On The Road Again: Mariah Carey "Charmbracelet (USA, Monarc Island, 063 384-2)"

sábado, 3 de mayo de 2025

Mariah Carey "Charmbracelet (USA, Monarc Island, 063 384-2)"

Charmbracelet is the ninth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey, released in North America on December 3, 2002, through MonarC Entertainment and Island Records. The album was Carey's first release since her breakdown following the release of her film Glitter (2001) and its accompanying soundtrack album. Critics described Charmbracelet as one of Carey's most personal records, following 1997's Butterfly. Throughout the project, she collaborated with several musicians, including Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, 7 Aurelius and Dre & Vidal.

According to Carey, love is the album's main theme, and the songs combine introspective and personal themes with celebration and fun. The album contains a mixture of R&B beats, and the songs incorporate elements of other genres, such as gospel and soul. Compared to Glitter, which featured a variety of sampled melodies from the 1980s, Charmbracelet has a softer hip hop and R&B sound to it. Cam'ron, Jay-Z and Freeway also appear on the album.

Charmbracelet received mixed-to-negative reviews, with some critics praising Carey's return to her core audience while others criticized the album's production. The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, and sold 241,000 copies in its first week. Internationally, the album reached the top-ten in Japan and Switzerland, peaked inside the top-forty in seven other countries, and has sold over three million copies worldwide. Three singles were released to promote the album. The lead single, "Through the Rain" reached number one in Spain and peaked inside the top-ten in Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy and the United Kingdom. In the US, it topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart, but stalled at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. To promote the album, Carey embarked on the Charmbracelet World Tour (2003-2004) and performed on televised programs such as the 30th Annual American Music Awards, Today, The View, the Soul Train Music Awards and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Internationally, she traveled to several countries to promote the record, including a performance on the Brazilian program Fantástico, in addition to several acoustic performances and interviews on MTV Europe and MTV UK.

Before the release of Charmbracelet, Carey experienced a year of critical, commercial and personal struggles, following the poor reception of her debut film Glitter (2001) and its accompanying soundtrack, as well as her subsequent hospitalization. After divorcing her husband, Tommy Mottola, Carey released Butterfly (1997). With her next release, Rainbow (1999), Carey incorporated elements of R&B and hip hop into her music, particularly on the lead single "Heartbreaker". According to The Sacramento Bee, she attempted to sound more "ghetto". She stopped working with longtime pop producers such as Babyface and Walter Afanasieff, in order to pursue a new sound and audience, and worked with writers Sean Combs and Jermaine Dupri. Following the worldwide success of Rainbow, Carey left Columbia Records. Controversially, Mottola and executive Benny Medina in 1999 used several songs Carey had written and co-written for Jennifer Lopez. Carey's 2001 film debut Glitter was panned by movie critics, and earned less than eight million dollars at the box office.

"I had worked myself very very hard for many many years and I never took a break, and last year, I had just become very very exhausted and ended up just not really in a good place physically and emotionally. I learned a little more about how to work hard but also how to be healthy and take care of myself, and now, in general, in my life, I'm in a really good, happy place."
—Carey, The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Carey's $100 million recording contract was bought out by Virgin Records for $28 million. Carey checked into a hospital in Connecticut, following a controversial appearance on Total Request Live, in which she gave ice cream to fans, left troubling messages on her website and demonstrated what was considered by the media as "erratic behavior". Carey said she had an "emotional and physical breakdown." After a fortnight's hospitalization, Carey flew to Capri, Italy, where she stayed for five months and began writing and producing material for a new studio album about her recent troubles. She was signed by Island Records, and started her own imprint, MonarC Entertainment, for her intended "comeback" release, Charmbracelet.

Carey started writing songs for the album in early 2002, before she signed the record deal. She decided to rest, traveled to Capri and moved into a recording studio where she could focus on writing and recording without distractions. Most of the album was recorded in Capri, although she traveled to Atlanta, New York and Philadelphia to record some tracks. That year, Carey claimed Charmbracelet to be the "most personal album" she had ever made. She worked with longtime collaborators Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Randy Jackson and other songwriters and producers 7 Aurelius, Just Blaze, Damizza and Dre & Vidal. The opening track and the first track to be written for the album, "Through the Rain", was written by Carey and Lionel Cole, was inspired Carey's recent experiences, and was co-produced by Jam and Lewis. It was released as the lead single from the album.

Randy Jackson contributed to four tracks on the album, and said it was "the most real and honest record she's made. She didn't care what anyone thought of the lyrics. They were only important to her." Carey included a cover of Def Leppard's song "Bringin' On the Heartbreak". During the photo shoot for Charmbracelet at Capri, Carey happened to listen to Def Leppard's greatest hits album Vault (1995), which contains the song, and decided to cover it. In an interview with Billboard, Carey said that the song is "an example of her musical diversity". Jackson also worked on "My Saving Grace", which Carey said describes her thoughts about the writing, recording and mastering process. While working in Capri, Carey's father became ill with cancer and she returned to New York to spend some time with him; he died soon after. In his memory, Carey wrote and produced the song "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy". Carey said that the song represents "his side of the family and is kind of hard to talk about." The song proved to be "very emotional" for Carey, and she sang it only once in the studio. DJ Quik also produced songs for the album, but none of them were included.

Track listing