Review: Mariah Carey "E=MC2"

The diva who took over 2005 with "We Belong Together" is back with more R&B jams to melt the dance floor. "E=MC2" starts off with six club-ready songs in row, four of which would be easy pop hits if released as singles. The first, "Migrate" isn't a Mariah song as we expect it to be, the vocals are actually vocoded in parts I believe. (Which shouldn't come as a shock, since T-Pain is the guest rapper.) This is a club banger of the highest order, I can't wait to shake my ass to it. Number one hit "Touch My Body" follows and then a hot track, "Cruise Control" with Damian Marley, which is only marred by Mariah's attempt at a Jamacian accent on one verse. Still ass-shaking fun. The stand out is "Side Effects" which chronicles her painful relationship with Tommy Mattola, which has a Scott Storch-produced dance friendly groove juxtaposed with soul baring lyrics like "You were scared I'd become much more than you could handle, shining like a chandelier that decorated every room inside the private hell we built." She follows that track with lighter fare, the smooth R&B jam "I'm That Chick" that sounds a lot like Ne-Yo's "Because Of You" and the DeBarge sampling "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time." The album is a little overstuffed, I could have done without at least two of the Jermaine Dupri-produced tracks, but I'm a little prejudiced since I hate JD's "Y'all know what this is" intro tag that he forces into every song. But the album regains it's groove with some hip-hop on "O.O.C" and sentimental gospel on "Bye Bye." All in all, even with some minor missteps this is the perfect summer record, made to be bumped with the windows down and the bass way up.