Charmbracelet is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on December 3, 2002 through Island Records and MonarC Entertainment. The album was her first release since her breakdown following the release of her film Glitter (2001) and its accompanying soundtrack album, both of which were critical and commercial failures. Critics described Charmbracelet as one of her most personal records, following 1997's Butterfly Throughout the project, Carey collaborated with several songwriters and producers, including Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, 7 Aurelius and Dre & Vidal.
According to Carey, love is the main album's main theme, and the songs combine introspective and personal themes with celebration and fun. The album contains a mixture of pop ballads and R&B beats, and the songs incorporate elements of other genres, such as gospel and soul. Compared to Glitter, which featured a variety of sampled melodies from the 1980s, Charmbracelet has a more adult contemporary sound. Cam'ron, Jay-Z and Freeway also appear on the album.
Critics gave Charmbracelet mixed reviews. Many wrote that although the songs were good, none of them stood out enough to make an impact. Some reviewers said that Carey's voice sounded thin, airy and damaged on the album. Charmbracelet debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, and sold 241,000 copies in its first week. The album peaked within the top 40 in seven countries, and attained top ten positions in Japan and Switzerland.
Three singles were released to promote the album. The lead single, "Through the Rain" became the most successful, reaching the top ten in Canada, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy and the United Kingdom. In the US, it topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart, but stalled at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-ups, "Boy (I Need You)" and "Bringin' On the Heartbreak", were not as commercially successful. Carey embarked on the Charmbracelet World Tour, and performed 69 shows in over eight months. She also performed on televised shows and promotional tours like the 30th annual American Music Awards, Today and The Oprah Winfrey Show. (wiki)
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by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
If it didn't follow Glitter, the gold standard for diva implosions in the early 21st century, Mariah Carey's Charmbracelet would simply be her worst album, but since it was rushed out in late 2002 in an effort to mask that disaster, to treat it as if it never happened, it achieves a special kind of grandeur -- it's a botched attempt to restore a career after a botched attempt at a crossover. Of course, the Carey party line, including her new label Island (who has sponsored her vanity imprint, MonarC), claims her lone Virgin album, Glitter, shouldn't be considered an official Mariah album since it was a soundtrack, but not only does that theory not hold water (perhaps Purple Rain shouldn't be considered a Prince album, then?), it signals that everybody realizes that Glitter wasn't just a disaster, but that her whole ghetto-fabulous trip of the late '90s eroded her core MOR audience. So, with Charmbracelet, the backpedalling is immediately evident, from the demure photos gracing the artwork (the tight shorts of Rainbow are long gone) and the first single/opening track "Through the Rain," a slow ballad designed as "Vision of Love" meets "Hero." Mariah is back in the adult contemporary camp, no longer trying to prove that she's real. She hasn't completely abandoned hip-hop, but whenever it rears its head on Charmbracelet, it's utterly jarring, whether it's Jay-Z's and Freeway's guest spots on "You Got Me," the club-ready groove of "You Had Your Chance" (built on the same bassline as "Nuthin' But a G Thang"), or the blatant rewrite of Cam'ron's "Oh Boy" on "Boy (I Need You)" (he may endorse it with a cameo, yet the sampled vocal hook remains singularly annoying no matter how it's presented), or the crackling vinyl used as ambient noise on "Irresistible," or the distracting use of dripping water as percussion on "I Only Wanted." Weirdly enough, even these detours are nothing more than flourishes -- window-dressing on songs that remain firmly in the middle of the road, since that's where the sales are, or at least where Mariah's aging fan base is. This, of course, is not a problem, since she's done hip-hop-influenced dance tunes and ballads very well before. What is a problem is that there are no good songs on this record outside of Def Leppard's power ballad classic "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," which isn't even covered all that well. What is a greater problem is that Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters throughout the record. Whenever she sings, there's a raspy whistle behind her thin voice and she strains to make notes throughout the record. She cannot coo or softly croon, nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs. Her voice is damaged, and there's not a moment where it sounds strong or inviting. That alone would be disturbing, but since the songs are formless and the production bland -- another reason why the hip-hop announces itself, even though it's nowhere near as pronounced as it has been since Butterfly -- her tired voice becomes the only thing to concentrate on, and it's a sad, ugly thing, making an album that would merely have been her worst into something tragic.
01 Through the Rain.m4a Mariah Carey
02 Boy (I Need You).m4a Mariah Carey
03 The One.m4a Mariah Carey
04 Yours.m4a Mariah Carey
05 You Got Me.m4a Mariah Carey, JAY Z & Freeway
06 I Only Wanted.m4a Mariah Carey
07 Clown.m4a Mariah Carey
08 My Saving Grace.m4a Mariah Carey
09 You Had Your Chance.m4a Mariah Carey
10 Lullaby.m4a Mariah Carey
11 Irresistible (West Side Connectio.m4a Mariah Carey
12 Subtle Invitation.m4a Mariah Carey
13 Bringin’ On the Heartbreak.m4a Mariah Carey
14 Sunflowers for Alfred Roy.m4a Mariah Carey
15 Through the Rain (Remix).m4a Mariah Carey
Directories: 1, Files: 15, Size: 138,373,799 B
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