At long last, my review of Memoirs
(Also published on PMCF Site)
(Written after waking up remembering it's already a Monday - Oct 5th - and I haven't got my pen busy for it)

Mariah Carey has left pop music for good.

That comes as to no surprise to me, however, as she has gone totally R&B/Soul ever since she recorded "Vanishing," "You're so cold," and "Slipping away" earlier in her career.

In her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," Carey has masterfully crafted a genuine musical work that sounds nothing like her previous catalog (and she has a long list). You'd wonder if there'll ever be a rest day for Carey to be irrelevant. If there is, she doesn't show it.

Carey's blood runs with pure musical artistry that is unequalled in her generation. The music and voice were on point in each track. The highest notes are all over each track.

The lead track "Betcha Gon Know" caught me off guard. It's a rather ridiculous track gravitating towards a TV scene from CSI minus the bloody part. The rawness of emotions were so real. The song got me on for a good few days. I can literally create a beautiful music video for this track (if time permits!).

"H.A.T.E.U.," on the other hand, was flantastically permutated. There was something haunting within the track that keeps you coming back. Carey's vocal layers were adequately placed.

Special mention goes to "The Impossible" which I love grooving to like I was in my latin tango dance class carefully whamming it up. The song is excruciatingly beautiful. It could have had a faster ending for the sake of tango, but Carey kept it low key to protect the album concept. Yes, Carey is humble, except for the satirical parade that is the "Up Out my Face (Reprise)."

"Angels Cry" was the first song I listened to when I got the album as it got me excited from the faint concert bootleg (from her Las Vegas concert back in September). The powerful track resents how human angels can be imperfect but still take flight ... and soar.

Carey's voice was somehow restrained to give way to full vocal gymnastics on the last track, the Foreigner remake "I want to know what love is."

From "Angel (Prelude)" down to "Angels Cry" going to "Languishing" and ending in "Love" reminds me of 1999's "Rainbow" where the songs were "linked" together to create a wholistic sound.

Overall, it was a generous revelation that Carey could still create a distinct musical sound that is sonically coherent well after almost 20 years in the businessness. She managed to put her signature sound on it, too, without having each track sound the same.

What is surprising is that her comedic bone (first heard on last year's "Touch My Body") was again all over the place ("Obsessed," "Up Out My Face"). Carey infuses comedy effortlessly like no other. And it's not shallow.

"Memoirs" completed an imperfect journey to seek for a repackaged version of this album. It's definitely a musical treat which would be burning my player up for a good few months (even years), for sure.