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Rating: Platinum-blonde, overly pampered, snobbish, glittering even down to her pubic hair, polished with wax and botox, forced to scheme pathetic features with second-tier rappers to try to ride a tsunami turned into an April drizzle: this is the current profile of Mariah Carey, a star who has chosen the ruthless flaunting of her condition as a multi-awarded wealthy woman after a handful of debut works where a pretty post-adolescent face was cared for exclusively with the classic "soap & water" look and not with an alchemy of cosmetics and arrogance. Carey is now facing a crossroads/abyss between the self-celebration of her immense ego and the continuation of a musical and artistic path that's monotonous and scarcely varied, explained in teenage sweetness.
Yet, Miss Carey was not born as an active member of a pimp crew like Snoop Dogg and the mixed company. In the first half of the nineties, her name was immediately associated with Whitney Houston and the then emerging figure of Celine Dion and indelibly linked to the trend of sugary melodramatic-scenographic hits that sold so well and captured broken hearts. The trio of great voices lent to the record industry and the romantic soundtracks of the period each yielded its amazing curriculum of successes: Houston stood out with I Will Always Love You and numerous accompanying songs for her blockbusters, Dion broke into the anglophone market with The Power of Love, Beauty And The Beast, My Heart Will Go On, Falling Into You, Because You Loved Me and It's All Coming Back To Me Now, while our Mariah showcased a slew of titles, from Vision of Love to DreamLover, through Emotions, Love Takes Time, Without You, My All and Hero. The decline of vocal pop between the nineties and the 2000s partly shocked the trio of big ballads which soon found themselves leading the new fusion of romanticism and R&B sounds. Carey partially defended herself strenuously against this metamorphosis - Butterfly, already rich with modern Rhythm & Blues nuances, is perhaps the best of her discography - but she was soon overwhelmed by her inability to maintain her traditional operation without heavily corrupting it with emerging commercial aberrations: leaving aside the temporary commercial decline inaugurated with the debacle of Glitter, Mariah's flair in combining "good music" and a seductive voice got lost - and seems still lost - in syrupy and homogenized productions that never managed to compare with the charm of her very first "slow" pieces.
Mariah Carey released in 1993 "Music Box", her third album after a duo of successes (the self-titled debut and the subsequent Emotions) and her last work before the partially rogue R&B-Hip Hop turn, naturally excluding the Christmas album Merry Christmas and the mistletoe anthem All I Want For Christmas Is You. "Music Box" represented not only the summary of the previous two episodes of Mariah's first discography and her greatest multimillion-seller, but also managed to embody in a handful of songs everything that was the mainstream pop of the early nineties, halfway between pleasantly sugary and scenic, danceable and choreographic, and the romanticized melancholy of the blockbuster "tissues in hand." And so, Mrs. Carey's flagship replicated this recipe with the conviction that she could in the future bring similar menus to the tables set by the majors and the charts.
The album hosts three of the artist's major ballads, namely Dreamlover (vaguely R&B), Hero and Without You, a famous trio of songs with great scenic effect, dense but not too dense, with genuine pathos and sincere romanticism, devoid of any cloying ostentation or sexual explicitness. Other pieces of similar craftsmanship and inspiration follow, including the vaguely gospel Anytime You Need A Friend, the warm lullabies of Never Forget You and the title track Music Box, as well as the vocal apotheosis of All I've Ever Wanted. In this cauldron of ballads, there's room also for the delightfully dance-house track Now That I Know and the uptempo freestyle-funky I've Been Thinking About You.
An album that represents an era or, better, part of an era, the milestone of a singer now lost between absurdities and hesitations. "Music Box" is, along with Butterfly, the ideal work for those who currently see a "doll" without polish and charisma and with an ego all too developed, and who don't know the "noble" origin of a great voice thrown into the desolating voracity of ghettos turned into banks and peep show venues.
Mariah Carey, "Music Box"
Dreamlover - Hero - Anytime You Need A Friend - Music Box - Now That I Know - Never Forget - Without You - Just to Hold You Once Again - I've Been Thinking About You - All I've Ever Wanted - Everything Fades Away.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Dreamlover (03:54)
Oohh......
do dududu da da dah
ooh ooh ooh ooohhh
(x2)
I need a lover to give me
The kind of love
That will last always
I need somebody uplifting
To take me away
I want a lover who knows me
Who understands how I feel inside
Someone to comfort and hold me
Through the long lonely night
Till the dawn
Why don't you take me away
Dreamlover come and rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby, now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
I don't want another pretender
To disillusion me one more time
Whispering words of forever
Playing with my mind
I need someone to hold on to
The kind of love that won't fly away
I just want someone to belong to
Everyday
Of my life
Always
So come and take me away
(2X):
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
02 Hero (04:19)
There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away
Chorus:
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear
'' Chorus:''
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way
'' Chorus:''
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
That a hero lies in you
03 Anytime You Need a Friend (04:26)
If you're lonely
And need a friend
And troubles seem like
They never end
Just remember to keep the faith
And love will be there to light the way
Anytime you need a friend
I will be here
You'll never be alone again
So don't you fear
Even if you're miles away
I'm by your side
So don't you ever be lonely
Love will make it alright
When the shadows are closing in
And your spirit diminishing
Just remember you're not alone
And love will be there
To guide you home
Anytime you need a friend
I will be here
You'll never be alone again
So don't you fear
Even if you're miles away
I'm by your side
So don't you ever be lonely
Love will make it alright
If you just believe in me
I will love you endlessly
Take my hand
Take me into your heart
I'll be there forever baby
I won't let go
I'll never let go
Anytime you need a friend
I will be here
You'll never be alone again
So don't you fear
Even if you're miles away
I'm by your side
So don't you ever be lonely
It's alright
It's alright
04 Music Box (04:57)
When I am lost
you shine a light for me and set me free
When I am low
You wash away my tears
And take me through
The loneliness
And emptiness
Through the darkest night
Somehow I survive
Through it all
When you tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Breaks away the clouds surrounding me
All I have I want to give to thee
If I should fall
Your love is strong enough to lift me up
If I'm afraid
You chase away my fears
And take me to
A brighter place
Beyond the rain
And I feel alright
Because you're by my side
Through it all
When you tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Breaks away the clouds surrounding me
All I have I want to give to thee
You take me through
The loneliness and the emptiness
And I feel alright
'Cause you're by my side
Through it all
You tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Just breaks away the clouds surrounding me
And baby all I have I want to give to thee
Want to give you all of my love
Now and forever my love
All I have I want to give to thee
05 Now That I Know (04:19)
I never knew
If I could believe in you
I thought I was just a diversion
And you were killing time
My friends they told me
To leave you
They said you would never be mine
But you gave me your love
And you said I'm the one
You want the rest of
Your life
Now that I know
That you want me for me
I can be what you want
I can be what you need
Now that I know
That your love is for real
I can finally see
This is not make believe anymore
I was afraid
It was all a masquerade
That I was only a play thing
And you would leave me behind
But now I feel so secure
By your side
I can conquer the world
I gave you my love
And I know you're the one
I want for the rest
Of my life
Now that I know
That you want me for me
I can be what you want
I can be what you need
Now that I know
That your love is for real
I can finally see
This is not make believe anymore
( I really feel it )
So much love
( I really feel it )
So much joy
( I feel it )
Sweet sweet ecstasy
'Cause you opened my eyes
And I realize
Your love is for real
Now that I know
That you want me for me
I cant be what you want
I can be what you need
Now that I know
That your love is for real
I can finally see
This is not make believe anymore
07 Without You (03:36)
No I can't forget this evening
or your face as you were leaving
but I guess that's just the way the story goes
you always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows
yes it shows
No I can't forget tomorrow
when I think of all my sorrow
when I had you there but then I let you go
and now it's only fair that I should let you know
what you should know
I can't live
if living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
I can't live
if living is without you
I can't give
I can't give anymore
Well I can't forget this evening
nor your face as you were leaving
but I guess that's just the way the story goes
you always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows
yes it shows
I can't live
if living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
I can't live
if living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
(No I cant live)
(No I cant live)
I cant live
(No I cant live)
(No I cant live)
If living is without you
i cant live without you
09 I've Been Thinking About You (04:48)
We've known each other
For a long long time
But I never really notcied
All the magic in your eyes
I've been around you
A thousand times before
And you've always been a friend to me
But now I'm wanting more
I must have been so blind
I never realized
You're the one that's right for me
All the while I couldn't see
And now I feel so strange
I'll never be the same
Going 'round and 'round in circles
And I don't know what to do
'Cause baby
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you
There's no explaining how I feel inside
I'm going through a transformation
That's so hard for me to hide
I had a revelation that
Finally opened my eyes
The one I spent a lifetime searching for
Was right here all the time
I was oblivious so very out of touch
All the while I couldn't see
You're the one that's right for me
And now my world has changed
I'll never be the same
Going 'round and 'round in circles
And it's all because of you
Sweet baby
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you (x2)
Don't you know
That you're blowing my mind
What you do to me
I can't describe
Baby I can't hold back anymore
I just can't conceal it
You're the one I really adore
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you
10 All I've Ever Wanted (03:52)
If you only knew
What I feel for you
If you only lived for me
The way I live for you
than I'd be in heaven
and all of ,
My dreams would come true
'Cause all I've ever wanted
Is you
And you alone
And I love you so
More than you could ever know
All I've ever wanted
Is you
If you were my own
To caress and hold
I would shower you with love
And drown within your soul
'Cause I live and breathe for you
And I really need you to know
That all I've ever wanted
Is you
And you alone
And I love you so
More than you could ever know
All I've ever wanted
Is you
Everything I do is for you
And you are every part of me
And I don't want to face
Another day
Alone
Without your love
'Cause all I've ever wanted
Is you
And you alone
And I love you so
More than you could ever know
All I've ever wanted
Is you
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