erikb

Slick. Too much production work. A bit predictable. But, it's up there with her previous albums. It's so easy to complain, but she is still (again) the clear leader in this genre. I don't see much competion - Mary J, Kelis, Ashanti are all ok but lack that flow and heavyweight punch. Maybe Janet... but I don't think so. Well ok, Janet on a good day then.

I don't care much for the single, but the soul ballads are fine. The lower (tempo) the better is the rule here. Circles and Fly like a bird are just excellent. I'm quite happy about most of the album and it's been on heavy rotation in my player.

The worst thing about this album and the whole comeback is the strange and fake emancipation talk, the glossy image and bizarre objectification. Finding a "normal" photo was not exactly easy - it's all bikini shots, or spreads on a sofa.

A ToDo list for the day when I will rule the world: make Mariah only record live gospel albums, fire and send back her photographer to Hustler, and - oh, I almost forgot - bring world peace.