Mariah Carey (album)

In 1988, a 19-year-old Mariah Carey moved out of her mother's house in Long Island, and into a small apartment in Manhattan. She had a demo tape consisting of four songs, which she had written during her high school years with Ben Margulies. As 1988 unfolded, Carey still had no record deal, and struggled to draw the attention of record executives in New York. While working several jobs, she continued writing and producing music with Margulies, making changes and additions to the demo. After months of difficulty, Carey met with singer Brenda K. Starr, and soon began singing back-up for her. Eventually, Starr began hearing what she described as "glimpses" of Carey's voice throughout sessions, and noticed her "gifted voice". She realized Carey was capable of achieving success, but only needed help to break through into mainstream music. One night, Starr took Carey to a record industry gala, attempting to convince a record label executive to listen to her demo. Jerry L. Greenberg, president of Atlantic Records took notice of her. As Carey handed him the record, Tommy Mottola quickly grabbed the tape, insisting that he would deal with "the project". As Mottola got into his limousine later that evening, he played Carey's demo and quickly realized the talent that he had just discovered. He quickly returned to the event, but a discouraged Carey had already left. After a week of tracking her down through Starr's management, Mottola got in touch with Carey and brought her over to Columbia Records. After meeting with Carey and her mother Patricia for the first time, Mottola said, "When I heard and saw Mariah, there was absolutely no doubt that she was in every way destined for super-stardom." After a few brief meetings, Carey was signed to Columbia in December 1988. Mottola had assumed the top position at Sony, the parent label of Columbia, and began taking the company through various stages of change. He believed it was very important for the label's success to discover a young and very talented female vocalist, to rival Whitney Houston from Arista Records, or a pop star to match Madonna, who was signed to Sire Records at the time. Mottola felt that Carey represented both. His confidence in Carey led him to hire a range of talented and well-known musicians and songwriters to assist with Carey's demo, as well as to create new material. Among them were Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden, and Rhett Lawrence. == Recording and composition ==

Carey and Ben Margulies began writing prior to Carey's signing, and had composed over fourteen songs; seven of which earned a place on the album. As production for the album began, Carey worked with Walden in New York, where they produced "I Don't Wanna Cry". While he described Carey as "very shy", he noted how professional she was for someone her age. Additionally, Carey wrote "There's Got to Be a Way" during her first recording session with Wake. During the session, they wrote four songs, but they only produced the latter song for the album. After flying to New York and working with Carey, Walden was astonished by her voice. For her work with Lawrence, Carey traveled to New York once again. In the studio, she presented him with the demo of "Vision of Love" which she had written with Margulies years prior. Lawrence saw "potential" in the song, but he did not think much of it in its early stages. During its recording, Carey revealed how the song came into existence. She had been working on the demo with Margulies in his studio. According to the artist, her voice "split" while doing those ornaments. While she thought to remove it from the song's recording, Wake and Walden were very impressed by the vocal flips, claiming that it would fit in perfectly. == Promotion ==

Aside from the heavy marketing and promotional campaign held by Sony Music, Carey performed on several television programs and award ceremonies, stateside and throughout Europe. Carey's first televised appearance was at The Arsenio Hall Show, where she sang "Vision of Love" for the first time, on June 1, 1990. Four days after the performance, she appeared at the 1990 NBA Playoffs where she sang "America the Beautiful". In the United States, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, during the week of August 2, 1990, staying atop the chart for four consecutive weeks. "Vision of Love" reached number one in Canada and New Zealand as well, and appeared within the top ten in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Aside from its chart success, the song was lauded by music critics. In a retrospective review on the album in 2005, Entertainment Weekly called the song "inspired" and complimented Carey's use of the whistle register in the song. Additionally, Rolling Stone said that "the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like 'Vision of Love', inspired the entire American Idol vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties." Bill Lamb from About.com said that "'Vision of Love' is one of the best songs of Mariah's recording career [...] It is simply one of the most stunning debut releases ever by a pop recording artist." "Love Takes Time" served as the album's second single, released on August 22, 1990. The song became Carey's second single to top the Billboard Hot 100. While the song achieved strong success stateside, "Love Takes Time" peaked at number two in Canada, it barely charted inside the top ten in New Zealand and outside the top 20 in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. "Someday" (the album's third single) followed a similar pattern as "Love Takes Time", reaching number one in the US and Canada. In Australia, it peaked outside the top 40, and hit number 38 in France and the UK. "I Don't Wanna Cry", the album's fourth single, also topped the charts in the United States. A fifth single, "There's Got to Be a Way", was released in Europe but only charted in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number fifty-four. == Critical reception ==

Initial Upon release of Mariah Carey, music critics universally praised Carey's vocal ability. However, reviewers were more critical of the album's lyrics and production, In a 1990 review, Entertainment Weekly wrote that Carey possessed an "astonishing vocal range and high ideals", but criticized the album's lyrical content. Jan DeKnock from the Chicago Tribune was more impressed by the album, finding it abundant with "sparkling tracks" that showcase Carey's songwriting and production talents, particularly "Vanishing". Among the more mixed reviews, some critics found she was "all voice, no substance". Mariah Carey was nominated for the 1991 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, while "Vision of Love" received nominations in the categories of Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Carey won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and also received the award for Best New Artist. Billboard's Trevor Anderson found the album more concerned with producing hits than "introducing the world to the woman behind the seismic scales and piercing high notes", it achieves the former "to a remarkable degree". Accolades == Commercial performance ==

Mariah Carey entered the US Billboard 200 at number 80, and reached the top 20 in its fourth week. The album topped the chart in its 36th week, due to the success of "Someday" and then later Carey's exposure at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, and stayed there for 11 consecutive weeks; to date, it is the longest stay at number one in Carey's career. Mariah Carey was certified nine-times Platinum by the RIAA on December 15, 1999. The album has sold 4,885,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which began counting sales after January 1, 1991. It became the best-selling album of 1991 in the United States. In Canada, the album peaked at number one on the Canadian RPM Albums Chart during the week of April 20, 1991. To date, Mariah Carey is certified seven-times Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), denoting shipments of 700,000 copies. During the week of September 15, 1990, Mariah Carey entered the UK Albums Chart at its peak of number six. After spending 40 weeks fluctuating in the chart, the album was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of 300,000 copies. In Sweden, the album debuted at number 29 during the week of August 1, 1990, before peaking at number eight on its fourth week, spending 16 weeks on the charts, and eventually being certified Platinum in the country. In the Netherlands, the album debuted at number 91 during the week of July 21, 1990, eventually peaking at number 6 on its tenth week, spending a total of 46 weeks on the charts and being certified Platinum. In Norway, the album debuted at number 19, and reached its peak at number four on its seventh week. Elsewhere in Europe, Mariah Carey reached the top-twenty in Switzerland; the top-thirty in Germany and Finland; and the top-forty in Hungary and Spain. The album peaked at number six in Australia, where it went 5× Platinum and finished sixth on the ARIA Charts year-end top 50 albums chart of 1991. In New Zealand, the album debuted at number 12 during the week of September 2, 1990, before peaking at number four two weeks later, spending a total of 57 weeks on the charts and being certified 4× Platinum in the country, where it finished 12th on the Recorded Music NZ year-end chart of 1991. Worldwide sales of the album stand at 15 million copies. == Legacy ==

Since its release, Mariah Carey has been hailed as a pop and R&B classic, with Trevor Anderson of Billboard describing it as jumpstarting "one of the most successful stories in pop music history". Anderson noted that the album propelled Carey to the forefront of a saturated female popstar market, which included Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Madonna. The widespread influence of Carey's vocal delivery on the album, particularly "Vision of Love", has also been noted by critics. According to Chloe Sarmiento of Grammy.com, Carey's vocal performance on the album set a new high standard for artists across multiple genres in the music industry. Beyoncé said that she began doing vocal "runs" after listening to "Vision of Love" for the first time, stating that it inspired her to follow a path into the music industry. Christina Aguilera has also stated how Carey's album had the biggest influence on her vocal stylings and delivery. According to the Pier Dominguez, author of Christina Aguilera: A Star is Made, Carey's carefully choreographed image of a grown woman struck a chord with Aguilera, whose influence also stemmed from the fact that both were of mixed heritage. Carey's two wins at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards was also commented upon by critics, particularly in regards to the lip-syncing controversy surrounding Milli Vanilli the prior year. Speaking to the press after winning Best New Artist, Carey stated: "With all the controversy surrounding this award, I hope to bring it back to a real singer-songwriter category, where everyone else following me can be as proud as I am to receive this honor". The singer's performance of "Vision of Love" at the ceremony has consistently been ranked as one of the greatest award show performances of all time. Andrew Unterberger of Billboard described it as showcasing Carey "in full beast mode, tracing her unprecedented vocal runs with her hands and occasionally running out of room in the process; not excessively showy but unafraid of demonstrating". Unterberger further commented on Carey's exposure to the wider pop landscape following her debut at the award show, commenting on how "Mariah's self-titled debut LP shot to the top of the Billboard 200 and stayed there for 11 weeks" in the wake of her appearance. The singer's outspokenness about her own multi-racial heritage at the time of her debut's release has also been commented upon by both music critics and sociologists alike. As noted by Professor Michael Eric Dyson in his book, Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture, Carey's "refusal to bow to public pressure" surrounding the nature of her ethnicity exposed "the messy, sometimes arbitrary, politics of definition and categorisation" and "the racial contradictions at the centre of contemporary pop music" at the time. Sika Dagbovie-Mullins of Florida Atlantic University further credited Carey for breaking down existent racial barriers between pop and R&B, hailing her being a "multiracial heroine" for generations of mixed-race singers and songwriters. == Track listing ==

Notes • signifies an additional producer • Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. == Personnel ==

• Mariah Carey – vocals, background vocals, arranger, vocal arrangements • Ben Margulies – drums, keyboards, programming, arranger • Narada Michael Walden – drums, arranger, additional production, rhythm arrangement • Ren Klyce – Linn drums, Fairlight programming • Joe Franco – drums, percussion, drum programming • Ric Wake – drum programming, additional arrangement • Omar Hakim – drums • Jimmy Rip – guitars • Chris Camozzi – acoustic guitar, electric guitar • David Williams – guitars • Michael Landau – guitars • Vernon Reid – guitars • Nile Rodgers – guitar on "You Need Me" • Rhett Lawrence – keyboards, recording, mixing, arranger • Louis Biancaniello – keyboards, bass, programming, rhythm programming • Richard Tee – piano on "Vanishing" • Marcus Miller – Fretless bass • Walter Afanasieff – synth horns, keyboards, synthesizers, synth bass, arranger • Billy T. Scott – background vocals • The Billy T. Scott Ensemble – background vocals • Fonzie Thornton – background vocals • Chris Toland – arranger, additional engineering • Rich Tancredi – additional arrangement, additional keyboards • Patrick Dillett – engineer, recording, mixing • Bob Cadway – engineer, recording, mixing • Dana Jon Chappelle – engineer, mixing, additional engineering • Manny LaCarrubba – additional engineering • Larry Alexander – mixing • Bob Ludwig – mastering, (at Masterdisk) • Howie Weinburg – mastering (at Masterdisk) • Tommy Mottola – executive producer == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts All-time charts == Certifications ==