entertainmentdissected

 Right from the start in 1990, New York-born Mariah Carey shattered chart records. Her first five singles topped the Billboard Hot 100, a feat unmatched since. She would go on to land an additional 13 U.S. No. 1 hits over the next 17 years, and rack up worldwide album sales totaling nearly 150 million units.

Some mega-fans of the big-voiced diva cling to such statistics and will point them out to anybody who will listen. The reason for that, in part, stems from Mariah’s own love of success- she’s talked about how important the charts are to her and her “lambs” (which she affectionately calls fans), and let’s be honest, it’s huge commercial success that has dictated her musicmaking. And there’s nothing wrong in that- she’s never claimed or aspired to be a system-shaking recording artist. She wants to make her listeners happy, convey the eternally-in-the-eighth grade sentiments all of us can relate to at one time or another. And, for the most part, she’s done just that.

Arriving on the scene more or less as a Whitney Houston clone (though a difference being that she co-wrote her material), the multi-octave-range songstress was the ultimate girl next door, a quasi-modern-day Snow White, waiting for her prince to come sweep her off her feet. She’s always been a girlie-girl at heart, feeling no shame in her love for Hello Kitty, and titling her albums Music Box, Daydream, Butterfly, Rainbow, Glitter and Charmbracelet. She muses about lost love, how she can’t live without “you,” or how warm and tingly she feels having a man by her side. The story has remained the same through the present time, though once her fairytale marriage to Tommy Mottola ended in 1997, she added some hip-hop flavor to the party. In fact, after utilizing Ol’ Dirty Bastard on a remix of her 1995 smash “Fantasy,” every Carey album since has featured guest rappers on board to celebrate her many emancipations and apparel-shedding.

Critics on the whole haven’t been impressed with Carey through the years- too much schmaltz, lightweight fare has not helped in that department, nor has her inability to craft an album that finds a fresh, distinct personality to separate it from most of her other albums (sonically or thematically). However, there’s no denying that, mega-corny as it is, a signature tune like ”Hero” (which took its cue from “The Greatest Love of All”) has served as inspiration to many, and, for better or worse, her vocal stylings have inspired many female singers to come in her wake; witness many an American Idol contestant warbling “Vision of Love” or another of her vocal tour-de-forces.

So why would Mariah- someone whose middle-of-the-road, non-daring work I’ve regularly commented on for years- feature on my list of favorite females? The reason is rather simple- she had a nice streak of enjoyable, harmless and tolerable singles (and, every now and then, album tracks) from 1990-1998- for the kind of music she produced, she was consistent and reliable. Even when her trio of albums from 1999-2002 (Rainbow, Glitter, Charmbracelet) left me ice cold-, sans a real memorable tune in the lot- I held out hope that she would win me over again? And, thankfully, she did just that.

With 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey constructed one of her finest albums to date. She did not shift gears in her songbook, nor did she make any radical sonic changes. But, the album had a smooth, cohesive feel to it, and she just did it better than she had in years. Megahit “We Belong Together” was nothing fresh, but it was Mariah doing what she does best. Emancipationhad several old-school-sounding tracks (giving them a more “musical” feel than a lot of her work), and even had Carey surrendering co-production control to The Neptunes on “Say Somethin’,” which may be the sexiest track in her catalog. And, “Fly Like a Bird” soars to heights that Hallmark-like tracks “Hero,” “Butterfly,” “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)” and “Through the Rain” never did.

Last year’s E=MC2 stuck to formula, though with less sparkling results than what Emancipationoffered. No matter, though; at this stage in the nearly two-decade game, Carey’s not about to take drastic steps to overhaul- and mature- her work. Critics be damned, she’ll likely end up having more No. 1 hits than anybody in the rock era (only The Beatles currently have more). And, she’ll have accomplished that without ever being an artistic visionary or much of an adult.

And that’s why some of us love Mariah. Aside from the pleasant-enough music (in the event some find her regular music underwhelming, her joyously seasonal - and restrained-”All I Want For Christmas is You” annually reminds us of her talent), she’s comfortable in her skin and does not take herself all that seriously. Plus, she’s a kooky diva,  but not enough so to be labeled a loon (even after a much-publicized “breakdown” in 2001). Wears a towel while bathing? Check. Wheels out an ice cream cart and does a mini-striptease on MTV? She’s got it covered. Wears high heels on a treadmill? Too delicious.

Carry on, Mariah.

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