Daydream  – Mariah Carey – 1995

Claimed Sales: 25m

First listen?: Yes

Format Listened?: Apple Music

Mariah Carey appears here once again with an album that was said to make her transition from Pop to RnB permanent. In the end there’s really not much difference between this and her previous studio album Music Box, it’s a mixture of ridiculously oversung ballads and ridiculously oversung RnB leaning pop hits. The most successful moments here come in the form of collaborator Jermaine Dupri on the slinky jam Long Ago and obvious stand out Always Be My Baby. The ‘do do do do’ hook is one of the few moments where a song on Daydream feels fun and natural, and it’s the song that manages to survive best amongst the vocals. Babyface co-write Melt Away feels like 90s Whitney and is surprisingly restrained at times too, while closer Looking In is probably the moment she dials it back the most. Opener Fantasy is a breathy pop hit and opens the record on a positive note while the dance remix that appears near the end is welcome relief after what lies between. Sadly for me the rest of this ballad stacked record just heightens the issues I had with Music Box. Forever is a painfully dull throwback waltz time track, while Open Arms is the album’s token ill advised cover this time making a Journey hit into a gospel let ballad. It’s all time longest running Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit One Sweet Day though that reaches peak Mariah. In case you’ve not realised, that’s not a good thing as her and Boyz II Men attempt to out wail each other for 5 minutes. In my notes after my first listen, I wrote ‘One Sweet Day is a racket’ and there’s no other way I can describe the final 2 minutes of that song. On Daydream Mariah manages to be exactly the artist I expect her to be. The vocals are crazed at times and there’s less of the catchy pop tunes to Music Box, but there’s still some decent tunes underneath. She will never be a favourite of mine and I doubt Daydream will be either.

Rating: 4/10

Will I listen again?: Definitely not

Best Track: Always Be My Baby is the catchiest track here and manages to not infuriate me.