blackrose79
Dec 11th, 2003, 07:00 PM
She may have no taste, but there's no denying Mariah Carey has great talent
By Patrick MacDonald
Seattle Times music critic
AARON FAVILA / AP
Mariah Carey brings her seven-octave range and dramatic vocal delivery to McCaw Hall on Wednesday. It will be her first show in Seattle.
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Mariah Carey has one of the great voices in popular music. Her seven-octave range and dramatic vocal delivery make her performances, either live or on recordings, powerful and bracing.
That incredible voice has allowed the R&B diva to sustain a career for more than a decade. But now she's in a slump. Her last two CDs, "Charmbracelet" and "The Remixes," were critical and commercial failures. Her semi-autobiographical movie debut, "Glitter," was a flop, as was the soundtrack. EMI paid her $28 million to get her off the label. And she suffered a nervous breakdown in 2001.
The only bright spot in her recent career has been in the disco/dance charts, where she's had 13 No. 1 singles in a row. But the brain-numbing thump-thump-thump of disco is seldom heard outside the club culture. And a No. 1 in disco doesn't mean much in sales; the honor comes mostly from DJ spins.
The knock on Carey has always been that she's all sheen and no substance. She can belt lyrics with amazing energy and unique vocal phrasing, but there's seldom any emotion behind it. She seems more interested in showing off her voice than making a song work, making it mean something.
Concert preview
Mariah Carey, 8 p.m. Wednesday, McCaw Hall, Seattle Center; $49.50-$150 (206-628-0888, www.ticketmaster.com or www.hob.com; information, 206-684-7200, www.seattlecenter.com).
Carey has yet to find a song equal to her talent. She prefers vapid hip-hop and rap, such as the dreck on the two-disc "Remixes" album. That album alone shows that she has talent but no taste. None of the songs on it will have any shelf life.
Her love of style over substance will probably be writ large at her show. You can bet there will be too many costume changes, too much stage business, and too many dance routines that will look like every other dance routine. Count on a slick session band and talented backup singers who will fill in her vocals while she does her dance moves.
This will be Carey's first show in Seattle, so you can also be sure that those fans who have waited a decade to see her will go wild, no matter what she does. She'll arrive and leave to standing ovations; that's a given. But the talk afterward will likely be about her clothes and the opulent production, rather than the music.
By Patrick MacDonald
Seattle Times music critic
AARON FAVILA / AP
Mariah Carey brings her seven-octave range and dramatic vocal delivery to McCaw Hall on Wednesday. It will be her first show in Seattle.
E-mail this article
Print this article
Search archive
Mariah Carey has one of the great voices in popular music. Her seven-octave range and dramatic vocal delivery make her performances, either live or on recordings, powerful and bracing.
That incredible voice has allowed the R&B diva to sustain a career for more than a decade. But now she's in a slump. Her last two CDs, "Charmbracelet" and "The Remixes," were critical and commercial failures. Her semi-autobiographical movie debut, "Glitter," was a flop, as was the soundtrack. EMI paid her $28 million to get her off the label. And she suffered a nervous breakdown in 2001.
The only bright spot in her recent career has been in the disco/dance charts, where she's had 13 No. 1 singles in a row. But the brain-numbing thump-thump-thump of disco is seldom heard outside the club culture. And a No. 1 in disco doesn't mean much in sales; the honor comes mostly from DJ spins.
The knock on Carey has always been that she's all sheen and no substance. She can belt lyrics with amazing energy and unique vocal phrasing, but there's seldom any emotion behind it. She seems more interested in showing off her voice than making a song work, making it mean something.
Concert preview
Mariah Carey, 8 p.m. Wednesday, McCaw Hall, Seattle Center; $49.50-$150 (206-628-0888, www.ticketmaster.com or www.hob.com; information, 206-684-7200, www.seattlecenter.com).
Carey has yet to find a song equal to her talent. She prefers vapid hip-hop and rap, such as the dreck on the two-disc "Remixes" album. That album alone shows that she has talent but no taste. None of the songs on it will have any shelf life.
Her love of style over substance will probably be writ large at her show. You can bet there will be too many costume changes, too much stage business, and too many dance routines that will look like every other dance routine. Count on a slick session band and talented backup singers who will fill in her vocals while she does her dance moves.
This will be Carey's first show in Seattle, so you can also be sure that those fans who have waited a decade to see her will go wild, no matter what she does. She'll arrive and leave to standing ovations; that's a given. But the talk afterward will likely be about her clothes and the opulent production, rather than the music.