Friday, April 22, 2005

Never Say Die - The Comeback -



Many people may not like the music of Mariah Carey but I have been a fan of hers since one of my best friends, Leslie, told me to get her self titled debut album. Since then, I have been a fan, and I guess one of my traits is my loyalty, once a big fan, always a fan.
Now, like Akina, my ultimate favourite idol, Mariah has had her fair share of negative publicity and being written off as a "has-been" even though she has clocked many achievements, one of which is being the only singer to have a No. 1 single every year in a decade from 1990-2000. Since her much publicized breakdown, she has been in the slumps, until this new album revived her career.
Her first single, the party themed "It's Like That" paved the way for her into the hearts of her old and new fans, breaking into the Top 20 for the first time since 2001. It peaked at No. 16, and started its downfall, but is up again this week back to No. 27 from 35 last week.
Her newest single, which is my favourite song off her newest album "The Emancipation of Mimi", rockets from No. 61 last week to No. 30 this week, which means that Mariah has 2 Top 30 hits this week.
Topping that, is the debut at No. 1 this week at both the Billboard Top 200 Albums (her first since "Butterfly" in 1997) and R&B Top 100 Albums (her first since "Daydream". Her newest release also clocked the higest first week sales for her career at 404,000 copies sold in the US.
She has received her best reviews in years for this album and I personally feel it's her strongest since "Daydream" (since I didn't like Butterfly that much). It's a party themed album which has many potential hits packed in it.
Her comeback is complete and though she may not be everyone's favourite (John likes to refer to her as the woman who squeals), I admire the courage and the determination she has, and this is the difference between a wannabe and a true star.



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