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E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on April 15, 2008 in the United States.

Album title

Before the confirmation of the official title, the album was planned to be named That Chick, a reference to one of the album tracks. The album name means "(E) Emancipation (=) equals (MC) Mariah Carey (²) to the second power". It is a play on Einstein's famous mass–energy equivalence formula and is the sequel to her 2005 album, The Emancipation of Mimi.

Production history

Carey reportedly said she had been writing new songs while traveling on her latest tour. It was reported that Carey was recording her new album and booked a whole month in Anguilla's biggest villa and had a studio built in it. R&B producer Bryan Michael Cox visited Anguilla and contributed four new songs to the album. On February 1 2008, a video of Mariah and Jermaine Dupri during one of their late night studio recording sessions in Carey's TriBeCa triplex was posted on Mariah's official website.

Announced producers and collaborators

In an interview with VIBE, T.I. mentioned that he would be one of the producers for Carey's album. Other announced producers include Polow Da Don and Will.i.am. Carey stated in late 2007 that she was trying to choose from 22 tracks to put in the final album.

Musical and lyrical content

The album's music appeals to a lot of genres such as Pop, R&B and Hip hop, but some of her songs also include Gospel and Reggae beats. She experiments for the first time with reggae tones on "Cruise Control" and also uses a Jamaican patois during the second verse. On "Side Effects" she speaks about her marriage to Tommy Mottola describing it as a "private hell", the "emotional abuse" she saw during this time and the side effects from which she still suffers. MTV's author Jennifer Vineyard said it's "like a rock power ballad" and compared the music style to that of Bonnie Tyler and Pat Benatar. Two songs from the album sample melodies of other songs: one of them is the Seventies-soul-recalling "I'm That Chick" which samples Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall". The other song is "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time," which samples DeBarge's "Stay with Me" and recalls the melodic riff of the "Hill Street Blues" theme music. Her second single "Bye Bye" is about the loss of her father, Alfred Roy, who died of cancer in 2002, and his absence during her childhood. Although the lyrics of the song mostly seems to be personal, she tries to keep the topic universal, so that everybody "who just lost somebody" can refer to it. The closing track "I Wish You Well" is a piano ballad kept simple with gospel influences. In the song she quotes some parts from the Bible.

Critical reception

The biggest challenge for this album was keeping up with the quality of her previous album which was acclaimed by most critics. E=MC² received generally favorable reviews from most music critics, with many of them saying it was a worthy successor to her last album.

Billboard stated "She's proclaimed emancipation before, but Mariah Carey's never sounded as free as she does on her 10th album." and described E=MC² as "a pop album with equal parts levity and gravity". The Observer said that "each track is precision-tooled to sound as if it were born to be banging out of a Hummer in Miami on a sunny Saturday".

Plenty of critics agreed that her voice is still in a good condition, Fox News and RWD stating "Her infamous eight-octave range has suffered a little wear and tear over the years, but Carey still can flutter from great highs to mellow lows like no one else" and "Vocally and sonically, this is yet another outstanding release from the world's biggest selling superstar", respectively.

Some critics were not that enthusiastic and mainly critcized this album trying to copy the songs from The Emancipation Of Mimi and Carey for not using the full range of her voice. Caryn Ganz, a Rolling Stone critic, found that "nearly every song confines Carey to four-note verses, offering little room for her glorious range" and the LA Times said it's the "most striking" thing about the album, but they also characterized the album as "nearly a clone of The Emancipation of Mimi". Bleu Magazine's critic, Adam Benjamin Irby, agreed and said that the ballads "are all trying desperately to recapture the magic that was 'We Belong Together' Overall, these facsimiles aren't terrible, they're just boring and forgettable at this point".

In contrast to the Rolling Stone and the LA Times, MTV praised her voice on this album and said that Carey can "really sing not focused on vocal gymnastics". Jody Rosen shared the opinion, saying that she "has definitively been emancipated — from her need to decorate every damn song with more octaves than Maria Callas".

Commercial reception

E=MC² debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 463,000 copies sold, making it the biggest opening week sales of her career. With six number one albums, Carey is now tied with Madonna and Janet Jackson in U.S. with the most number one albums for a female artist, behind Barbra Streisand's eight chart toppers. On the UK Album Chart it debuted at number three, selling 34,800 copies. This is her highest peak position in the UK since Butterfly, which peaked at number two.

Singles

"Touch My Body" was chosen as the lead single off the album. The song received positive reviews by music critics e.g. Blender's critic calling it a "pop genius making genius pop". After entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number fifty-seven, the song climbed to the top of the chart, becoming Carey's 18th number one single on the chart, pushing her to second place among artists with the most number one singles in the rock era and first place as a solo artist in the same category, surpassing Elvis Presley. The achievement was attributed to a record-breaking digital sales debut, as 286,000 copies were sold in its first week of availability. Being a song written by Carey, it has helped her break the tie with Barry Gibb and take third place for songwriters with the most number one hits. Only Paul McCartney with thirty-two and John Lennon with twenty-six have more.

On Carey's official website, "Bye Bye" was announced as the second single from the album. The song premiered on radio April 7, 2008.. It has debuted at number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot 100.

Track listing

Bonus tracks

Chart positions

Release history

References

• "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" album length, writers and producers. Discogs.com. April 19, 2008. Retrieved April 19, 2008.

Notes

1. "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" start date of release
2. "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" album Length Amazon.com
3. "E=MC² - Mariah Carey" Amazon.com. Retrieved March 23, 2008
4. "Upcoming Releases". metacritic.com. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
5. ^ Sutherland, Mark. "Mariah Rolls With T-Pain, Dupri On New Album" Billboard. January 18 2008. Retrieved January 18 2008.
6. ^ Irby, Adam Benjamin. "Bleu Magazine review of E=MC2". TheBleuMag.com. April 5, 2008. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
7. "One on One with Mariah!". Entertainment Tonight. August 31, 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
8. "Billboard Bits: Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Mobile". Billboard. May 09 2007. Retrieved May 09 2007.
9. "Mariah and Jermaine Dupri in the Studio" Mariahcarey.com. February 01, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
10. Shepherd, Julianne. "T.I. Versus Himself". VIBE. April 10 2007. Retrieved May 28 2007.
11. "Rihanna Makes Entertainment Weekly’s Love List: Get’s Blog Advice From Jay-Z". Whudat.com. June 22 2007. Retrieved November 02 2007.
12. "Mariah's Upcoming Release Is Oh So Sweet!" Mariahcarey.com. September 19 2007. Retrieved September 19 2007.
13. "Mariah is back on fire" mirror.co.uk. November 22 2007. Retrieved November 22 2007.
14. "Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" offers genre-crossing equation" Reuters. March 28 2008. Retrieved March 29 2008.
15. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer. "Mariah Carey Album Preview: E=MC2 Is Focused On Fun, But Mimi Is At Her Best When She's Keeping It Real" MTV. April 02 2008. Retrieved April 08 2008.
16. ^ Ganz, Caryn. "Albums Review: E=MC²-Mariah Carey" Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 08 2008.
17. ^ Friedman, Roger. "Diva Alert: Mariah, Janet CDs Previewed". Fox News. February 15, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
18. "The Emancipation Of Mimi Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
19. "E=MC² Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
20. Album Review. Billboard Magazine. April 11, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2008
21. Flynn, Paul. "Mariah Carey, e=MC² (Universal) ". The Observer. February 17, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
22. "Mariah And Janet: The Return". RWD. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
23. Cromelin, Richard. CD:Mariah Carey's 'E=MC2'.LA Times.April 12, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
24. Rosen, Jody. "Mariah Carey-E=MC²". Blender. April 15, 2008. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
25. ^ Hasty, Katie. "Mariah Debuts At No. 1 After Monster First Week". Billboard. April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
26. Wilkes, Neil. "Kooks storm to top of albums chart". Digitalspy.co.uk. April 20, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
27. Mariah Carey - Album peak positions. EveryHit.com. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
28. Listen: Mariah's New Sex Tape-Themed Smash Blender. Retrieved April 08, 2008.
29. Cohen, Jonathan. Flo Rida Makes It Nine Straight Atop Hot 100. Billboard. February 21, 2008. Retrieved February 09, 2008.
30. Pietroluongo, Silvio. Mariah, Madonna Make Billboard Chart History. Billboard. April 02, 2008. Retrieved April 02, 2008.
31. "Listen to Mariah's New Single 'Bye Bye'!" Mariahcarey.com. April 07, 2008. Retrieved April 08, 2008.
32. "E=MC² Peak positions". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved April 24, 2008.[
53. http://guides.clickthecity.com/music/?p=2974
54. http://www.mcareyph.com/v10/index.php?nid=1487&title=Mariah's%20new%20album%20out%20now%20in%20the%20Philippines!!!

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