Messageboard

About Will from England: You can follow me on twitter: @MCsavedmylife

New era? (103,249) by Will from England I think it's to be expected that she slows down now. She's done literally everything there is to accomplish in music that she wants to do and has broken and made so many musical history records; she's done all the dog and pony shows for each album; she's performed in nearly every country; she's had to her rise, fall and return to grace. Her arc is complete, and there is nothing more for her to do expect enjoy the life she has built for her family. Her children are nearly teenagers, and for now, she is enjoying being a mom to them, occasionally recording and writing stuff, but without the pressures for commitment to a record label to deliver a full album and do a promotional tour. Look at the other legacy acts around, there isn't anyone in her category making music or having hits (with the odd exception here or there like Kylie), it's all the younger upcoming artists and I'd like to think that she has made peace with that. Her final large promotional push she had to do, that I feel she wanted to achieve and was easily attainable at that point, was to get AIWFCIY to number 1, and that's done, and that song will now continue to increase in weeks at number 1 every year, before finally becoming the longest running number 1 song ever on the chart ad infinitum. However, that's not to say she will never release another musical project, I don't think that she can ever let that happen considering her views on Caution, but something to really sum up over 30 years in a cut-throat business and something she can be proud of being the final major project, and finish it with her sweet 16th album. (Saturday 26 August 2023; 23:50) this is a reply to message 103,247

New era? (103,247) by Robert-Anthony from United States Is this the new era that no one expected? An era where we get new items dropped in MC's store quarterly and occasional video posts on Twitter. I believe this is the new norm. Therefore, I am disappointed with the release of the new Honey 2 LP. The gold colored vinyl is not worth buying. I don't purchase color vinyl because it does not produce brillant stereophonic sound like black vinyl. This is where we are from the start in 1990 to 2023. It is really disappointing that MC hasn't addressed anything. Did Elton John or Janet Jackson experience a career slow down like this without some type of announcement? I would like to know. (Saturday 26 August 2023; 03:52)

Last award (103,204) by Will from England What was the last music related award that Mariah received, that was not a lifetime achievement-esque related? (Thursday 17 August 2023; 22:05)

Perfection (103,175) by Will from England Someone did an AI version of Mariah doing a snippet of All Cried Out. (Sunday 13 August 2023; 01:04) this is a reply to message 103,173

Perfection (103,173) by Terna from Nigeria Yeah "All cried out" is a remake by "Lisa Lisa and cult Jam". You can imagine my shock stumbling upon it while on Spotify. Haha. However, I do think Allure did the song better. (Saturday 12 August 2023; 17:11)

I owe Mariah's earpiece an apology (102,142) by Will from England So I think they used those big box monitor speakers to play back the music that they still put out on stage, but not sure if they still use them or not. Even Micheal Jackson hated using the earpieces and fiddled with them as they felt like a fist in your ear, as he said during that This Is It documentary. I think even Mariah mentioned that she didn't like using them and only really started using them during TAOM tour, I've never seen her use them before then. I don't think that they're very comfortable pieces of equipment, as they are moulded to fit into your ear exactly, so that they're ultra noise cancelling so the artist can hear a click track/whatever part of the track you want to hear vs your own voice (hence why she says "turn me up a bit"/backstage comms/whatever. Back then in the 60s/70s, was it a thing to do huge stadium tours as is so common now? Also, the nature of people seeing shows has changed, as my dad regularly tells me, you would go to a show and you'd be quiet so you could hear the performance, not screaming all throughout as is most common now - that's why some artists get so thrown off by the Japanese/Asian fans during shows as they're most silent as a mark of respect. (Friday 27 January 2023; 20:21) this is a reply to message 102,128

I owe Mariah's earpiece an apology (102,128) by Randy from USA So the Dubai concert Beyonce did has taken over my TikTok. I noticed one thing. She was singing a note and started fiddling with her ear monitor. I thought that was something only MC did when she knew she sounded bad to fool the audience into thinking she couldn't hear herself and there were technical issues. I will say Beyoncé sounded fine when she was messing with it so maybe she couldn't hear herself. I notice Mariah does it every time she's on television but at any rate, does anyone have any knowledge on this topic? Why do people have to adjust the volume on them? Isn't this what a sound check is for? Why are they necessary at all? What did singers do in the 60s and 70s when they didn't have the option to have them? (Wednesday 25 January 2023; 17:55)

Caution (102,101) by Will from England I think there comes a point, in every artists life, where the well of inspiration runs a little dry. How many songs can you write about love? How many new ways is there to describe an emotion? This links to another post, but I can see why Mariah brings in other lyricists because they can offer a fresh prespective on a topic - she's probably written thousands of songs at this point, not all of them great, but still, there's only so many ways to write. She has a style of writing a song that is emotional, and comes from a certain place that, once you're past it, you can't access again. I doubt she can write another song as good as The Roof/Lullaby, nor one as heart wrenching as LTT/WBT/CTTA. Why? Because she's already done that many times over. How many times have lambs complained about her rehashing WBT in different formats, be it musical or lyrical? She has written and released every possible song that she can relate to and draw from over 30 years of recording sessions. She has written about her life, her highs and lows, her deepest desires and wants, thrown in with some less personal ones. MIAM was her last deeply personal record as it was her divorce album, so she had plenty to talk about emotionally and draw from. Caution, whilst I love it as an album, musically was fresh from her because she wanted to work with different people and have a new sound which worked well in her favour, but it's not a lyrical best, save from some quick lines here and there - but it works because she isn't chasing the sound that gave her her hits anymore. If she works with all the right people, and works with the people she's always wanted to work with (don't wait for the right song to come along, just meet up in the studio and jam it out and see what happens - we wouldn't have WBT, ABMB etc. if she hadn't done that), gets some fresh perspective on writing, I think she can produce another stellar album. The vocals, well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. (Saturday 21 January 2023; 14:03) this is a reply to message 102,096

Caution (102,096) by Edward from USA I was listening to Caution yesterday and I couldn't believe it's been almost five years since its release. One would think Mariah recorded a lot during the pandemic, so there should be enough material to at least release a solid EP. I do miss "The Voice". Sometimes I'm not sure if Marian wants to sing anymore. Most of her one-song projects in the past ten years have been lackluster, half-cooked. Her songs used to have legs of their own, but for a while now those legs are based on a hype that renders them crippled when you get to listen to them. Most cuts that didn't make it into her albums in the 90's are simply great. I'm not talking about her voice, but the artistry in her music. Butterfly was sung in her whisper register, but oh boy, those lyrics, the sentiment, the music, it didn't need an introduction. It's as if she were done with music but she's thrown into the spot light for a whole month every year and she has to act on it for financial reasons. I hopefully we get some quality music this year. Something different. (Thursday 19 January 2023; 13:26)

What's going on (101,841) by Will from England It is quite shocking how bad her voice has become over the last few weeks. Whatever has happened to it is a very recent thing, because even though the quarantine shows/performances were pre-recorded, they actually were quite decent and had strength, fluidity, range etc. unless they were edited to the hilt. Everyone was praising them to some extent. These recent performances, I just can't put my finger on what she's done to have such a drastic change, even her stage presence is way off. It's over the top, even for a Mariah Carey performance. Everything that she knew how to do (breath control, timing, key selection, phrasing) is all off and it's showing. Is it possible that she's had surgery on them already and it's not healed fully? The voice we have currently is not even a distant relative to the one that recorded Caution, and she considered the vocals on that to not be at their best, I doubt she would even be able to sing any song on that album, let alone her classic hits. (Thursday 15 December 2022; 18:54) this is a reply to message 101,838

What's going on (101,838) by whisperingmisunderstandings from USA I'm a long time lurker as well, thought I'd share my two sense about what's going on with her vocally. A lot of fans have relied on the "vocal rest" narrative, the idea that if Mariah would just take a year off, like she did during her pregnancy, or like she did between the Charmbracelet tour/TEOM, her voice would recover. Her voice did sound pretty strained by early 2020, so the pandemic seemed like a perfect opportunity for her to take a break. Cut to 2022, her live performances this year have proven that vocal rest alone won't cut it. In fact, I think part of what we're dealing with is vocal underuse. The voice is a muscle, and any athlete knows that there's a delicate balance between overuse and underuse. Imagine an olympic runner taking 2 years off, and then one day getting up and trying to run a marathon. They would not be anywhere near their peak performance, as their body would be woefully out of shape. Mariah went from singing around the house/in the studio whenever she felt like it (claiming to have regained her voice fully) to doing a full set list in an arena, and we can all see she wasn't prepared. So yes, Mariah's gonna need to ease back into live performing, like she did in 2014, starting off TECS tour with some terrible shows (probably her worst up to that point), but her voice gradually gaining strength and ending that year with some amazing Beacon shows. I'm hoping that her voice/confidence will improve with the next NYC show/any further shows next year. That being said, there's obviously waaaaay more going on here, and others have pretty much hit the nail on the head (not warming up, not putting her vocal health first). Alcohol is clearly a big issue as well, and I can't help but wonder if the botched 2014 AIWFCIY moment actually scared her into sobriety (temporarily), and maybe that's why those Beacon shows were so strong. I hope she wouldn't have to experience another public shaming like that but she's made it pretty clear that she has no intention of changing her lifestyle or giving up her vices so idk (hopefully the CBS special doesn't go viral for the wrong reasons). As far a playback, I'm not a fan but didn't really mind it used sparingly, on climaxes for super hard to hit notes. But this tour is just ridiculous. Her saving grace in recent tours were the little moments, doing snippets of "Slipping Away", etc. but now she's lipping most of those moments as well, i.e. "Miss You Most". Same with "Away in a Manger", it just felt so unnecessary and like she's depriving the show of a needed organic moment. I genuinely hope she can get it together and improve. I also understand the fans that just want to enjoy her current output, not focus on negativity, etc. But unfortunately there's not a lot of good to focus on, and I fear it won't get any better/will get worse unless MC wakes up and gets focused on what's best for her voice. But that's just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. (Thursday 15 December 2022; 06:46)

Concert in Saudi Arabia (101,522) by Will from England I've noticed when Mariah has any form of decent voice back, she instantly goes at it 120% to use every facet of it and damage it even further. With TEOM, she belted like there was no tomorrow, resulting in the more restrained vocals on E=MC2 and Memoirs. Then post pregnancy when she had brilliant fluidity, tone and range, she again went to the max with her voice and undid all the rest (and lack of alcohol) that had helped her. And now, when she says her voice is back to a decent level, she uses every part of it in recording sessions (WBT Valentine Mix and The Roof with Brandy, plus all the other singing projects she has on the go) which ends up becoming lack luster vocal moments live on stage. I love Mariah, but she has missed several great opportunities to learn how to extend those moments where her voice was in great shape and preserve it. And that bloody corset isn't helping matters, she needs to find new ways to dress so that she doesn't have to worry about her weight on stage and maintaining the 8 figure. (Monday 24 October 2022; 00:03) this is a reply to message 101,518

Concert in Saudi Arabia (101,518) by Randy from USA Because I'm an MC fan a lot of things come across my social media. She is struggling through this performance. She needs to give Vision of Love a rest. (Sunday 23 October 2022; 14:05)

Re: Just a thought, let's be kind (101,409) (101,415) by Will from England I mean, it's either cover it up, or have a moment that Whitney had during her ill-advised tour that should never have happened, where she tried to sing live and it just wasn't good with audience walk out - you can bet that Mariah was aware of that is using every trick she knows to mask it, and quite rightly so. Caution was a good step in the right direction where she doesn't use over the top runs that she can't replicate live, isn't using belts etc. and focuses on the strengths her current voice has such as her lower register and straight forward middle of the road vocals, and produced stellar results. When she slows down, has time to breath and doesn't have to do rapid vocal runs, her voice is good in a different way to what it was. (Thursday 6 October 2022; 20:15)

Re: Rock album (101,247) (101,251) by Will from England Not exactly news, she talked about it in her book and I think some of the songs are on YouTube? I'm probably wrong on the last one. It's called Someone's Ugly Daughter. (Sunday 18 September 2022; 00:13)

Re: Did Mariah actually write The Roof (100,229) (100,230) by Will from England Think you're thinking way to much into it. Look at Emotions, they list the album as "Elsa Walking Music Vol.1" - wouldn't exactly take what's written as gospel. And not all the videos have writing credits on at all. Not a big deal. (Friday 29 April 2022; 22:07)

Re: "Big big energy baby when I close my eyes" (100,000) (100,015) by Will from England Yay for 100,000 messages! Webmaster, do you know who has messaged the most on this site? (Monday 28 March 2022; 01:18)

Re: So much for my dream (100,010) (100,014) by Will from England Pretty sure it does, Jay-Z's first was his appearance was on HB. (Monday 28 March 2022; 01:16)

Re: New WBT (99,713) (99,724) by Will from England Oh yeah, that's from last year, she released it as a single along with an extended version. (Friday 18 February 2022; 21:36)

Re: New WBT (99,701) (99,711) by Will from England Are you talking about the new version she did last year? (Wednesday 16 February 2022; 19:13)

Album re-release (99,507) by Will from England I was thinking, what if Mariah re-released her early albums up to Memoirs, but restructure them to have some of the already released songs but also to have some demos and unreleased tracks? It would be a cool way to have her rarities part 2 moment but not have to pick select tracks for just one release. There have been so many songs that she has said didn't make the cut for the final albums, she could do something creative for them. (Sunday 23 January 2022; 12:19)

Re: Caution (99,444) (99,451) by Will from England Because what Mariah loves doesn't become a hit, whilst if she doesn't like it, it becomes a fan favourite and critics like it. (Monday 17 January 2022; 01:04)

Re: Article: Mariah celebrates topping Hot 100 for another week (99,331) (99,344) by Will from England Would she? I thought it had to be consecutive weeks to get that back? (Sunday 2 January 2022; 00:25)

Re: Mariah surprises fans (99,336) (99,343) by Will from England Because that's what she's always done? Taken a song of hers, deconstructed it and re-imagined it for the remix with new vocals, potentially new lyrics and other song samples? Only difference here is that she's using an old song. And why not? Let her have fun, the WBT redo was quite enjoyable and got her to be creative again, something she couldn't really do since the rules regarding what constitutes a remix changed and she was stuck with just keeping the studio vocals and having them over a dance beat, given the odd exception here and there (I'm assuming that's why that re-sung version of HATE U or Beautiful were never released as they wouldn't have helped the original song with the charting). (Sunday 2 January 2022; 00:24)

Re: Sides: right vs. left (99,263) (99,270) by Will from England I think everyone really has a certain way in which they would like to be photographed or filmed, no? Doesn't have to be on a specific side, but you know how you want to look good in a photo. For me personally, I do prefer to be photographed one particular side over the other. Can't explain how or when that started but there it is. I don't see why Mariah gets ragged on for this when most people, if not everyone, has a preference even if you're not conscious of it. And some don't have a preference and that's great too! Just depends on how comfortable you are. (Wednesday 22 December 2021; 21:45)

Re: MC diamond edition (99,016) (99,023) by Will from England Problem is is that in the last two years we have had two Christmas albums, one of which was already a double disc feature and that was celebrating the anniversary of the Christmas album - a worthier reason to release it, plus new songs and everything else we've asked for. Another double disc would just be redundant at this point. It's a nice idea, but not a good enough reason to release it. (Wednesday 1 December 2021; 23:24)

Re: Easy on me (98,754) (98,755) by Will from England Thumbs up, because what Adele manages to now which Mariah used to do, is create a personal, emotionally driven song but keeps it open lyrically so other people can flip it onto their own lives - which is part of the enduring appeal of Adele, the gp know that they can go to her for the heart-wrenching lyrics or the sassy kiss-off ones. Mariah used to be perfect at that (Close My Eyes, Outside, Bye Bye being the real last open ended song), and yet her work now is more centred and focused on her life that it makes it difficult to relate to - am I wrong in saying this? And yes, she had a formula in the 90s, dropped it, found a new one with WBT and tried to replicate it many times until Caution, which truly seemed to be more growth from her. Also, I get the feeling that sometimes Mariah overthinks the song and over complicates it with too much going on (In The Mix, Infinity, Save The Day, Runway), whilst Adele's latest offering is straight forward and delivers what it is supposed to, whilst throwing in some vocal gymnastics - following the same formula since she knows that's what works well for her. I would not be surprised that once 30 has been finished with, her next lead single is an uptempo one like RITD. Caution was a step in the right direction for Mariah, and I hope she continues down this route, but learnt that using a lead single as a ballad isn't the right move for her right now. (Sunday 17 October 2021; 00:54)

Re: Twitter Spaces (98,612) (98,614) by Will from England One thing that stood out to me most was her openly talking about the upcoming projects that would be for her legacy. To me, that's the first time she really has openly talked about her legacy, and how she is now actively thinking about what comes next to build upon it and controlling that narrative rather than leaving it until later. It shows that, from my perspective at least, she isn't focused on having a chart hit, but just creating music that she enjoys. (Wednesday 15 September 2021; 21:41)

My ranking of Mariah's albums (97,446) by Will from England 1. Caution 2. Memoirs 3. Butterfly 4. Charmbracelet 5. TEOM 6. Elusive 7. Daydream 8. Rainbow 9. Music Box 10. Mariah Carey 11. Emotions (Monday 22 February 2021; 21:43)

Re: Melissa (97,260) (97,263) by Will from England She probably feels some form of loyalty to Jay Z and trusts him to look after her. She did well with Melissa, I doubt that Jay Z would allow someone less than her to work with Mariah, because they would be representing him as well. I don't think we will get another Stella era, but I hope she can get someone who will steer the ship just as well. Melissa got them back on track, they just need someone to take it further and higher. (Monday 1 February 2021; 00:23)

Re: Emancipation EP's for #MC30 (97,256) (97,261) by Will from England Wasn't "Your Girl" originally supposed to be a feature song with NORE anyway? LA had the feature cut because he felt the album had too many. So the "remix" version actually is the original version that Mariah wanted on the record, we're just used to hearing the released one. Here's the interview. (Sunday 31 January 2021; 18:45)

MORE MESSAGES