It’s time to talk about Charmbracelet.
Mariah’s self proclaimed opus has one main contender.
Recently Mariah Carey’s albums have enjoyed a resurgence on the top of the charts. Any amount of recognition is both deserved and past due for the living legend. Glitter(2001), and more recently E=MC2 were propelled to the top of iTunes Charts by a dedicated fan base that is ever present to remind the world who the queen of pop music is. And though time and scandal have shadowed Mariah’s legacy in recent years, her touch on modern music continues to make itself known as time goes on.
Now it is time for us to revisit her 2002 comeback (there are multiple by the way) Charmbracelet. While often forgotten and overlooked, a dedicated revisit reveals an artist at the prime of her technical skill and artistic creativity.
Here was an artist who at the time represented American pop culture in all of its raw, emotional chaos. Her career had been derailed by ex husband tommy mottolla, she released her passion project on the same day as 9/11, and suffered a very public diva fit. Analyzing these times are key to understanding the creative force for Mariah in this time. She was the greatest artist of the decade reduced to a raw shell of her “glory day’s” self. The once powerful, confident Mariah who sat on top of the music world was so shy she had to be encouraged by Paul McCartney to not hold back during a performance of his song Hey Jude. Her experiences had left her clearly hesitant to return to public scrutiny.
From the first track, the iconic Through The Rain, the album acts as a salve for Mariah herself, as her music often seems to. The pain from a public divorce, the very pervasive theft of creative property, along with the deterioration of her working relationship with the label that had propelled her to superstardom had left her clearly hesitant to release material to the world. All throughout the album she speaks to a fear to let love in, and to open herself to love again after being hurt. Tracks like “The One” find the songwriter lamenting this fear, and nervousness of letting herself love someone she knows to be the right one.
Mariahs decision to go in a more overt gospel/spiritual direction contradicted the times, when bikini clad women could be seen going down on a juicy burger during a normal commercial break. Sex was selling and it would’ve been easy, albeit emotional negligent one may glean, for Mariah to cash in. For her though, her talent has always taken front seat. And she shines brighter than ever on Charmbracelet. Gospel, r&b, pop, hip hop, there is something for everyone here to enjoy. The scope of what Charmbracelet achieves makes it greater than almost anything she had attempted before. This makes the album a direct contender as Mariah’s opus in her catalogue.
Gone were the label execs, who seemed intent to keep the stars image that of an 80’s lovelorn balladeer. Mariah always understood this image did not reflect her, and would not allow her the freedom her creativity required. Though outwardly more shy and timid, she was a creative force on this album with a laser sharp focus in her pen. Her voice has grown but still shines. All throughout the album she finds the strength to show us that she still strong, and deserves all the attention she receives. Revisit this album today. It is a no-skips classic that set the ground for work later in her career. Grab some headphones and follow Mariah on her journey leading right up to her emancapation.
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