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The New Album
Album U.S. Release Date: September 16 Butterfly has already gone 3X platinum! |
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[ Honey: The First Single | Butterfly: The Next Single | Other Singles | Album Tracks | Album Reviews | Song Lyrics]
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The New Album
Album U.S. Release Date: September 16 Butterfly has already gone 3X platinum! |
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[ Honey: The First Single | Butterfly: The Next Single | Other Singles | Album Tracks | Album Reviews | Song Lyrics]
Two years after "Daydream," Mariah is finally releasing a new album! It's time again to watch her songs rise through the charts and her voice over the radio airwaves. Here is the latest summaries of what we know about the songs on the album. Please visit the NEWS page for more detailed info.
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Promo Version Tracks:
1. LP Version
2. Smooth Version with Intro
3. Smooth Version without Intro
4. Bad Boy Remix
Regular Single Version Tracks:
Honey (LP version)
Honey (Bad Boy Remix)
Maxi Single Version Tracks:
1. Lp Version (4:59)
2. Bad Boy Remix featuring Mase & The Lox (5:32)
3. Classic Mix (8:05)
4. So So Def Mix featuring Da Brat & JD (5:11)
5. Classic Instrumental (7:32)
All of the above tracks are downloadable at The Honey Section of http://www.mariahc.com or The MPEG Audio Section of the Mariah EURO Page.
HOWEVER, MTV did a report on David Morales where they showed Mariah talking about the Butterfly remixes. They said that Morales' most recent mixes of Butterfly will be out in January.
Track Listing
1) Butterfly (4:34)
album version
2) Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) (3:49)
album version
3) Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) (Fly Away Club Mix) (9:52)
It's basically the normal "Fly Away", only longer, with a few extra vocals and some wonderful, eerie sounds added (I LOVE that flute!)
4) Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) (Def 'B' Fly Mix) (8:46)
This is what Butterfly was originally intended to sound like! The rhythm is that of "Fly Away", but the whole vocals have been redone and Mariah sings the whole Butterfly song uptempo!!! Brilliant!
Descriptions are from John Galiotos.
Download these songs at
CD World lists these tracks for the Butterfly UK Single:
Part 1 Butterfly - album version Fly Away - Butterfly reprise Fly Away - Butterfly Fly Away Club Mix The roof - Moby Deep Mix Part 2 Butterfly - album version One Sweet Day live Heroe (Spanish version for Hero) Without You
Two other possible singles may be The Roof and Breakdown. Hot97 (a radio station in NYC) is playing the Mobb Depp remix of The Roof. The video for The Roof premiered on MTV on Nov. 25th.
Breakdown is currently getting airplay in R&B radio stations despite little promotion. Billboard Online reports that it will be the next song pushed by Sony. A video for Breakdown is in the works.
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| 1. Honey | If you didn't like this song and was hesitant about the rest of the new album, don't worry. The other songs are nothing like this one. To me, Honey is overproduced (thanks to Puffy). The way the song flows just doesn't seem right - a little too slow. Good chorus, but not that catchy like in Always Be My Baby. | Puff and I wanted to collaborated, do the first single. We were going back and forth with stuff, so I had songs I liked but I knew they weren't exactly what I wanted yet. The original idea for the loop that "Honey" is written on is a song called "Body Rock" by Treacherous Three. He played it for me over the phone, and I was like, "That's It!" So I wrote the song on the top of it and then we all got together at Puffy's. | I know of six remixes and there are also two versions of the video. One with Mariah in a helicopter. | |
| 2. Butterfly | Okay, so we've all heard people say it's the "song of the decade," but exactly how good is it? When I first heard it on Oprah, I was sort of disappointed because I expected it to really be the "song of the decade." You know that when you hear good things and get your hopes up, you tend to get disappointed. So if you haven't heard it, don't expect too much! On the other hand, it's really really awesome!!! The beginning and end sounds like Hero, but most of it is similar to One Sweet Day with the big chorus. However, no Boyz II Men so there is there isn't that power (for lack of a better word) that only duets can bring. Is it better than One Sweet Day? No, in my opinion. But I wouldn't be surprised if it goes 16 weeks + like OSD. | Originally Butterfly was going to be a house record and, in fact, Fly Away was my starting point for the song but as work progressed I decided that this should be the title of the album and a ballad but it's not sung in a traditional style. I wanted the verses to be much more inward, like small and quiet and subtle the the choruses really open...I didn't plan the vocals, it was about what came out of my mouth at the time, of figuring it out as I go along. | The second single from the album. Song recorded at Chris Blackwell's studio in the Bahamas. Video filmed in South Carolina. Theme about a person realizing that he/she needs to let go and allow the other person to "fly" on her/his own. Sounds like what Tommy might have been thinking. | |
| 3. My All | Another powerful ballad. One of my favorites from the album. It's a little similar to All I've Ever Wanted, but better. I didn't really like All I've Ever Wanted 'cause I felt the singing was too much, like it hurt. My All is generally deeper in tone and Mariah only belts it out in certain parts (like the chorus). Before you ask, let me say, she still got it! | There's so much more of me that's gone into this album - more than any other record I've done. It's very personal, I wrote "My All" after I came back from Puerto Rico and I guess I was in that whole Spanish vibe... it's got a Latin feel to it. | ||
| 4. The Roof | Good song with cool beat! Another favorite of mine. There's two lines of sampled rap, but the song isn't anything like rap. I don't like rap, but love this song. Very catchy chorus. Sort of a Honey feel to it, but better, no overproduction. It's also sorta like Long Ago in the way Mariah sings it, but also much better. | This is my favorite song on the album. I did it with the Trackmasters... they are really cool people. I had an idea to use a sample from one of my favourite records and so I went to those guys and we put it together. There's only one version of this song on the album, but we're going to do a remix, hopefully with the guys who did the original. | We definitely see Mariah's lyrics mature, and this song is an example. It's a love song called "The Roof." Hmm.. I wonder what that means. | |
| 5. Fourth of July | If you liked Underneath The Stars, you're going to like this song. Similar feel, and Mariah even did the record scratches in the beginning like in UTS. So instead of underneath the stars in a field, we're underneath the stars in a hillside on the Fourth of July. She doesn't go as high as she does in UTS though. I didn't really like UTS, so I don't really like this song. But it might grow on me. | "Fourth Of July" was one of the first songs that I wrote for this album and it's sort of like "Underneath The Stars", which was my favourite song from the last album. We were continuing in the '70's feel and lyrically I wanted to paint a picture, like when you listen to a song and you read the lyrics, It's very visual in a lot of ways. | ||
| 6. Breakdown | You can definitely hear the Bone Thugs and Harmony influence hear. She sings it the same way as the Bone songs I've heard (which aren't many). Dont' like Bones Thugs and Harmony, don't like this song | I told Bone Thugs-N-Harmony that I wanted to record with them, and they were like, "OK..." I think I shock people with the ideas I come up with, but I think it worked out really well. You know how you work constantly and then you don't realise when you're about to fall down because you're so wrapped up in what you're doing? That's where this song is coming from. | ||
| 7. Babydoll | I saw the lyrics before I heard this song and I was like, what??? Mariah's former subtle lyrics are no where to be found on this one. Perhaps Missy Eliot influence on writing it has something to do with it. But in either case, definitely not the old Mariah! For example, "rock me on and on" and "you and me between the sheets." Also pretty slow and R&B, kinda of boring feel in my opinion. I didn't expect much with a song called "Babydoll" (is there a more stupid name?) and it turns out that I didn't get much. | I wrote that with Missy Elliott and I really wanted to work with her because she's on the cutting edge of R&B. We wrote it in a hotel room we were drinking champagne and she fell asleep during the writing session, so I had to finish it alone! | The song is basically about someone not hearing from someone (there's a whole verse about checking phone messages - stupid part!) Mariah went down to Virginia to work with Missy, and it turned that that Missy had a huge hangover. | |
| 8. Close My Eyes | Not a power ballad, but beautiful song nevertheless. Very well-written lyrics, maybe her best ever? Similar to Looking In, but a much much better song in the non-lyrical ways. | I started writing that song four years ago. I was up at this farm where we used to go every weekend and I was actually in the bathtub. It was night, I was looking out at the moon and it was just like this introspective little moment, thinking about my life and what I've been through. It's personal - it's about my life and childhood. | An introspective theme. I know Mariah said that Looking In wasn't about herself, yeah whatever. This song continues the ideas in Looking In with Mariah saying "maybe I grew up a little too soon," that "a part of me will never be stable," how she was like a "woman-child" and was "blocking the madness." | |
| 9. Whenever You Call | If you still have doubts about how much she can belt it out, you'll get answered. No, there's no glass-breaking "shrieks." The song starts slowly and softly and beautifully and then keeps progressing up and up even when you think it's going to stop. Again, she's still got it. By the way, for those who still are looking for the "shrieks," it's there if you look for it. But not in this song and only as a very faint background. Check out the beginning of Butterfly. | It's more of the tradition style of ballad, like "Hero". I do so many different kinds of tracks on this album but I think it's good because I've maintained true to myself in terms of doing ballads, but still being able to do the collaborations like with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. | About someone being there for a person. An Anytime You Need a Friend theme. | |
| 10. Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) | Can we say Daydream Interlude with new lyrics? It starts off the same way, and then more beats follow, just like in Daydream Interlude. It has the background singers chanting the chorus. Don't really like Daydream Interlude, don't really like this song. What's with these interludes anyway? In her next album (I just got Butterfly today and I'm already talking about the next album!), as I was saying, in her next album, she better not have another of these filler interlude things. | The "Fly Away" part was my original concept for the song ... then I started working a little further and I said, "This should really be the title of the album and this should be a ballad." I already had written most of it, but we worked it out. | Daydream Interlude (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix) Part II | |
| 11. The Beautiful Ones | Don't like Prince. Don't like this song. Too slow, too stupid (for ex. "if we got married, would that be cool?") Mariah's beautiful voice and laziness to turn the "next" button on the CD player are maybe the only reasons I would ever listen to this song. There's some background "shrieks," but then again, it also sounds like sound effects. Also lots of random guys singing, really detracts from Mariah's beautiful voice. | "The Beautiful Ones" is my favourite Prince song ever. I've been toying with the idea of doing a Prince song for a long time. The song was the closest to where I'm at in this stage in my life. | old Prince song | |
| 12. Outside | An average but beautiful ballad in my opinion. I mean, it's not at all bad, but it hasn't hit me as a great song yet after about 3-4 listens. But I can see how I could grow to love it, like I did with So Blessed. | The song "Outside" is ... I mean, I always hate to get too specific because people could relate to it for a lot of different reasons. For me, it was about being multi-racial and feeling like I came from another planted because I never knew anyone in the exact same position as me. The experiences I've had just make me feel like an outsider in a lot of ways. | ||
| 13. Let Me Know | THE SECRET SONG: Oh yes, there is one! It's a really nice song - it's called "Let Me Know". And the best part of the song is the rap at the end - and the rapper is... MARIAH!!! That's right, Mariah is rapping in "Let Me Know" and it sounds really good! -- From a Visioner
The U.S. buyers never get any of these surprise songs, so I haven't heard it. But Mariah rapping!?!!?? Is it Prisoner all over again? |
It is a bonus track for some CD's. Also, I hear people in other parts of the world (other than the U.S. that is) are getting 2 remixes of Honey on the album. | ||
| NOTE: These are simply my opinions, and you may feel differently once you've heard the song(s). | ||||
| Mariah's Comments are taken from a TV Hits (Australian magazine) article. | ||||
In this new album, Mariah is definitely moving again more towards the R&B genre, a move started with Daydream. However, she still hasn't left what made her popular -- the awesome ballads! One noticeable thing that the new album lacks that I wish she would've included were those mid-to-fast tempo songs like Fantasy, or Now That I Know. I've always like Mariah's balance in music, and those songs were one aspect of that. Before the album came out, it was said that Mariah would also be venturing into hip hop. I don't see it in the album. The closest songs to hip hop is Honey, which is definitely NOT hip hop but still has Puffy Combs' influence.
The way Mariah has matured as an artist and writer is proven in this album. There're none of those lyrics so many critics have deemed childish. The lyrics about love are more explicit, especially in Babydoll, Mariah's collaboration with Missy Eliot. That is not to say that critics will all applaud Mariah's maturing writing, but she has grown for the better.
I noticed that in every album, Mariah's voice seems to change. For example, her voice in Emotions was more gospel and hoarse than her debut, while her voice Music Box was crystal clear. And her voice in Daydream, in all honesty, was not the voice I had expected. She got this weird whiny sound when she goes down in tone. Like in Underneath The Stars, it was all of a sudden different as she switched from a high to lower tone. Same with Open Arms. But in Butterfly, her good voice is back! It's sort of like her voice in the debut album, but of course it's a little different because she isn't 18 any more. It's like that hoarse sound - very sensual. And in the song Whenever You Call, you can hear her clear voice in Music Box.
Daydream was Mariah's most favorably reviewed album, and Butterfly will change that. As in Daydream, her high notes aren't in your face like in her debut album (not that I'm complaining). Much more subtle, faint high notes can still be heard though in the background. In my opinion, however, the album is still not her best ever. I'm still biased toward Music Box in that respect because it just had better songs, and more of the better songs - no fillers, and a clear, powerful voice which was awesome in Without You, my favorite ballad. If Daydream was your favorite Mariah album, then Butterfly is also going to rank up there with it. They're actually pretty similar album: both 12 songs, both with an interlude. So we'll just have to wait for the #1 debuts to pile up (hey, she's got one bagged already).
Maybe we're all reading too much into the lyrics
