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Critics Choice
People Magazine
- On "Standing O,", a stand out jam on her 12th studio effort, Mariah
Carey sarcastically salutes "the man of the hour" for playing for her.
But it's MC who deserves to take a bow:
Memoirs ranks with 1995's Daydream and 2005's
The Emancipation of Mimi as
one of the best start-to-finish albums of her career. Mostly cowritten
and coproduced with The Dream and Tricky Stewart - the hitmaking duo
behind Carey's last No. 1 single, "Touch My Body" - the disc has the
kind of cohesion and chemistry that Janet Jackson used to have with
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis back in the day. It's a perfect sythesis of
old-school Mariah (the Minnie Riperton-inspired ballad "H.A.T.E.U.".)
and hip-hop Mariah (the bounce-with-attitude track "Up Out My Face"),
minus the guest rappers. In full vocal flight, she doesn't need them.