Charmbracelet

Before the release of Charmbracelet, Carey experienced a year of critical, commercial and personal struggles, following the poor reception of her debut film Glitter (2001) and its accompanying soundtrack, as well as her subsequent hospitalization. After divorcing her husband, Tommy Mottola, Carey released Butterfly (1997). With her next release, Rainbow (1999), Carey incorporated elements of R&B and hip hop into her music, particularly on the lead single "Heartbreaker". She stopped working with longtime pop producers such as Babyface and Walter Afanasieff, in order to pursue a new sound and audience, and worked with writers Sean Combs and Jermaine Dupri. Controversially, Mottola and executive Benny Medina in 1999 used several songs Carey had written and co-written for Jennifer Lopez. Carey said she had an "emotional and physical breakdown." After a fortnight's hospitalization, Carey flew to Capri, Italy, where she stayed for five months and began writing and producing material for a new studio album about her recent troubles. She was signed by Island Records, and started her own imprint, MonarC Entertainment, for her intended "comeback" release, Charmbracelet. == Development and recording ==

Carey started writing songs for the album in early 2002, before she signed the record deal. traveled to Capri and moved into a recording studio where she could focus on writing and recording without distractions. Most of the album was recorded in Capri, although she traveled to Atlanta, New York and Philadelphia to record some tracks. That year, Carey claimed Charmbracelet to be the "most personal album" she had ever made. and other songwriters and producers 7 Aurelius, Just Blaze, Damizza and Dre & Vidal. The opening track and the first track to be written for the album, and was co-produced by Jam and Lewis. It was released as the lead single from the album. However, due to contractual complications, it was never released and a solo version was featured on the album. Jam and Lewis produced two more songs, "Wedding Song" and "Satisfy"the latter featuring background vocals from Michael Jacksonwhich were not released on the album. Carey decided to work with Just Blaze after she heard the song "Oh Boy", which he produced for Cam'ron. Carey said "The One" was a personal song, which was about being hurt in past relationships and the uncertainty about forming new ones. In April 2002, she met 7 Aurelius and asked him to produce songs for the album. They flew to Nassau, Bahamas and recorded a mixture of mid-tempo and up-tempo tracks and ballads with a live band. 7 Aurelius said that Carey was "an amazing writer" and described the process of recording: We did three or four songs in three or four days. The way we was doing it, I had [a horn section] down there along with me. We had the whole room set up with candles, some nice wine[it was] a very good vibe. It was completely stripped down, like 'Mariah Carey Unplugged'. She stripped herself down to her talent. She was really trusting of me and my vision, and I was trusting of who she was. Carey included a cover of Def Leppard's song "Bringin' On the Heartbreak". During the photo shoot for Charmbracelet at Capri, Carey happened to listen to Def Leppard's greatest hits album Vault (1995), which contains the song, and decided to cover it. In an interview with Billboard, Carey said that the song is "an example of her musical diversity". became ill with cancer and she returned to New York to spend some time with him; he died soon after. In his memory, Carey wrote and produced the song "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy". The song proved to be "very emotional" for Carey, and she sang it only once in the studio. == Composition ==

Charmbracelet is primarily an R&B album, though its genre classification has been the subject of some debate. NME remarked that the album is "nominally R&B, much like Tony Blair is nominally a socialist", suggesting a loose adherence to the genre's conventions. Slant Magazine characterized the project as a continuation of Carey's pop-hip-hop fusion, remarking that the album "reprises the singer's now-signature mix of hip-hop and pop, but throws in a few happy surprises along the way". Songs Carey attempted to make a musical comeback with Charmbracelet, which focused on bringing Carey back to her R&B and soul roots in an attempt to recapture her audience. The songs on the album are a mixture of several genres. Carey's cover of "Bringin' On the Heartbreak", was recorded using live instrumentation, and was the album's third single. Critics considered "Subtle Invitation" to be one of the album's strongest songs because of its "well executed" jazz influence. The song begins with the sounds of people dining, then introduces the strong bassline and drums. Towards the end of the song, Carey belts out the climax. Sarah Rodman from The Boston Herald described it as fascinating and wrote, "it sounds as though Carey is singing in falsetto while still in her chest voice." Critics compared "I Only Wanted" with "My All"'s instrumentation and structure of verse, chorus and guitar solo. According to Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine, Carey makes vague allusions to her ex-husband Tommy Mottola with the line, "Wish I'd stayed beneath my veil". "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy", one of the album's most personal songs, is named after Carey's father; she makes direct reference to him and a moment they shared at his death bed. The song is backed with a simple piano accompaniment, and Carey recounts a visit with her father in his hospital room: "Strange to feel that proud, strong man / Grip tightly to my hand." == Singles ==

Three singles were released from the album. The lead single, "Through the Rain" was released on September 24, 2002. It received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom said it was too similar to her earlier ballads, such as "Hero" and "Outside", while others praised Carey's vocals in the song. It was one of Carey's poorest-selling US singles, reaching number 81 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, it topped the Hot Dance Club Play charts and reached the top twenty of the Adult Contemporary chart. Outside the US, the single topped the Spanish charts and performed moderately elsewhere, peaking within the top ten in Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy and the UK, The music video of "Through the Rain", directed by Dave Meyers, is based on the courtship and eloping of Carey's parents. Scenes of Carey singing in a street when rain starts to fall are juxtaposed with the story of a mixed-race couple who run away from their families, who oppose their relationship. "Boy (I Need You)", which was released as the second single on November 26, 2002, received mixed reviews from critics. the Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand. The music video for "Boy (I Need You)" was directed by Joseph Kahn and was filmed at Shibuya and Los Angeles. Initially, "The One" was scheduled to be released as the second single and the music video was shot for that song. However, halfway through the filming, the single was changed to "Boy (I Need You)". Described as "Speed Racer meets Hello Kitty meets me and Cam'ron" by Carey, the video incorporates elements of Japanese culture and features Carey's alter-ego Bianca. Though it gained mostly positive reviews, it failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached number five on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. It also charted in Austria and the Wallonia region of Belgium. Another cut from the album, "Irresistible (Westside Connection)" charted at number 81 on the US Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B Songs. == Promotion ==

(2003–04)|alt=A blonde woman wearing a white gown sings. Behind her are brightly lit stairs, and twinkling lights are on the ceiling. Following the release of "Through the Rain", Carey embarked on several US and international promotional tours in support of Charmbracelet and its accompanying singles. Promotion for "Through the Rain" began at the 2002 NRJ Awards, where Carey performed wearing a long black skirt and denim blazer. Three days before the album's US release, a one-hour program titled Mariah Carey: Shining Through the Rain, in which Carey was interviewed and sang several songs from Charmbracelet and her back catalog, aired on MTV. During the first month after the album's release, Carey appeared on several television talk shows. She launched her promotional tour on Today, where she performed four songs at Mall of America for a crowd of over 10,000. On December 2, Carey traveled to Brazil for South American promotion of Charmbracelet, appearing on the popular television program Fantástico. She sang "My All", and performed "Through the Rain" and "I Only Wanted" wearing a long pink gown. She also made a surprise appearance on Show da Virada, singing "Through the Rain" and "My All", while wearing a short silver dress. On December 3, 2002, Carey appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she performed "Through the Rain" and "My Saving Grace", and gave a highly publicized interview about her hospitalization. Before her breakdown, Carey had been booked for a private interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, executive producer of The View, following Glitters release. She performed "Through the Rain" alongside a live gospel choir, and wore a long black evening gown. During the performance, images of newspaper headlines reporting Carey's breakdown were projected on a large curtain behind her, with one reading, "When you fall down, you get back up." In mid-February, Carey was the headline performer at the NBA all-star game, which was Michael Jordan's last game. She wore a long, purple, skin-tight Washington Wizards' dress, and performed "Boy (I Need You)", "My Saving Grace" and "Hero", which received a standing ovation and brought Jordan to tears. On March 1, 2003, Carey performed at the Soul Train Music Awards, sporting a retro-curled hairstyle and wearing a burgundy evening gown. She performed "My Saving Grace", and as at the American Music Awards, images of newspaper headlines and inspirational photographs were projected onto a large screen. She performed the album's leading two singles on the British music chart show, Top of the Pops, and a similar set on The Graham Norton Show and Fame Academy. On the latter program, Carey was joined on stage by the show's finalists, who sang the climax on "Through the Rain" alongside her. The tour was her most extensive yet, lasting over eight months and performing 69 shows in venues worldwide. In the United States, the tour was marketed as "An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey", with concerts being held in smaller venues. Carey expressed a desire to give fans more "intimate", Broadway-influenced shows. In the UK, it was Carey's first tour to feature shows outside London; she performed in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester. The Charmbracelet World Tour garnered generally positive reviews, with music critics and audiences praising the quality of Carey's live vocals and the production of the shows. == Critical reception ==

Upon its release, Charmbracelet was released to mixed critical reception. Aggregator website Metacritic, which averages professional reviews into a numerical score, gave Charmbracelet a score of 43 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic rated the album two and the half out of five stars, and criticized its production and the condition of Carey's voice. Billboard editor Michael Paoletta praised Carey's return to her core audience. He said that although Carey might have alienated her hip hop followers from her previous three albums, her older fans from the 1990s would be more receptive to the material and her new image. Rating Charmbracelet two out of five stars, Barry Walters from Rolling Stone wrote that none of the songs were bold, that the lack of hooks made the album weak, and said, "Carey needs bold songs that help her use the power and range for which she is famous. Charmbracelet is like a stream of watercolors that bleed into a puddle of brown." At the 17th Japan Gold Disc Award in 2003, the album was nominated in the category of Rock and Pop Album of the Year (International). == Commercial performance ==

Charmbracelet was initially slated for release in the US on December 10, 2002. However, the date was revised to December 3, 2002. It was released through Island Records and Carey's label MonarC Entertainment. it debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 241,000 units, more than the first-week sales of the critically panned Glitter soundtrack, but fewer than 1999's Rainbow, which sold 323,000 units in its first week. Next week, the album fell to number fourteen, despite selling a further 173,000 units. It stayed on the chart for 22 weeks. Charmbracelet was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million units in the US. , the estimated sales of the album in the US (compiled by Nielsen Soundscan) were 1,166,000 copies which was a slight improvement over the sales of Glitter. In Canada, the album debuted and peaked on the Canadian Albums Chart at number 30. This placement was a decline in contrast to Glitter, which debuted at number four on the chart. It was certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipments of 50,000 copies. On the week dated December 15, 2002, Chamrbracelet entered the Australian Albums Chart at its peak position of number 42. It exited the chart the next week, becoming one of Carey's lowest charting albums in the country. In Japan, Charmbracelet debuted at number four on the Oricon Albums Chart, its second-highest peak worldwide, and sold 63,365 units in its first week. The album spent another week at number four, and sold 71,206 units. It stayed on the charts for a total of 15 weeks and according to Oricon, has sold 240,440 copies. The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) certified Charmbracelet platinum for shipments of 200,000 copies. In the Flemish region of Belgium it charted and peaked at number 48 and reached number 28 in the Walloon region of that country. Charmbracelet entered the French Albums Chart at number 20 in the week dated December 7, 2002, spent 30 weeks on the chart It reached number 50 in Sweden. In Switzerland, the album peaked at number nine on the Swiss Albums Chart and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks; it was certified Gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 52, selling 19,000 copies in its first week. It has sold a total of 122,010 copies as of April 2008. In February 2003, it was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 100,000 copies in the UK. In the Netherlands, the album debuted at number 48, the issue dated December 14, 2002. The following week, it peaked at number 30. It stayed on the charts for 19 weeks, and made two re-entries, one in June 2003 and other in August 2003. Charmbracelet was certified Gold in both Brazil and Hong Kong by Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD) and IFPI Hong Kong respectively. The album has sold over three million copies worldwide. == Re-release ==

While preparing for the Asian leg of the Charmbracelet World Tour, Carey announced that Charmbraclet would be re-released with four additional tracks in Europe and Asia on July 26, 2003 – the first day of the North American leg of the tour. Carey included her duet with Busta Rhymes, "I Know What You Want", which was released as a single from his album, ''It Ain't Safe No More'' (2002), and became Carey's highest-charting song internationally in 2003, reaching top five peaks in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, the US and the UK. In an interview with Carson Daly, Carey said, "The Busta Rhymes duet ... has become so successful and we always said I would put it on my album as well." The re-released version of the album charted for three weeks on the Oricon album chart in Japan, where it peaked at number 96 on the issue dated July 14, 2003. == Track listing ==

UK bonus tracks Notes • "Boy (I Need You)" contains samples of "Oh Boy" by Cam'ron and "Call Me" by Tweet. • "You Had Your Chance" contains a sample of "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" by Leon Haywood. • "Irresistible (Westside Connection)" contains a sample of "You Know How We Do It" by Ice Cube. • "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" is a cover of "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" by Def Leppard. == Personnel ==

Credits for Charmbracelet taken from the album's liner notes. • Mariah Carey – producer, executive producer, vocals, background vocals • Asif Ali – engineer • Florian Ammon – digital editing, audio mixing, vocal engineer • Giulio Antognini – assistant engineer • Bobby Ross Avila – guitar • Rob Bacon – guitar, electric guitar • Karen Elaine Bakunin – viola • Charlie Bisharat – String Quartet, strings • Printz Board – trumpet • Oswald "Wiz" Bowe – assistant engineer • Denyse Buffum – viola • Eve Butler – string quartet, strings • Cam'ron – rap • David Campbell – string arrangements • Darius Campo – string quartet, strings • Shawn Carter – featured artist • Dana Jon Chappelle – engineer, vocal engineer • Susan Chatman – string quartet, strings • Andrew Chavez – assistant engineer • Lionel Cole – piano, synthesizer bass • Larry Corbett – cello • Bryan-Michael Cox – producer • Kenneth Crouch – bass, Fender Rhodes, keyboard • Damizza – producer • Melonie Daniels – background vocals • Vidal Davis – mixing • Mario Diaz de Leon – string quartet, strings • Joel Derouin – string quartet, strings • Vincent Dilorenzo – assistant engineer • DJ Vice – programming • Karen Dreyfus – viola • Jermaine Dupri – mixing, producer • Elizabeth Dyson – cello • Brian Frye – engineer • Matt Funes – viola • Kevin G. – engineer • Armen Garabedian – string quartet, strings • Paul Gregory – assistant engineer, engineer • Kevin Guarnieri – digital editing, engineer • Matt Gunes – viola • Mick Guzauski – mixing • Reggie Hamilton – bass • Dawn Hannay – viola • Andre Harris – mixing • David Ryan Harris – guitar • Steve Hodge – engineer, mixing • John Horesco IV – assistant • Randy Jackson – bass, bass guitar, percussion, producer • Jimmy Jam – guitar, instrumentation, producer • Eric Johnson – acoustic guitar • Just Blaze – instrumentation, producer • Suzie Katayama – cello, string contractor • Gimel "Young Guru" Katon – mixing • Steve Kempster – string mixing, track engineer • Peter Kent – string quartet, strings • Kevin G. – engineer • Ann Kim – violin • Lisa Kim – violin • Myung Hi Kim – violin • Melissa Kleinbart – violin • Soohyun Kwon – violin • Trevor Lawrence – drum programming • Jeanne LeBlanc – cello • John Lemkuhi – percussion, Sound design • Ken Lewis – mixing • Terry Lewis – guitar, instrumentation, producer • Liza Lim – violin • Trey Lorenz – background vocals • Bob Ludwig – mastering • Mario Deleon – strings • Rob Mathes – conductor, string arrangements • Jeremy McCoy – bass • Melanie Daniels – background vocals • Colin Miller – engineer • Ann Mincieli – assistant engineer • Tadd Mingo – assistant engineer • John D. Mitchell – drum programming • Bill Molina – engineer • Billy Odum – guitar • William Odum – guitar • Tim Olmstead – assistant engineer • Suzanne Ornstein – violin • Alyssa Park – string quartet, strings • Sara Parkins – string quartet, strings • John Patitucci – bass • Kelly Price – singing, background vocals • Michelle Richards – string quartet, strings • Steve Richards – cello, strings • Alexander Richbourg – drum programming, vocal programming • Robert Rinehart – viola • Tom Rosenthal – viola • Jeff Rothschild – assistant engineer • Laura Seaton – violin • 7 Aurelius – producer, programming • Andrew Sherman – piano • Jaime Sickora – assistant engineer • Dexter Simmons – mixing • Fiona Simon – violin • Carl "Butch" Small – percussion • John Smeltz – engineer, mixing • Dan Smith – cello, strings • Daniel Smith – cello • Xavier Smith – assistant, assistant engineer • Jay Spears – assistant engineer, digital editing • Brian Springer – engineer • Brian Sumner – assistant engineer • Phil Tan – engineer, mixing • Mary Ann Tatum – background vocals • Lesa Terry – string quartet, strings • Michael Thompson – guitar, classical guitar, steel guitar • Jeremy Turner – cello • German Villacorta – assistant engineer • Seth Waldman – assistant engineer • Evan Wilson – viola • John Wittenberg – string quartet, strings • Mary Wooten – cello • Jason Wormer – assistant engineer • James "Big Jim" Wright – producer • Sharon Yamada – violin • Jung Sun Yoo – violin • Bradley Yost – assistant engineer • Antony Zeller – assistant engineer == Charts ==

Weekly charts Monthly charts Year-end charts == Certifications and sales ==