Emancipation of Mimi

Early buzz on The Emancipation of Mimi had it that this would be the disc to mark "the return of the voice"—the voice being that glass-shattering instrument that propelled Carey to best-selling female artist of all time status—and mostly it is. But because of the small army of talent involved in its assembly, it's also way more than that. For straight-ahead, look-out-Beyonce-Mimi's-still-got-it reinforcement, try "Mine Again," a ‘70s-soul cuddle-up, "Circles," a soaring, don't-attempt-this-on-American-Idol love song, the gospel dazzler "Fly Like a Bird," and "Stay the Night." But for songs that steer this disc directly into 2005, no looking back, scan the jewel case for the tracks followed by the word "featuring": "To the Floor," with Nelly, bumps along to maximum booty-shaking effect, while Twista spins his natural-disaster-force vocal into "One and Only." Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, and Jermaine Dupri also pitch in; between them and the highwire vocals, Emancipation works the kind of pure-pop magic that sets us all free. --Tammy La Gorce—this text refers to the standard edition.

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