The Remixes - Carey, Mariah (CD 2003)

Mariah Carey's name has fallen victim to the slander of about every magazine, newspaper, and published report in the world in the past few years, when a flurry of negative media flew in when her nervous breakdown coincided with the release of her "Glitter" LP. Say what you will about Ms. Carey's personality (although I've met the charming woman before and would likely disagree), but you can't argue against the music.

This album is a long overdue collection of Mariah's "Remixes" featuring the most important remixes of the 90's. Long before artists like Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule began to seek success through the art of remixing a single, Mariah was perfecting her own remixes in the studio.

With "Dreamlover", Mariah became the first major artist to re-record vocals for a remix, and the results were explosive. The house mix of "Dreamlover" became an instant club #1 and paved the way for many artists to come.

But it was with her hip-hop mixes that Mariah changed pop culture, particularly the remix of "Fantasy" featuring ODB. Without this classic track, we wouldn't have been hearing much from Jennifer Lopez, who revitalized her career with this formula.

Being a pioneer in any area doesn't always mean you're great, but in this instance, Mariah does not disappoint. The first disc of club mixes features the deliciously 80's flavored "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely", the gospel-influenced "Anytime You Need a Friend" and the club anthem "My All".

The second disc features the best of her rap remixes ("Fantasy", "Heartbreaker", "Honey", etc.), but makes the unfortunate mistake of leaving off "I Still Believe/Pure Imagination". The album does, however, include the recent hit "I Know What You Want", a delectable if derivative b-side off her most recent album "Charmbracelet" titled "Miss You", and a remixed version of "The One" featuring new vocals.

Mariah's remixes have always been a place for her to let go in ways that she doesn't on the original.

In "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely", for instance, Mariah lets her vocals go, even if it isn't always pretty. Far better than the original's plodding retread of past hits with bored vocals, to say the least.

In the house mix of "My All", Mariah's longing is brought to new heights as she sings out about wishing for just "one more night" with a man she loved. The new vocals on the remix soar high above the more subtle vocals left on the original, and lift the beat right off the album.

Even on the rap remixes, Mariah's vocals hit the spot, favoring a sexy, slinky tone that suits the remix format beautifully. Since Mariah's actual singles can often be designed from a formula geared toward success and thus sound unoriginal, it is during the rap remixes that she can explore something fresh, and on the remixes for "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You", she revitalizes the tracks in ways the originals couldn't begin to comprehend.

Even if you're not a big fan of Ms. Carey's persona or even her music, you should be able to enjoy this infectious collection of memorable remixes.