The Emancipation of Mimi, when she topped the Year-End Billboard Hot 100 fifteen years into her career coming off of a huge career slump and temporarily returned to form in terms of chart domination when she remained at the top for 15 weeks.
After "Music Box" she was seen as a Pop Icon, after "Daydream" she was seen as a legend in the making, after "The Emancipation of Mimi" she was seen as an official legend.
Devon Powers from Popmatters has stated during the release of Carey's Greatest Hits album that "Mariah’s Greatest Hits moves chronologically through that remarkable career, beginning with “Vision of Love”, the 1990 single that introduced the singer to instant stardom. Still, after so many years and songs, it’s by far among her best, if not the best—a simple testament to the incredible pipes that gave her a permanent place in pop cultural memory.Powers added that "From its first moments, the song demands to be legendary—a gong crash smolders low as Mariah’s gospel-inspired vocals hum confidently, grandly.
Entertainment Weekly included it on their "10 Great (and 10 Grating) Karaoke Songs" list as a grating karaoke song, saying: "You cannot do this song. Seriously. Tackling this lung-crusher might seem like a fun challenge, but three minutes, five octaves, and one 10-second note later, you will realize that you did not conquer 'Vision of Love.' 'Vision of Love' conquered you."
USA Today critic Elysa Gardner picked "Vision of Love" as one of the most intriguing tracks, saying that it is still Mariah's best song. T. Field and a research team discovered that "Vision of Love" is one of the songs that has physiological and biochemical effects on depressed female adolescents. R&B singer BeyoncéKnowles said that she began doing vocal "runs" after listening to "Vision of Love" for the first time. Similarly, pop singer Christina Aguilera cited the song and Carey as big influences in her career as a singer. In an interview during the early stages of her career, Aguilera said "I've totally looked up to Mariah since 'Vision of Love' came out. "
In 2006, Sasha Frere-Jones from The New Yorker named the song "the Magna Carta of melisma"for it and Carey's influence on pop and R&B singers and American Idol contestants. Additionally, Rolling Stone said that "the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love", inspired the entire American Idol vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties." Slant Magazine critic Rich Juzwiak, wrote "I think ["Vision of Love"] was a vision of the future world of American Idol."
