Album Review: Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel by Mariah Carey

I was window shopping with Belinda and Siaw Wee (I know, I feel so poor when I window shop, it's an ego thing). Then I stumbled upon the album aka the picture you see above. With a swipe of my card, RM36.90 gone and a heavily reduced cognitive dissonance (marketing term meaning regret after purchase), I headed out the store and gave an album review of it. I decided to review it in two ways before writing this: 

1. While driving
2. In front of the computer. 

I personally love Mariah Carey albums because they are obviously good and I never feel guilty when buying them. Ever since Emancipation of Mimi, I am sold that everytime Mariah releases an album, I will buy because she is that good, lol. Other than Mairah, I will buy Script and Lady Gaga. It seems that for these three artists, money is not an issue. 

The following is the list of tracks that I got, if you can see from the list below, I got the European version. Most of the songs were written by Mariah herself. 

1. "Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue)" (additional producer(s): James "Big Jim" Wright) — 4:00
2. "Obsessed" — 4:05
3. "H.A.T.E.U." — 4:28
4. "Candy Bling" (additional writer(s): Ahmad A. Lewis, Stefan Gordy, John Klemmer) (additional producer(s): Los Da Mystro) — 4:03
5. "Ribbon" — 4:21
6. "Inseparable" (additional writers(s): Robert Hyman, Cyndi Lauper) — 3:34
7. "Standing O" — 4:00
8. "It's a Wrap" (additional writers(s): Barry White) (additional producer(s): Heatmyzer, James Wright) — 3:59
9. "Up Out My Face" — 3:41
10. "Up Out My Face (The Reprise)" — 0:51
11. "More Than Just Friends" (additional writer(s): Sean Combs, Chris Wallace, Rashad Smith, Mark DeBarge, Etterlene Jordan) — 3:37
12. "The Impossible" (additional writer(s): Donald DeGrate, Albert Brown) — 4:01
13. "The Impossible (The Reprise)" — 2:26
14. "Angel (The Prelude)" (additional producer(s): James Wright) — 1:04
15. "Angels Cry" (additional writer(s): Crystal Johnson) (additional producer(s): James Wright) — 4:02
16. "Languishing (The Interlude)" (additional writer(s) & producer(s): James Wright) — 2:34
17. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (written by Mick Jones) (additional producer(s): James Wright, Randy Jackson) — 3:27

European download, additional songs^[48]

18. "Obsessed (Cahill Radio Mix)" — 3:20
19. "Obsessed (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)" — 3:12
20. "Obsessed (Jump Smokers Radio Edit)" — 3:19
21. "Obsessed (Friscia and Lamboy Radio Mix)" — 4:11

Notable Songs: Obsessed, I Want to Know What Love is, Angels Cry, Standing O, Ribbon, Candy Bling and H.A.T.E.U.

The Good: I had fun listening to the album, for me, I kinda feel like I am watching movie when I am listening to this album, every song she had in the album tells a story where a music video will be imagined in my mind and giving me a visual interpretation of the song. I can honestly tell you that I can make a nice little musical chick flick from the songs in here. The playlist was organized quite nicely and it really does generate some kind of good flow.

Obsessed although less favorably reviewed by critics and fans alike, for me, it was one hell of the great song, other than a little agenda behind me, I find this song standing out the most in the album because of its catchy tune.

Mariah Carey's cover of the Foreigner's I Want to Know What Love is was definitely the shining star of this album, expect this song to hit number one if Obsessed fails. I Want to Know What Love is somehow feels a little like a contestant in American Idol singing it but she definitely sings this sing better, a mash of Mariah Carey's voice and a nice blob of good old Gospel makes this song truly angelic.

H.A.T.E.U. which is the third single from the album is another of Mariah's love song somehow stands out because it is the only song that samples Mariah's vocals in the electronic lower vocal register, as if you are singing in front of a fan with full speed.

Candy Bling is nice for me because it's a very sweet song as the title promises.

Ribbon starts with a little Poker Face-esque voice which I truly enjoyed and it was a really nice romantic song and it is one of my personal favorites in this album, I would love for this song to be released as a single. It talks about a girl having a crush and having the guy's ribbon on her mind, I don't get it but I hope you do.

Angels Cry is truly one sad song, it was extremely lovely and talks about the fall of the golden couple and the angels or fans crying. I say that is song is my favorite in the whole album, it is kind of like the anti We Belong Together and it is a nice song, I hope it becomes a single because it is one fantastic song, plus the vocals are like super freaking high here at the end. A ballad that really touches the soul.

Standing O is an empowering song about a person really loving that someone but got played by that someone and  give the someone a standing ovation for playing that person, it is kind of like I am strong even though you played me and I congratulate you, you bastard.

The Bad: If you first listen to the album, you would probably feel that 'Obsessed' is probably the most memorable song, other than it is on the charts right now, it is probably the only song that she comes out like a large pop and the only energetic song in the whole album followed by other slow to mid tempo songs. The flow of love songs sometimes sounds so similar that you sometimes just drifts into the sounds of Mariah Carey singing, making it not really memorable and the four extra obsessed songs are not as good as the original nor the one with Gucci Mane in it. The Obsessed Cahill Remix sounds something like what Hitz.fm would play, so not good. Jump Smokers Radio Edit reminds me of a wrestler's entrance at first follow by some serious base thumping, I probably call it the Ah Beng version of Obsessed. The Seamus Haji and Paul Emmanuel remix is not memorable for me while Friscia and Lamboy remix is Obsessed in slow motion with a nice clubby Candice Michelle theme song like feel. Obviously listening to four Obsessed songs at a time, makes it kind of redundant, repetitive, tiring and finally annoying.

Overall: For me, comparing to Emancipation of Mimi, its a little too mediocre than that but it is much better than E=MC2 because I can barely remember listening to that album other than Touch My Body, I'll Be Loving You Long Time and I Stay in Love. But all in all, I still recommend you guys buying it, if you haven't listen to Mariah Carey, I recommend you listen to this, because it kind of wraps what Mariah Carey is all about, smooth, sensual, mature ballads and RnB.

Rating: Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel gets 4.5 halos out of 5. I want to give it a five but it is a little too mediocre even for Mariah Carey's stature (Nick Cannon to blame?). However, it is still a classic album and I definitely recommend everyone to get it. Also, I will post up pictures on the album soon, my camera is somehow locked so I cannot take any pictures which sucks.