Rolling Stone : "Nearly every song confines Carey to four-note verses, offering little room for her glorious range, and the six ballads are drenched in yearbook-quote lyrics that never quite work themselves into the froth of The Emancipation of Mimi."

Billboard: "She's proclaimed emancipation before, but Mariah Carey's never sounded as free as she does on her 10th album. The usual hummable radio hip-hop and bold ballads are here, in pristine form."

Entertainment Weekly: "E=MC2 finds Carey stacking the deck with the hottest producers and guest artists in urban music. The result is a largely enjoyable mix of flirtatious club jams, midtempo love songs, and emotional ballads anchored by hip-hop beats that handsomely showcase the singer's powerful vocal chops."

My take on it: It's a very safe and predictable album. It's nothing unexpected nor out of the ordinary. The beats are good but the vocals leave something to be desired…something like the powerful voice of the old Mariah.

For those of you that don't know the meaning behind the album title E=MC2 , Mariah gives a little insight into it. 'The Emancipation Of Mimi' to the second power, basically, I'm freer on this album than I've ever been,"

There was a suggestion that the title might have had something to do with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity but Mariah clears up any speculation of that. "Einstein's theory?" she laughed. "Physics? Me? Hello! I even failed remedial math. I could not pass seventh grade math even in the lowest class with the worst kids." Whoa! She couldn't even pass remedial math? She must be extremely thankful she was blessed with the ability to sing because I don't see much use for her otherwise.

P.S. if you thought she was being original with her album title, sorry to tell you but she wasn't the first nor the only one to use it. click here 

It was announced today that Mariah has landed the biggest album sales week so far this year with 463,000 copies of E=MC2 sold.


Aaron Fields writes for KSTW-TV in Seattle. All opinions expressed in this column are his.