Butterfly, 1997
Mariah Carey's sixth studio album titled Butterfly arrived 7 years after her debut. For us, it might have been yet another album from her. However, for Carey herself, it was a new beginning.
Butterfly is the first album where Carey's influences accumulated and melted together, resulting in an album that's so diverse. There's something else, though. Carey's own influence, something that could only be formed once you're on your eighth year of making music, is in full bloom here. Be it the lead single and first track, "Honey," or the jam-packed banger "Breakdown" with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Carey's never seemed so sure of her own musical and physical identity than on this album.
The album cover represents the confidence as well; no longer was she hidden behind sepia or grayscale filter, or her photography limits itself to just above her neck. Carey's physical beauty is on display, perfectly so like a spring goddess or a '90s supermodel. The ballads are still present, however there's plenty of sparseness in the arrangements compared to her previous ones. Her singing has also gotten so good, not that she never was, but the way she carries so many melodies here is so magical.
The title track is a thing of beauty that might as well be my favorite song of hers. A power ballad that manages to teeter a kind of delicate balance of the singing with the songwriting. Never has Carey's writing been this affective and, dare I say, soulful. Other ballads like the hip-hop influenced "The Roof," melodic "Fourth of July," torchy "Whenever You Call" and gospel-y "Outside" packed similar touch as well. "Babydoll" is sexy. The kind of R&B jam you might think Carey would be too modest to make, yet here it is in all of its Missy Elliott co-penned glory.
Another sexy moment is the house (!) remix of the title track, dubbed "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)," where Carey's voice soars through, around, above, under and beyond the beats. Honestly, it's almost obscene to hear her whistle notes sprinkled in the background of that song. Low point is the Prince cover, "The Beautiful Ones." No, she didn't sing badly. Far from that, actually. However, and I know she herself would agree about this, you really can't do justice to a Prince original. Nobody ever does. Ok, maybe Chaka Khan did, but still!
At this point, Carey's career had reached its peak performance. This was the last time where she'd continue the trend of having a number 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart until a certain, ahem, emancipation much later in the mid aughts. On this album, she showed both her casual listeners and Lambs (her devoted fanbase) just what kind of a musician she was; confidently above most of her peers. We'll see more of this butterfly flying in the future, including the unfortunate moment where she lost her buoyancy and landed with not just a thud, but a giant-sized tragedy (!!) which almost ended her, well, everything.
Love, Daud.
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