Ok I'm highly disappointed. This album didn't satisfy me at all. I can say it's a good album but it's far from being the best ever - as I expected it to be. I felt like listening to "The Emancipation Of Mimi" b-sides and leftovers. It's not as fresh and hot as the Emancipation. I don't know if I'm the only one, but I felt like Mariah tried so hard to re-implement the same structure of the Emancipation (for safety reasons) and she kinda failed to bring it on par. I'd get down on my knees and bow to "Bye Bye" if I had never heard the song called "We Belong Together" before. Not only that, but she's choosing it as a SECOND single, too?! Even "I Wish You Well" which is one of my favorites here also is not as awesome as "Fly Like A Bird", for example. Emancipation vs. Emancipation II. That's a first thumb down.
Secondly, The album standouts barely stand out. Seriously. There's no wow or "let's replay this part again" moments. And I do understand what some people here mean by the word "Boring". The production is mediocre at best. JD is ****ing horrible and all he is good at is TALKING and ruining the tracks with his annoying voice rather than making good music. I don't know why the likes of Mariah and Janet Jackson even bring him to the studio. He can't produce ****. She should have given DANJA a chance and he would've taken this whole record to another level. Mariah needs a CHANGE in her staff ASAP.
- IMO, "Cruise Control", "I Stay In Love" , "Love Story" , "Last Kiss" and "Bye Bye" are fillers type. I could do without them.
- The standouts "Migrate", "Touch My Body" (wow! I'd have never expected it to be one of the standouts), "Side Effects","Thanx For Nothin'", "O.O.C." , "For The Record".
- "I'm That Chick" and "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" are brilliant, but for a very limited time.
This graph below represents of how I feel about the album while listening to it: (As you can see, there's inconsistency in this album and that's where my disappointment comes from)
Lastly, I'd have to admit that she did a great job with her vocals, the lyrics and with songs like "Migrate", "Side Effects", "O.C.C." (the French parts were fun) and "Thanx 4 Nothin'".. these tracks give this album the identity and fill the lack of originality that most of the other tracks had caused. I'd consider them more experimental, unlike the other predictable and horrendously pasted off the Emancipation tracks.
Conclusion - This album was supposed to be a continuation to her comeback album that everybody fell in love with, unfortunately, the results came out as a bad attempt to use an out-dated formula. Hopefully, some miracle happens and I start to change my opinion on some songs.
