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"Butterfly" / "Me. I Am Mariah" (61,463) by Billy from Greece Since I unintentionally started this whole debate between these two albums, let me explain my comment that MIAM is the "sequel" to "Butterfly". First of all, I undoubtedly regard "Butterfly" as an undisputed masterpiece and Mariah's magnum opus. Everything (and by that I mean every minute detail) in this albums is perfection and Mariah is at her most artistic. From the truly poetic and personal lyrics and the overall production, to the vocal arrangements (and layering), this album stands on a league of its own. At the same time, "Me. I Am Mariah" is in my eyes a continuation of some of the themes explored in "Butterfly", either lyrically or musically. Both are "divorce" albums and show Mariah more "naked" than ever before. What I appreciated in MIAM is that Mariah had a somehow back-to-basics approach, giving the whole album a more timeless feel (compared to the two albums preceding it), while foregrounding her voice more clearly than in recent years. Sure, there are contemporary elements to it (see "Thirsty") that place it more specifically at a specific time/era, but I hardly find it dated (especially compared to "Memoirs"). Also, lyrically, it may not be as sensitive or introspective as "Butterfly", but it does contain some of Mariah's most personal songs, while minimizing the "trendy" wordplay of the last few albums. Clearly, "Butterfly" is unmatched, but "MIAM" holds its own in Mariah's entire catalogue. In fact, I would easily include it in the top 5 Mariah albums that a music lover should own. (Thursday 21 April 2016; 0:30)

Re: Stella vs. Mariah (61,455) (61,462) by RibbonB from USA Well I'm definitely not one to give Stella much credit, but she is on record as selling this reality show as that is her background. And Mariah allegedly has said that the wedding is on the show because the team wants it on there and James allegedly does anything Mariah wants. All of that is funny to me, but hey she has a new yes team. Anyway, it will be what it will be. (Thursday 21 April 2016; 0:10)

Mariah Amsterdam, questions (61,461) by Billy from Greece If anyone can help, I'll appreciate it greatly: how much earlier should somebody go to the concert hall? The concert in Amsterdam starts at 20:00 p.m., so I presume a couple of hours earlier should be ok? Also, is there any information regarding the place where Mariah will stay in Amsterdam? (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 23:29)

Re: Unpopular opinion alert (61,447) (61,460) by Mirage_Nunez from America Hmmm I wouldn't use the word "overhyped" (or "overrated"), because I totally understand peoples love for Butterfly: great personal lyrics, great vocals, cohensiveness. Yet I can't say that Butterfly has ever been my favorite MC album either (even though the title track is in my top 3 for favorite songs she's ever done). I'm more in love with Emotions, Daydream, and MIAMTEC as a whole and I personally feel more of a spiritual connection to Charmbracelet. I think we all may have a hidden unpopular opinion when it comes to Mariah's music. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 23:21)

Re: Unpopular opinion alert (61,447) (61,459) by Jenny from South Africa I agree with you. Butterfly has some amazing songs that are better than the songs on MIAMTEC, for example Butterfly and The Beautiful Ones , but there are some songs I just can't listen to, like Babydoll. On the other hand I can listen to the entire MIAMTEC album and enjoy all the songs. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 20:50)

Martyn from England (61,458) by Giovanni from USA I'm with you Martyn, I also think "Butterfly" is often over hyped and made out to be Mariah's best album of all time. I also prefer "Me I am Mariah" much better. I think she's capable of making another great piece of work that will out shine both albums if the quality of music is as good. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 20:48)

Re: Mariah's World (61,456) (61,457) by Mimi L. from Empower Your Highlighter If this documentary is anything like the one she did during TEOM and also Charmbracelet, I am all in for this. I loved those. The only concern is those were 1 hour specials so they didn't need fillers. This will be a series so chances of the documentary turning into a semi scripted reality show is there. But oh well as long as they focus on Mariah, her voice, her songwriting, her rituals and all that, then I have no problem. Let's see what they come up with. I'll trust Mariah with not letting this turn into a cheap circus. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 20:19)

Mariah's World (61,456) by Nikki from usa After the debacle of Idol I was hoping Mariah would have her own show on TV. I'm thrilled about this and I think people are too concerned with Stella. Mariah's been showing behind-the-scenes footage since she came out. This isn't new. They can call it a "documentary" if they want, but I doubt this is a reality show. Most of Mariah's behind the scenes specials were done on E. in the past. She's been out of the major media public eye for 6 years now, save for Idol, and this is a great opportunity to be re-introduced to the music scene on her own terms. Mariah used to give us the behind the scenes stuff every few years. It's been awhile and I'm excited to see how things are for her and simply being Mariah in her own element. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 19:33)

Stella vs. Mariah (61,455) by Nikki from usa I think people are giving Stella too much credit for MC's success. Mariah put those deals in place before Stella came on board and the success of her residency and Christmas projects were Mariah's efforts. What I don't think people understand is when you don't have a proper team in place then you wind up having to do those jobs yourself. 2014-15 Mariah was essentially her own manager, scheduler, negotiator, and finding her own next paycheck. That's on top of being a full time mom and still healing from an injury, which doesn't give her much time left to "be the artist" and take care of her vocals. Stella has been with her for over a year now and things didn't really start taking off for Mariah until the last few months. I think Mariah was getting to know Stella slowly and only handing over the reins little by little until she knew they were on the same page. Now, Stella's doing the full time job and getting the other team members in place so Mariah has been able to go back to being the artist and concentrate on her vocals. It remains to be seen if Stella and her family moved in with Mariah and cut off others close to MC for control. Stella's way of dealing with columnists leaves something to be desired. Or, if it was Mariah's idea and decided Stella wouldn't be out of her sight while Mariah established trust. It's too soon to tell. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 19:31)

Re: Eternally thirsty? (61,439) (61,454) by RibbonB from USA Peers in the general sense, performers. Their teams are working behind the scenes getting things done for their clients. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 19:04)

Butterfly VS MIAM (61,453) by Myles from CT, USA Butterfly. The lyrics, the vocals, the image awakening. MIAM just doesn't compare. That was a special time in Mariah's life. Butterfly is truly her opus. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 18:47)

Re: Mariah's World: everything (61,442) (61,452) by Andrew from UK Well smack my arse and call me Cindi. We actually agree on something. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 18:16)

Re: Unpopular opinion alert (61,447) (61,451) by Andrew from UK Butterfly has the filler? I think MIAMTEC's title reflects the actual album perfectly: overly long and quite redundant in parts. So many rubbish songs that could've been cut to make a more impressive collection. Quite like Emancipation and E=MC2. The second halves of those albums bang on too much, too. In addition to the title, the artwork is also quite awful. Thou art an infidel. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 18:12)

Re: Unpopular opinion alert (61,447) (61,450) by Licia from USA Martyn you won't have to take the unpopular opinion beat down alone. Lol I agree about Butterfly being an overhyped album, but not about MIAM being better. As someone else stated Butterfly's content was a little more cohesive than MIAM. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 18:01)

Re: Unpopular opinion alert (61,447) (61,449) by Mara from United States Not at all Martyn. I think that's what makes us all the diverse group that we are. I think everyone has an opinion on what means more or resonates on a more personal level. Personally the Emotions album is my all time favorite due to some of the hauntingly beautiful songs and how rich her voice was back then. But Butterfly spoke to me at that time when it was released on a personal level and I related to so many songs on it that I think that is where the connection was and still is. MIAM is a phenomenal album with a lot of beautiful songs with meaning.indo wish it included TAOLG too though. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 18:01)

Re: MIAMTEC vs Butterfly (61,446) (61,448) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines As great as both are, MIAMTEC suffers from scattershot production while Butterfly flows seamlessly - truly her magnum opus and to this day is still untouchable, not even by Daydream's undeniable commercial sheen or TEOM's masterful balancing of old school and contemporary R&B (which is definitely saying something). I also find myself wanting to compare, but I'd rather put it this way: MIAMTEC - her best of the 10s, so far TEOM - her best of the 00s Butterfly - her best of the 90s and her entire career (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 17:59)

Unpopular opinion alert (61,447) by Martyn from England, UK Okay I'm just going to say it. I think Butterfly is completely overhyped as an album. There are some great songs on it, but there's also a lot of filler in my opinion. I think Me I Am Mariah is a much stronger album. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 16:36)

Re: MIAMTEC vs Butterfly (61,433) (61,446) by Merr Hasenan from Malaysia Agree. I bought Butterfly to accompany me at the airport because of my flight cancelled due to heavy haze that hit Malaysia in 1998. Stranded at the airport for 2 days was one of my best moment because I ruined my tape (CD was a luxury item back then for an undergraduate). I played it on a heavy rotation because I can't get enough of Butterfly, Breakdown and Close My Eyes. As for MIAMTEC, well, I didn't attached to it up to that level. Maybe I was too old (41 in June) to google the lyrics to sing along. I like Cry. and Meteorite but they failed to crack my top 10 for my all time favourite of Mariah's songs. Maybe it is all about our personal preferences and nothing to do with the quality of the music and productions. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 15:30)

Re: MIAMTEC vs Butterfly (61,433) (61,445) by Mara from United States Edward I could not agree more with you. While I appreciate MIAMTEC and especially love the sound of Meteorite as something different, Butterfly is really a masterpiece. It is one of those albums in an artists career that just stands out. Everything about it, even down to the colors of the album and the title and how it represented her. The music, lyrics and vocals. The longing and vivid recollection almost make you visualize the songs as she sang them. MIAM I often feel depressed listening to and knowing what she was going through and even though Butterfly had some darker songs about love, they didn't put me there. And One More Try, when I heard that she was doing it I think I just heard it in my head sung a complete different way and I don't know if it was her mood at the time but it was almost and I can't believe I am saying this but almost not soulful enough. The beginning and all those high ohhhs did not fit with that song. I think a more stripped down vocal would have sounded better. But there were a lot of behind the scenes things going on with that album too so as Mariah would say "it is what it is". (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 15:26)

Info for French lambs (61,444) by Mimi L. from Empower Your Highlighter Mariah is scheduled to be leaving Hotel Plaza Athenee at 2pm today and returning around 5.30pm. She will be visiting the following places today between 2.00pm and 5.30pm. Here is the list. Info via Mariah Connection. Since she is going to Balmain, I hope she finally gets some stuff from there like I have been begging her to get. How can you hang out with Olivier Rousteing and not step out decked in Balmain? (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 15:02)

Mariah bringing on her fire (61,443) by Mimi L. from Empower Your Highlighter This and this are pictures of Mariah arriving at the airport. Sister has been dropping weight like it's nobody's business. If anyone wants the gorgeous boots, go to your nearest Versace now and drop 1550 euro and it'll be all yours. I love the boots. The boots combined with that leather jacket is perfect. Also if you guys are interested in renting the mansion that Mariah stayed in during her stay in Italy, here is a sneak peek for you. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 14:00)

Mariah's World: everything (61,442) by Baby from Dreamville...Where There's No Beginning & There is No End I Stella Bulochnikov's managerial skills. Everything Mariah seems to want she turns into a reality and she does it with no time wasted. I haven't seen this type of efficiency or efficast around Mariah ever, tbh. So, good riddance to Connie Fillipoello. She was worse than Cindi Berger if you can believe that. She did absolutely nothing (positive) for Mariah's image and branding in Europe. And if George is still with her then no wonder his profile is so non-present these days. To all these people with questionable agendas who wanna paint Stella as the manager from hell: close the door, lose the key. You had no problems with all these men who managed Mariah's career almost into oblivion, most of the time to her detriment. Now that M finally has what looks like a real friend as well as savvy business partner who happens to be a female cohort to help her weed out the dead weight and streamline Team Mariah and secure the furthering of her legacy as an all-round entertainer, now you have venom to spare? Foh. If it weren't for Stella, there probably wouldn't have been a European Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour (this year or anytime soon) and I never would have seen Mariah sing (100% live for the first time in my life) just a few weeks ago. All those fantasy lists I've made (since 2014) of all these random things I wanted for Mariah, read almost like receipts now and Stella is a big part of why that is. Thank God for her get-shit-done attitude. It's like Mariah only has to think it and Stella makes it happen. MC finally partnered with someone who works as hard and seems as invested in her success as she is. Mariah's new outlook bodes well for WoolPac as well. If James can hang with Stella as well as it looks and vice versa, Mariah will be nothing shirt of unstoppable. I'm just so happy that she won't be marrying any kinda punk this time around. Mariah's World is looking very harmonious these days. These things make me happy. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 12:26)

Re: MIAMTEC vs Butterfly (61,433) (61,441) by TJ from Norway I couldn't agree more. I don't remember much from her last album, but Butterfly sticks like glue. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 12:11)

See Mariah Carey's luxury getaway pic (61,440) by Giovanni from USA She looks amazing, but the eye make up and heavy contour ruins her beautiful looks. She doesn't need all that. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 10:36)

Re: Eternally thirsty? (61,430) (61,439) by Musti from UK Mariah is not a peer of any of the names you mentioned. She is about 10 years ahead of them. Mariah's peers would be Celine (at least her international career), Mary J Blige and other singers that came out in the early 90s, none of whom had commercial success in a long time. Mary has been collaborating with a lot of recent artists but that hasn't necessarily pushed her own album or single sales. Whatever success Mariah has had since E=MC2 is solely based on the Mariah brand, which is running its course fast. Mariah needs a fresh marketing strategy as well as fresh material. We can't expect her to repeat the same 90s strategy and expect a different (more successful) outcome. Those methods are extremely outdated. And yes, she does need to do more than Beyonce and Rihanna to promote herself since her material has become very irrelevant over the years. I also think we all need to stop assuming that the docu-series is bound to destroy Mariah's career. I think it's a great way of putting her back on the TV screen. This is Mariah we are talking about. She is not going to let it turn into reality trash. She even said herself that she refuses to call it a reality show. (Wednesday 20 April 2016; 10:27)

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