Mariah, You're On Fire

I've been listening to a lot of Mariah Carey's stuff lately, new and old, and felt inspired to write a blog about her.

As most of you know, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for pop music, so it should come as no surprise that I'm a Mariah fan. Which I am, and have been for years. But I don't think I have ever fully appreciated her greatness until recently.

When I think about how her career and her image has changed throughout the years, it's pretty amazing. She started out as this young sweet girl with a fantastic sounding voice, who sang mostly cheesy love songs. As she got more popular, she started being categorized with other "divas" like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion. Her music also began to sound more hip-hoppy throughout the 90's, although she always maintained some of her pop music roots. At one point she even made a movie, although I don't think anybody ever bothered to watch it.

Mariah has worked with everyone from 98 Degrees, Brian McKnight, Boyz II Men, and Whitney Houston, to Bone Thugs, Busta Rhymes, Puff Daddy, and Jermaine Dupri. She's gone from being married to a record executive that Michael Jackson once called "evil", to dating the star shortstop on the Yankees. Who else can even come close to that list of accomplishments?

One thing I have never been able to figure out is whether or not I think Mariah Carey is hot. There's been moments when she has looked great, but so many other times when she's looked too fat, too hoochie, or both. Right now I'm still undecided about that so stay tuned.

But one thing that can't be questioned is that her voice has always been awesome. I think a while back, I made a list of best female voices in my blog, and I don't remember exactly where I ranked her, but she's gotta be in my top 3 for sure. Considering how much has changed in the music world since her career started, and in the pop genre alone, it's a wonder that she's still at the top of her game today, and a lot of that has to be due to her voice.

When I look at my current Winamp playlist, it's almost all Mariah songs. Part of that is due to it being Christmas season, but still, I can't believe how many great songs she had that I completely forgot about. If I may, I would like to present my personal top 10 Mariah Carey Songs:

10. Whenever You Call (f. Brian McKnight) - I'm probably leaving out a better song because of this, but I can't not include this song, because of the memories. One of my shining moments of college was when me, Anuj, and Brian were howling this song at the tops of our lungs while playing MarioKart.

9. All I've Ever Wanted - One of her lesser known, and most underrated songs (at least I think it is). Music Box was a great album from top to bottom, and this song probably just got lost among the others. But I think it belongs in the top 10.

8. Hero - Speaking of which, the most overplayed song from Music Box. I don't mind that much because it's still a great song though. Inspires me to look within myself, and find a way.

7. Everytime I Close My Eyes (f. Babyface) - I might have ranked this song higher, if Kenny G wasn't in it.

6. Vision of Love - I think this song came out before I started listening to music a lot. But that did not preclude me from appreciating it as much as her later work.

5. One Sweet Day (f. Boyz II Men) - Another song that was very overplayed at the time, but understandable because it was so good.

4. O Holy Night - Having grown up in the church, I remember when we had to practice this song in Sunday School for one of our kids' Christmas Eve shows, and I can say it is one of the most difficult songs to sing. But Mariah did an awesome version on her Christmas album with ease, which makes me all the more impressed. I haven't heard any other versions of the song that have even come near to the quality of her rendition. Except for maybe Eric Cartman's.

3. Breakdown (f. Bone Thugs N Harmony) - I always forget she did this song, but every once in a while I go back and listen to it, and it gets stuck in my head for about a week. Such a catchy song. "...well I guess I'm tryin to be.... nonchalant about it... and I'm goin to extremes... to prove I'm fine without you... but in reality I'm... slowly losin my mind..."

2. Dreamlover - The first Mariah song I ever heard. Loved it back then, still love it now.

1. Always Be My Baby - I could probably say the same thing for any of the songs on this list, but I can't imagine anybody except Mariah Carey making this song work. It might not be the most difficult to sing or even the catchiest tune, but I put it at #1 because it's quintessential Mariah.