Exactly one month ago, superstar Mariah Carey released her 12th studio album ‘Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel’ with a far from fantastic debut on the Billboard charts. Not only did the record fail to capture the top spot, but it spawned the lowest first week sales of her career with only 168, 000 units sold. To date, the album has managed to sell only a dismal 275, 000 copies.
This is beyond random. ‘Obsessed’ is a certified platinum hit (which I’m sure made a certain other poster on this site gag) and the album got way better reviews than the lukewarm ‘E=MC²’. Add that to strong material and impressive live vocal performances, many thought the album would have been a huge hit.
I sense the real downfall of the album came with the choice of ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ as the “first” single (o please). The label thought it would be a guaranteed ‘stone-groove smash hit wonder’. However, just because critics favour a track does not mean that the DJ’s or radio will support it. The same thing happened with the garbage that was ‘Bye Bye’.
It’s a fact that Mariah herself was pushing for ‘H.A.T.E.U’ to be released instead, voicing her annoyance almost every time she sang ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ in concert. No wonder there have been murmurings of her planning to leave Def Jam for a while now. I’d imagine an artist of Mariah’s caliber does not like to be told what to do in the vein a random R&B chick would, especially when they are proven right. Whether this album will even go Gold remains to be seen…
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Looks like I Want To Know What Love Is has been scrapped (in the US, anyway) and HATEU is officially being pushed. MC is scheduled to be on a whole bunch of talk shows next week to promote Precious. She better perform HATEU, too! That track could save the album.
Mariah better leave that damn label. This album is GREAT and there’s more radio-friendly songs on the album that could be singles! This label is messing her up.
Best of luck to her anyway.
I bought the album (Netherlands) and it took me a few listens but i seriously love every track on this album … lol most listened track is the freaking prologue.
I think Inseparable would be an amazing radio friendly track….its kinda “we belong together eque”
That said, the album is so much better than I ever thought it could be! Every song I love!
I think the worst songs are the singles that they put out thus far!
Its really weird….I hope people give it a shot cause I think its her best album since Butterfly even…
Maybe the CD isnt as good as she and some fans think. Its ok, but needed lots of polish.
She better hope HATE U doesnt flop too. Their best bet is something faster like Ribbon. This CD is worth buying, but she has done better. But to her credit the recession is reaking havok on all CD sales.
the fact that only 2 people produced this album! you need to have more than 2 producers because ur album needs to have a diverse variety so that all the songs don’t sound the same.
Her singles should have gone like this!
1. Angels Cry
2. !t’s A Wrap
3. Betcha Gon Know
4. Ribbon
5. Up Out My Face
if she wanted to have the same feel as she had on butterfly and musicbox!
At first I simply did not understand the album. I thought the songs were slow and boring. After three listens, I absolutely love love love love this album. I think Angel’s cry with its WBT feel should be the next single instead of H.A.T.E. U. The song penetrates you and gives me goosebumps. Lets hope the promotion will help Mariah’s album and get it to platinum status. Lambs unite!
I still believe it was the whole drama with Eminem that cursed the album from the beginning. Everybody knows Obsessed was the first single, even if the label tried to convince us otherwise. And when Eminem came back at her with his diss and shut her down (which he did, even the lambs can’t deny that), it put a damper on the entire project.
As somebody else said to me, their beef left a bad taste in many people’s mouth’s (no pun intended), lol. I’m rooting for the album to make it to at least platinum. How sad and pathetic it would be if it doesn’t…
It’s the label…. this whole scenario seems oddly familiar… smh!
Its NOT the Label, Her songs just suck- The Album- A MESS!!
I feel the same way about mariah’s current status. check out my review on youtube for memoirs of an imperfect angel…..
I feel like the wrong single was released as the second single and even Mimi herself said she did not want IWKWLI as a second single but LA Reid and DefJam wanted other wise and when an artist and label can”t agree problem like this happen same with Janet in 08 and Mimi during the E=MC2 period the label wanted ByeBye opposed to Mimi who wanted Migrate as a second single. With that said at least she has fulfilled her contract with them so if wants she look for other labels that will give her support she needs. But at least she is not hurting where it matters because she owns the copywrites to these recent releases. Also her publishing ain’t hurting either, a solid effort nonetheless all in all we win some we lose some and she”s no different.
The album flopped because it’s a mess. Nuff said!
It’s not wrong single choices. What the hell was she supposed to release? We’ve already heard songs like H.A.T.E.U. from her before.
She needs to get go of this over-produced radio pop and trying to do what’s in all the time, and do something more organic.
I think if she had a record like Alicia’s new joint “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart” then she could be huge again. I wanna see her do a Keyshia Cole type sound, more R&B and emotive. It’s be like a return to some of her songs like My All, Breakdown, etc, but with more urban AC soul and less pop.
Memoirs is THE BEST Mariah Album so far, I love EVERY track , the album is packed with singles and is funny, witty, brilliantly produced, excellent lyrics , it takes you back to when R&B was R&B!!!
I think It’s very hard to push an album so soon off the back of an album that was not so good, EMC2 was not terrible but was poor in comparision to the brilliant Emancipation Of Mimi. Memoirs should of been the album after that..
The label need to have faith in this record and let the singles do the business, Obsessed ended up doing really well, plus Mariah has done no overseas promo yet, I think the rest of the world will jump on I Wanna Know What Love Is, she needs that type of pop hit to get the oldies back in, but then she needs to follow suit with HATEU, Angel Cry, Inseprable, Up Out My Face, those are the obvious international hits, then if they succeed, Ribbons, Betcha Gone Know, and Standing O. The whole album is fire!!! More power to here for having the balls to do an album with a theme and all slow jams, in this day and age, that is no longer allowed people have to work with the same producers and follow trends
I absolutely LOVE the Memoirs CD. I’m not sure why its not getting the same props as the Emancipation of MiMi b/c IMO, both CDs are the business. I never understand why record labels force feed us wack singles when there is clearly other quality material on the album.
Excellent lyrics?
Comparing things to McDonalds fries and gelato is not excellant lyrics.
The-Dream obviously wrote most the album because he uses the same lines in all the songs he writes. Eg Zipper “Opened him up like a fed-ex” Put It Down “All up on you like a monster truck” and so on and so fourth. He always does it.
I also believe that this is her best album so far for this decade.. IMO far more better than TEOM…
Maybe, the wrong choice of singles are to be blame for its poor sales…
Hope IDJ would release very the new edition of the album…
I agee with the prophet……………Or maybe im listening to a diffrent cd cause that cd was boring its bad when the only catching songs is obsessed and i hated that song but after listenig to that or half listenig to that garbage of a cd it made me like that song………………
The only songs I like are,
Betcha Gon Know
Angel’s Cry
Ribbon
Candy Bling
Hate U
Languishing (The Interlude)
i’m tellin you…
INSEPARABLE is the business. if that song was released….HIT!!
TRUST
http://www.imeem.com/newmusictuesdays/playlist/Ze10dIL9/mariah-carey-memoirs-of-an-imperfect-angel-music-playlist/
MC fans already said that Obsessed appealed to the younger crowd. They buy singles but not albums. Her music needs to mature. She can still do fun records, but leave the empty lyrics to the upcoming ones nowhere near her level.
Next, she got lazy by miming at a concert recently. Why fly all the way there just to mime to your album? The fans could’ve heard the same performance at home for free. If her ego has outgrown her then now’s the time for her husband to step up to plate and tell it like it is.
Her music has become so Disposable. & Over-Produced so Poorly!! Its sad that Obsessed is the best song on te LP when that song is just TRASH.EWW, I feel sorry for her Fans- Some of them actually Like this GARBAGE?? WOW!!
wow it have so much good songs y didnt it sell propley wow but she still had good song on it 🙁 still love her doe
I can tell you why the album flopped. The reason is that Mariah is no longer relevant. Basically the entire album is trash except for a few tracks (e.g. IWTKWLI).
Mariah is a HAS BEEN!!! I don’t even think her album will go gold.
She can continue lipsynching. People have realized that she’s no longer the singer she used to be. Whitney is on the verge of going Platinum in just 3 months. Look at Mariah. Barely 300k albums sold (which was Whitney’s FIRST WEEK SALES)
LMAO
Don’t think anyone ever expected this.
What goes around comes around!
this album is HOT HOT HOTTTT, from beginning to end-she messed up wth the singles, it should have been Candy Bling, sumthin cute for the klubs to bump, them Inseperable, that would have taken her off hard–it has that we belong together vibe…BUT O WELL, me & ALL MY FRIENDS bought it, we LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS ALBUM!!!! its ssooooooo gooood people, u missing out—all songs can b singles, candy bling, inseperable, up out my face, betcha gon know, impossible, ribbon, man, allll of em !!!
woow..this album is really a memoirs, for her self.. c’mon, only mimi die-hard fans who will buy this album. i’mma die-hard fans my self, yet it took more than 10times of playing to be able to rate most songs, two or three that is! some even left unrated. well, mimi, this is what you get if you solely relied ALL OF YOUR SONG to two producers (the dream & stewart). Her previous albums are either cathy, powerful, or combination. this one? lazy and surly at first, just lazy at the end. this is very big dissapointment. number speaks for it self. no need to deny &/ justify at all cost.
IM GLAD SHE HAS HAD POOR SALES IN THE UK, USA AND THE WORLD ON THE LAST TWO LPS AND SINGLES, SHE COMES ACROSS AS SO NASTY AND SPOILT, NOT HUMAN AT ALL, MAKING ALL THESE STUPID DEMANDS,PEOPLE ARE SICK OF HER EGO, HERE IN THE UK,SHE WENT ON THE BIGGEST SHOW IN THE UK TO PUSH THE LP AND SINGLE I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS,IF THAT COULD NOT BUMP UP SALES NOTHING CAN,AS EVERYONE WHO PERFORMS GETS A BIG SALES INCREASE, NOT SO FOR BIG EGO MARIAH, THE SINGLE CAME IN AT 19 ON THE CART AND THE LP MID 20S AFTER JUST ONE WEEK SHE FALLS OUT OF BOTH CHARTS TOP 40,ALSO SHE HAS HAD NO AIRPLAY, OBSESSED WAS SHELVED IN THE UK BECAUSE OF VERY POOR PRE SALES AND RADIO, SHAME I CANT THINK OF ANYONE SO DESERVING, IM SURE SHE WILL TRY TO BLAME EVERYONE ELSE RATHER THAN FOCUS ON THAT OFFPUTTING BIG EGO, I BET SHES RAGING .