Uneven lineup marks Mariah Carey’s return to recording

CAREY (WITH HER SELF-PORTRAIT, INSET). Sings with her twins, Roc ‘n Roe, in “Supernatural.”

Mariah Carey is just as famous for her career-defining hit tunes like “We Belong Together,” “Make It Happen” and “Thank God I Found You” as she is for her seven-octave-breaching range and alternating use of her prodigious whistle and whisper registers.

Carey says that her long-delayed album, “Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse,” is a reflection of the peaks and valleys of an eventful 24-year career that began when she first knocked the circuitous notes of 1990’s “Vision of Love” out of the AT40 ballpark—and she’s right, because the incohesive lineup has dance floor scorchers (the Q-Tip-produced “Meteorite”), midtempo charmers (the fun and frisky “#Beautiful,” with Miguel) and rap-and-sing grinders (“Money,” with Fabolous).

In spite of some false starts and the intriguing “changing of the guard” halfway through the recording process (the producing chores changed hands from Jermaine Dupri to “American Idol’s” Randy Jackson—and back again), the album astutely incorporates Mariah’s collaborators into the hefty mix:

With a sleekly utilized interpolation of Inner Life’s “I’m Caught Up In A One-Night Love Affair,”  “You Don’t Know What To Do” jumpstarts the songstress’ foot-tapping I-sing-you-rap collaboration with Wale. In “Dedicated,” she waxes romantic as she coos her lush ladidadida runs alongside a nostalgia-stoked Nas, who pays tribute to the heady heyday of ’80s hip-hop.

The deluxe edition features tantalizing throwback remixes from 2009’s “Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel” via “Betcha Gon’ Know” and “It’s A Wrap,” in which she sings with R. Kelly and Mary J. Blige, respectively—vocally gifted singer-performers who can teach pop music’s Emancipated Mimi a thing or two about how not to oversing her songs, which she tends to do with her ballads (“Cry” and “Camouflage”).

Carey’s melismatic excesses draw unfair attention away from her strengths as a vocalist. This is where the legendary singer should be more judicious, especially at an age when she’s finding it increasingly harder to replicate the studio-controlled quality of her once-invincible pipes.

Remember her embarrassing rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” at last December’s National Christmas Tree Lighting event in Washington, DC—and immortalized on YouTube for everyone to see? Lesson: We all have bad days, so when you’re off your “A” game, it’s best to keep things simple—and avoid pushing for what isn’t there! After all, less is more!

Vocal curlicues

Another song that falls victim to an overload of vocal curlicues is Mariah’s ambitious do-over of George Michael’s “One More Try.” While the British singer’s 1988 original oozed with soul and style, Mariah’s version bursts with unnecessary notes that overshadow the tune’s melody and message about second chances.

Carey then takes a change of pace and uses a subtler approach for “Supernatural,” which features her 3-year-old fraternal twins with husband Nick Cannon, Monroe and Moroccan Cannon aka Roc ‘n Roe. But, the chatty tykes’ musical gibberish should have been handled with greater care because, toward the end, their looped notes run the risk of sounding more creepy than cute!

Despite its uneven elements, “Me. I Am Mariah” delivers chart-ready tracks that would sit well alongside her long string of hits. And, while you’re listening to the singer’s two albums’ worth of musical goodies, check out the hand-drawn painting on the back cover of the disc.

With a chuckle, Mariah pleads, “Please don’t judge me for the painting’s simplicity. Come on, I was only 3 and a half years old then! It was my first and only self-portrait—a creative visualization of how I saw myself with the purity of a child’s heart—before it was broken!”