The Emancipation of Mimi

We’re not prone to heaping compliments on Mariah Carey, but when we get to hell and Satan asks which of her albums we’d like playing for all eternity, we’ll probably choose this one. Carey keeps the multiple-octave grandstanding to a minimum here, instead letting her voice relax a little over some of the best beats money can buy. She raps without embarrassing herself over Jermaine Dupri’s spare, Neptunes-ish thump on “It’s Like That.” The Neptunes themselves turn up with pal Snoop Dogg in tow for “Say Somethin’,” but kick a far more traditional [read: dull] groove than we’ve heard from them in a while. Similarly, "Stay The Night" sports an old school soul vibe courtesy of Kanye West. Of course, Carey can’t help letting loose a few times—“Circles” and “Your Girl” are exactly the kind of R&B caterwauling that made her intolerable in the first place—but when she’s reined in here, her Emancipation proves surprisingly agreeable.