Mariah Carey

The album title may be a nod to physics, but the songs aim for voyeur physicality. "Touch My Body" is self-conscious sexual fantasy hung on a golden hook. Throughout, Mariah forgoes the octave-scaling, roller-coaster melisma of earlier work in favor of restrained phrasing that puts the emphasis on her voice. Check the vocal layering on mid-tempo ballad "I Stay in Love" or the bouncy BBQ jam "I'm That Chick." These more classic R&B forms are where Mariah shines. When she ventures into R&B/snap hybrid ("Migrate," "Side Effects"), her beauty is lost in the claptrap.

Mariah Carey embraces her extremes: She's either grinding out R&B-hop or singing syrupy
ballads, talking dirty or cuddling with a Hello Kitty. Her tenth studio album is no different: It
starts in a club and ends in a church. Carey tries on reggae with Damian Marley's scorching
"Cruise Control" cameo, conjures a text-message title for Swizz Beatz's flute-loopy "O.O.C."
("out of control") and dials cool Seventies soul with "I'm That Chick" (where she... More >