music Box (1993) 4. Mariah Carey (1990) 5. Rainbow (1999) 6. Merry Christmas 7. The Emancipation of Mimi (2005) 8. Charmbracelet (2003) 9. Glitter (2001) 10. Emotions (1991) 11. Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009) 12. E=MC2 (2008) 13. #1s (1998) 14. MTV Unplugged (1992) 15. Merry Christmas II You (2010) 16. Caution (2018) 17. MIAMTEC (2014) (Tuesday 26 March 2019; 23:45)

Marissa, Lainsky, Jaker and PW (88,772) by Randy from USA Because I have a little time let me address a few things I agree and disagree with. 1. I think MC is usually ahead of time with her choices so this eclectic/nostalgia R&B music she's making will have it's due soon. Think about Glitter. No one was interested and then when Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Madonna started making throwbacks to the 80s it was hot. A better example is The One which was ignored but it's the same song as WBT but that guitar/mid tempo R&B ballad wasn't hot in 2001 but after Usher's U Remind Me and a few others did it then MC got her due. 2. Remember Cher's Believe or Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It? MC is just as much an icon. When she has something the public wants, she can be commercially viable despite her age. 3. A few of you have mentioned no one sells physical copies except Adele but I've made the argument several times that MC can out-Adele Adele. The lyrics to My All are ten times better than the lyrics to Someone Like You. Same slow heartbreak. MC for whatever reason doesn't want to highlight heartbreaking ballads/records which are universal across genres, formats and age groups. MC could write and record one in two hours but she apparently isn't interested which is head scratching to me. 4. I don't believe Damizza's account of what happened because he has an axe to grind. Now I will say that you are right PW that lambs attacked viciously in the past things that we've come to find out to be true later. When I said in 2006 she lip synced parts of the Grammy performance everyone, including the webmaster (I love you though Eric) got on me. Now the very same people have the attitude of she lip syncs get over it. Damizza however seems like a disgruntled ex because his producing career never took off and honestly to me Crybaby is a boring track. She threw a dog a bone in 99. 4. Finally Lainsky it's cool to see someone agree with me that Butterfly isn't just the best album of MC's career. It is the best album of all time and it's not really up for debate at this point. (Sunday 24 March 2019; 21:29)

Re: Okay, please nobody get mad (88,746) (88,755) by Randy from USA Bill even I would say that's too mean. Even though I laughed out loud and partially agree. (Friday 22 March 2019; 21:11)

Re: Why (88,719) (88,721) by Randy from USA Let me explain why. When you have set the bar so high and have shown people who have financially supported you what you are capable of, they are going to have expectations. When you are lazy and complacent at your job after awhile Gee, wouldn't they give you a bad evaluation, write you up or fire you? What happens to a recording artist? Or a singer that doesn't sing, lip syncs? They get lower sales and maybe bad press. But they still get residuals from when they were great right? And because when they were great they saved millions of dollars so they actually could live off of their money, right? But what about you Gee? Do you still get a check from the great work you did 20 years ago? So this is when you say, "Well, fire Mariah." The thing is, I still believe in this woman. She constantly says she cares what the fans think. I even think she spies on us. We ask for no more callabos. We get MOAIA. We ask for no more lip syncing and she starts struggling through performances. We say fire Stella, she does. So when we ask for her to mature from eternally 12 to, I don't know, Adele's age, because she'll never accept 50, I can't help but believe she will. Finally, if there's nothing else that will convince you that Andrew, Edward, myself, and a few others are still fans. We are here. I could be doing anything else. Grading papers. Finding a man. Finding Special K because she still thinks I'm cute. P.S. When diehards, mainly me, have counted her out before, she's shocked the hell out of us. I said her voice was done after the 98 embarrassments and 99-00 lipsyncing. She was perfection and live at A Home For The Holidays in 2001. I said she will never sell again after Glitter and Charmbracelet. And she came back with TEOM. I said her voice is shot and it's all smoke, mirrors and studio tricks after MOAIA and she gave me that impromptu for the fans at Jimmy Fallon in 2012. I said her music is stale and she only sticks to pop/r&b and then she gave me Meteorite on MIAMTEC. So excuse me if I stick around for MC to prove me wrong again or shock the hell out of me. (Wednesday 20 March 2019; 23:15)

Re: Caution: we're getting on each other's nerves (88,673) (88,680) by Randy from USA Whoa B. You must really ignore my posts. I never said she hasn't hit greatness since 1995/1996. My favorite song by her is Right To Dream. That was 22 years after Daydream. And that impromptu for the fans at Jimmy Fallon in 2012 was pretty great in my opinion. That letter B suits you. As a description I mean. I kid. I kid. (Tuesday 19 March 2019; 00:04)

Caution: we're getting on each other's nerves (88,665) by Randy from USA So it boils down to two types of folks on this board. One group that celebrates every little thing that happens with Caution: B, Nikki etc. You guys celebrate the fact that Caution was released to rave reviews and that A No No reached #157 on the Hot Bubbling Under Tracks played on an R&B station in Waterford, Idaho on cloudy days in February. You guys don't mind that a microphone is just a prop in her live shows. Then there's the group I'm in who thinks MC can do so much better even with the voice where it is. She's an amazing songwriter who could mature up her image and strip down her production and actually make music becoming of a legend, but she refuses because that's not the image she wants out there. At this point we have to agree to disagree. We all love MC but all choose different paths for her to find success. But what I will say is that the ditzy, eternally 12, air quotes, festive, lighting obsessed personality can't last into her 50s. Hell, Mean Girls was released 15 years ago and it was a movie about Teenage Girls. Is MC gonna emulate Regina George into her 50s? (Monday 18 March 2019; 03:04)

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