Listen: Mariah Carey's new track 'Almost Home' misses by a mile
Mid-tempo ballad from 'Oz the Great and Powerful' could use some heart
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Hear Mariah Carey like you’re never heard her...and that’s not a good thing.
[More after the jump...]
The diva’s new single, “Almost Home” from the soundtrack to upcoming film “Oz The Great and Powerful” dropped a day early, but, quite frankly, we could have certainly waited another day for this.
The Stargate-produced, mid-tempo track featured a highly-processed Carey vocal with her singing in her middle register over a cheesy synthesized track. She sounds a little like a Munchkin her voice is so compressed. It’s not until the song hits the 3-minute mark that we get any kind of singing that remotely resembles her previous efforts..
The song is staggeringly generic and devoid of anything resembling a hook. When the most fascinating thing about it is the way Carey draws “go” out into four syllables, “go-oh-oh-oh,” that’s not a good sign.
The bridge brings in a buzzing that will have you checking to see if you just received a text. You did: it’s your phone letting you know the song is as dull as you think it is. Even Carey sounds bored singing it.
Carey is one of the most talented and successful singers of her generation. Why is she having so much trouble getting her groove back? Between this and last fall’s flailing “Triumphant (Get ‘Em),” there’s nothing that makes me excited to hear a new Carey album, although I still have total faith in her talent and voice. We know she has heart, courage, brains. Maybe she needs to ask the Great Oz for better material.
If I click my heels three times, can I get the three minutes I spent listening to this back?
What do you think of "Almost Home?"
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Comments
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJake
February 18, 2013 at 10:39PM EST Reply to CommentI totally disagree. It's important Mariah stays relevant while staying true to her sound, and she does that with this. I love the meaning, and it's perfect for a Disney movie. It's not an Adele style ballad we know Mariah is capable of, but it's uplifting and fun and exactly what she needs at this point I think to bring her back to pop gold. Good job Mariah.
rodrigo moratto OMG I think the song is amazing! I have just bought the single, yes her voice is very compressed which is to her disadvantage, but it is a good song. Its also a song that reflects whats going on today in Music. We cant expect Mariah to sing "Emotions" only...music has changed so much! Triumphant was terrible ( sorry Mariah I love you) but this is gold! luv it....
February 22, 2013 at 10:58AM ESTEvasen I agree, this will go to #1 no doubt. I liked Triumphant but its not my favourite MC track. "Almost Home" is a home run.
February 23, 2013 at 4:29PM ESTel
February 19, 2013 at 1:59AM EST Reply to CommentIt's terrible. Triumphant was worse though.
michaelovan
February 19, 2013 at 4:23AM EST Reply to CommentI mean... it's just... if you listened to this song and didn't know it was Mariah Carey, would you have hated it THIS much?
melinda I would have thought it was totally non-descript and bland. But I do know it's Mariah Carey and I know what she is capable of, so I admittedly judge her by a higher standard because she is so talented.
February 19, 2013 at 3:28PM ESTJ
February 19, 2013 at 6:25AM EST Reply to CommentI think the song's arrangement is very fitting. Listening to it, I think of a proper Disney movie ending: everybody is happy and all with that last "Oh" at the end of the song jumping in when the scene fades to black and that lovely "The End" appears. If it's really used to finish the movie, I think the first part (which is played when everyone's talking) is suitable as it is not MC going all crazy with belts and whistles everywhere in the background. After all the characters get their last lines, the latter part, the wonderful climax, is brought up to full volume for full appreciation. I really enjoy this new sound from Mimi.
I believe you are unreasonably negative with this post.
(Sorry for my English, not my mother tongue heh)
lee totally agree...this is a beautiful song - excited to see the movie with this at the end credits <3
February 19, 2013 at 8:57AM ESTB
February 19, 2013 at 7:42AM EST Reply to CommentThe writer (Melinda Newman) is obviously a pressed and threatened fan.
The review reads subjectively, almost as if she has a personal vendetta against Mariah.
Terrible and unprofessonal journalism.
Perhaps she should "Google search" other reviews of the song. In the fifty or so articles I found, this is the ONLY negative review.
So clearly the problem lies with her.
Be gone witch before somebody drops a house on you!
katie, a princess it's a review of a piece of music. it is, by nature, subjective. not a news piece.
February 19, 2013 at 11:49AM ESTI see what you did there with "witch."
melinda B- I'm a little hard pressed to figure out how my writing, "Carey is one of the most talented and successful singers of her generation" and "I still have total faith in her talent and voice" translates into my having a personal vendetta against Mariah, but I enjoyed your witch/house line. Thanks for reading.
February 19, 2013 at 2:16PM ESTnick
February 19, 2013 at 9:53AM EST Reply to CommentThis review is cliche and has about as much credibility as a blog post.
katie, a princess
February 19, 2013 at 11:51AM EST Reply to CommentSong stinks. It's like ether, a non-entity.
Ginger
February 19, 2013 at 5:49PM EST Reply to CommentLove this song!!!!!!
JJ
February 19, 2013 at 7:03PM EST Reply to CommentThis song is perfect combination of ideas: Mariah finally meets the Yellow Brick Road idea she represents. Let's not forget that the build of this song fits perfectly into a Disney catalogue. The message on this song is very clear and she takes you from a very restrained vocal range to one that soars - she is telling a story better than any other artist today knows how. Let's face it, Mariah is the last of her kind and she knows classical structure, a lot of which society today has forgot. This song shows her journey and maturity. When I read this critique, I realize some critics are just so quick to shoot a balloon down just so they can write some catchy little stupid phrase like "misses by a mile" - wow, that's so clever Ms. Melinda Newman - the only thing cliche is your review.
Evasen
February 23, 2013 at 4:27PM EST Reply to CommentLove this song, this article is SH!T.. The track is awesome!
T-Roy
February 24, 2013 at 10:48AM EST Reply to CommentI totally disagree this song is one of thee best from Mariah Carey in years, the vocals are insane as well as the lyrics, whoever tries too hate on this song is just a total Mariah hater, the song or vocals are not compressed as some people try too use the term in other words "autotune", your obviously not a MIMI fan if you were you would and please NOTE that Mariah dubbs her vocals over the same track in the studio while recording which is GENIUS and she has done the technique for years so while your wasting your time hater us Lambs are enjoying our old school MIMI's return so sit back and STFU just sayine, -anonymous
Linda
March 2, 2013 at 8:19PM EST Reply to CommentIt's pretty bad. I agree, her voice is very compressed. Auto tune is the star of this song. If u have listened to her sing the last few years, she can't hold notes long anymore or get to those higher notes. It sucks getting d but this song should have stayed on the shelves. And this is my opinion only.
=] Have you seen her performances in Australia <3 ?
March 6, 2013 at 10:20AM ESTYes, her voice has somewhat degraded but that was expected; however, to say she can't hold notes or get those higher notes is a little bit exaggerated, don't you think?
And yeah, it sucks getting old =]