Best Mariah Carey Albums

The Top Ten
1 Butterfly

To be honest, this album is worth listening because this is one of her most personal albums to date. "The Roof" was Mariah's favorite song (it probably still is now!), and "My All" gives it a personal depth and mood. "Honey" was such a good fun, loving song though! This is the art that deserves to be well-liked by anyone! It is also such a meaningful album for Mariah!

Honestly, it boils down between this and Daydream. But I love Butterfly a little more for several reasons. She grew up from Daydream and the previous albums. It's like she said, "Cut the crap, I'm singing for real. Forget the princess-y singing, I'm doing me." and thus Butterfly marked a new starting point in her career. Only true Mariah fans would know what I am talking about. Daydream is an awesome album too, but when you compare it to this album, Butterfly wins because it is simply more "realistic" in a sense.

Everything in this album proves that iy deserves to be jn the number 1 spot in every Mariah Carey Album Charts. From the very vivid and deep lyricism down to the unspoken emotions of her true self and also don't forget her very wonderful vocals. I think that this is really her best because it reflects on who she really are and she's now free and honest about her music. This took me to another Mariah that's far too better than most of her albums, it's like she's letting us take a peek in what she really feels inside.

Okay, we all probably knew that THIS ALBUM was going to hit Number One. The critics love it, fans love it, I love it, EVERYONE LOVES IT! And sure, while picking Daydream or Butterfly seemed like a tough decision, at first, I then did a bit of research. Butterfly was almost always put at No. 1 on Mariah Carey album Rankings, and so, since I loved both Daydream and Butterfly equally, that's what it had to come down to. Nevertheless, both albums are superb and I hop that Mariah's new album will remind me of this wonderful work of art! Thanks Mimi 4 the great music!

2 Daydream

One Sweet Day, Fantasy, Always Be My Baby and her version of Journey's Open Arms will always be my favorites in Mariah's Daydream album. And goodness gracious, she's so incredibly gorgeous on that album cover!

This is such a beautiful, daydreamed album. "Fantasy" is my favorite song because this is the vibe I needed to make my dreams come true, especially for me having intimacy and passion on Aladdin and Aladdin and Jasmine's love relationship (even though they are not Christians, as one of the lyrics of that song is "Images of Rapture"; I had my own meaning for that one in a different way because that's what I wanted, hehe!). "One Sweet Day" was also such a perfect song for Aladdin and Jasmine because I imagined them singing this song with these same exact voices in the original song in my mind (with the Genie doing a couple speaking parts in the song)! This song is also so satisfying to me! Otherwise, the songs were really good in this album!

Clearly my favourite, and the best -then there are the Grammys and Billboard to support me. Though she left the Grammys empty handed, she had 6 nominations. With 3 singles charting at #1, Mariah also is honoured as the first female artist to debut a song in the chart directly to #1 (Fantasy), and the record for most weeks at number one with 16 (One Sweet Day).

This is one of her best works. The only thing I felt is that this album lacked some more upbeat songs. THIS is her vocal prime, this album has broke so many records it ain't even funny (do some research, because I'm not listing them... just too many). Never will we ever hear a voice this perfect.

3 Mariah Carey

This and Butterfly are easily her best albums. Both have beautiful ballads and danceable tracks which are not reductive hip-hop songs.
Top picks: Vision of Love, Vanishing, Love Takes Time & There's Got To Be A Way!

The Emancipation of Mimi is overrated and Charmbracelet and Emotions are underrated.

A very impressive debut. This album was just the starting point of her career, and she kept getting better as the 90's moved along. This is just a little effort in comparison to what she would later do, and later become..

Most singers get better as they get deeper into their careers, but this was Mariah's prime both musically and vocally.

Butterfly above this is disrespectful. This when mariah was great, this and music box are her best albums.

4 Music Box

Oh my gosh! THIS and Emotions has to be my all time favorite albums of Mariah Carey! It feautures some of the best songs she's ever made like Anytime You Need A Friend, Hero, Dreamlover, and then in Emotions, you got the classic Emotions and Make It Happen.

To me, I prefer this album better than the rest, and this is my personal favorite album of Mariah Carey. In my opinion, the theme is really beautiful, compared the albums like Butterfly and Daydream, especially on Mariah's music and looks, and this is how I want a perfect pop album by a female artist. My favorite song by her is "Without You". Even though it is a cover, the song is so perfect; it had a vibrant and enjoyable vibe to the music, it gives us emotions, and the vocals, especially at the end, are so heartwarming. I also believed that it should easily become a 1# hit since the vocals are very satisfying to some music fans. I also loved the album package, especially on the front cover of the cropped version of a photo shoot. If you see the entire version of that photo, she looked so beautiful, especially her curly hair full of cinnamon and elegance. "Hero" is a great song too; the theme is like how you are being yourself for a reason. The songs are all perfect in my opinion, ...more

It's such a shame that the album was criticized and mixed because some of the songs were actually just good, especially "Dreamlover" and "Without You". It was the era when Mariah started to lack the whistles and start to just belt with such a beautiful resonance. What a successful masterpiece! "Dreamlover" is my favorite song off of that album!

Hero + music box are the best songs ever. I listen to them whenever I need strength and they always provide. Mariahs voice is beautiful as always, but it's the messages from the songs that make this the best album ever

5 Emotions

I love Mariah so much, but this is the only studio album that there are no songs that I was class as bad/just okay. The singles are classics, the uptempos are underrated (as in "So Blessed"), but the final two tracks take the cake: "Till the End of Time" is in my top 10 favourite Mariah songs and "The Wind" stands out as completely unique in Mariah's catalogue and is chilling. This took the formula of her debut and made it SO much better. "Butterfly" is very close and has more standouts, but "Emotions" is more consistent.

This album is so much better than her debut. Her debut was impressive and great... This album proved that she was holding back on her first. She just let go and let God have his vocal moments through her. Can't Let Go is the best song on this album, and she has a great gospel hit, Make it Happen. To Be Around You is the most underrated song on this album and could have easily been a #1.

This album gives me life.

6 The Emancipation of Mimi

For those who listen to the details, like me, this is the most elaborated album, recorded by Mariah Carey. And, honestly, it's a fantastic body of work! On one hand you've got the breathtaking songs "Mine Again", "I Wish You Knew", "Circles" and "Fly Like a Bird" which no one else in the world could sing the way she did, and on the other hand you've got tracks like "One and Only", "So Lonely", "We Belong Together", "making' It Last All Night" and "Joyride" that are true mood setters and are just brilliantly crafted up to their very last second! A must for everyone who enjoys good music with stunning vocals!

When Mariah shuts up all her haters and doubters without a need to throw insults or shade, but with pure talent, she releases Emancipation of Mimi. This album is not only album of the decade, but will go on to becoming the album of the century.

This is probably one othe most amazing albums from 2005, Mariah is so good with comebacks! I love "We Belong Together" & "It's Like That" I don't see any flaws with this album And I love her whistle tone.

This has to be the best Mariah Carey album of all time! It kinda reminds me of the Old Mimi! These should definitely be number 1!

7 Rainbow

This album is an underrated masterpiece. The songs had some good musicality and interesting stuff on it, which are satisfying to listen to. Too bad, this album was kind of incomplete because Mariah was trying to leave the Sony/Columbia label to escape from one of her marriages that was already divorced at the time. It probably would've fought Butterfly as the best one though if that was actually completed without any problems. "Heartbreaker" is such an amazing song, so does others, but my favorite song out of all of them is "Thank God I Found You". I found this song so fun and nostalgic to listen to, and it's perfect! There is even an Aladdin and Jasmine AMV of that song that still hasn't got deleted yet; it was uploaded back in 2006! That's what makes it even more nostalgic! If you want to see it, let me know!

This album was made in only 3 months, because she was really trying to leave her recording contract with Sony/Columbia. This album proves that she only got better throughout the 90's, but still she left some songs incomplete like "Rainbow" and decided to make an interlude out of it. I believe that if she spent more time on this album instead of rushing it, it would have been better than Butterfly. However, this is her best theme for an album. Her vocals are explosive, more upbeat songs than any other album she did in the 90's, and yet most personal one of the 90's, with lots of emotion. This is her most "pop-ish" album though.

This is definitely one of her best albums, it shows her musical diversity, there are some very diverse sounds in this album. Take literally the first 3 songs, Heartbreaker, Bliss, and can't Take That Away, those are super different from each other, and (with the exception of the latter) they are also very different than anything Mariah had done prior to this.

Buah, a simple and bad album. I hate it, but, well, this album contains some good songs like ''We Belong Together''.

8 Caution

I believe this album is like a follow up to E=MC2 (but with no fillers). It's fun and sounds really current - with the exception of With You and Portrait. This album will capture the young generation

Amazing body of work!

9 E=MC2

Not my favorite from her, because many songs are a little superficial. However, I think this is a very fun album, because she finally got to a place where she did not have to prove herself vocally for everyone to know that she is one of the greatest artists ever. Tracks 7-11 should have all been scrapped, and she should have used some of the left overs from the last album and this album to replace them. "Once in A Life Time", "Sprung", "4real4real", "Secret Love", would have made this album a force to be reckoned with. The album is worth listening to, but the best song is "For the Record", Her longest whistle note to date.

10 Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel

Great album, but too many slow songs. The songs are all great, don't get me wrong, but a little more upbeat would have been great. Nevertheless her most soulful album of the 00's. Almost every song is guaranteed to get you hooked. There is not a bad song on this record.

The most soulful album she's made in the 00's. Too many slow songs and not enough upbeat ones, however there is no bad track on this album. Any song is guaranteed to get you hooked.

The Contenders
11 Charmbracelet

This is one of the best, if not, her best album. Between 1997-2002 (with the exception of Glitter) Mariah wrote the most personal songs of her career. There is not one bad song on this album, and I continue to be uplifted by My Saving Grace and Through the Rain, which are in my opinion her best (most inspirational) and my two most favorite songs in her entire career. Sorry, We Belong Together, Touch My Body, Don't Forget about Us, and Obsessed my be the biggest songs of the latter half of her career, but to those who have not heard Charmbracelet, you're missing out BIG TIME.

This album deserves more respect and recognition. It is also one of her most personal of her albums as well. Definitely recommended to listen to. It is such an underrated album!

This is truly a such underrated masterpiece. For me this album is def her best (yes butterfly and daydream stans, y'all read me right), and is one of her most personal. My favorite songs here are Irresistible, Yours, Sunflower for Alfred roy and You got me

This isn't the best album but Trough the rain Clown My saving grace... amazing songs

12 Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse

An underrated gem, to be honest! This gives a good example of what good music is compared to nowadays music! Good thing, Mariah Carey still makes good music! That album is also pretty interesting as well.

Believe it or not, this album is what made me become a huge Mariah fan. It is the best one she made since 2005. The only song I don't like is "You Don't Know What to Do" ft. Wale. Mariah just continues to prove that she can stay relevant, and true to her sound. I played this album for some of the kids of this generation, some not even knowing who she was, and agreed that she has a really good voice (understatement) and the music is REALLY good. Even grown folks like the album.

This album is such an underrated jem... Just because it had very low sales nobody gave it a chance, but personally, this album is the best album released in 2014

This is Mariah Carey best album since Butterfly it is such a shame that it didn't sell more than it did, but without no promotion "What Do You Expect"

Fave tracks: Dedicated, Supernatural, Faded, You Don't Know What To Do ", Make It Look Good, Camouflage, Heavenly, Cry, & the studio 54 inspired Meteorite,

13 Merry Christmas

I'm only ten but grew up on Mariah Carey, so I'm blasting this at full volume in October. Anyone else?

Love this album!

14 MTV Unplugged

I wouldn't consider this an album, but more of a cd with live performances (if there is a difference). There is no new material except for the Jackson 5 smash hit cover. She proves that she can sing live just as well as she can in the studios, and that her voice is not a trick of the studios but the real McCoy.

What is better than a Mariah 90s album? An album of songs Mariah performed live!

15 Glitter

A criminally underrated album. Incredibly diverse songs, very high production quality, god level songwriting. Her vocal work here is just beyond perfect. Stand out songs: Reflections, lead the way, never too far, twister, want you, didn't mean to turn you on, don't stop, loverboy...

This album has some of Mariah Carey's best vocals - listen to Lead The Way...but Loverboy, Want you and Didn;t Mean to Turn You On - this is the sort of music that inspired Mariah...an absolutely brilliant album.

Mariah never sang so powerfully and fully like she did here. Vocally this beats out all of her previous eras.

This album is so good!

16 Merry Christmas II You

When was this album released?

17 #1 to Infinity
18 #1's
19 The Ballads
20 The Essential Mariah Carey

I remember listening this album on the Etihad airplane, this album made me fall in love with Mariah Carey!

Very nice album! We belong together is a very good song.

21 The Art of Letting Go
22 The Remixes

I don't consider this to be a real album, but a great asset to have for those who collect Mariah's albums. I am not to crazy about the house remix cd, but the hip-hop/r&b remixes are where it is at. Mariah knows how to make remixes. Everyone else needs to take notes. To make a true remix you have to:
1) re-sing the song, but add something new or different to it. Don't completely copy the original
2) Don't be afraid to incorporate songs/lyrics from another source. If you want to truly have legendary remixes, musical allusions are always nice... Just be as original as possible.
3) Make it better than the original. That should always be your goal when re-doing your work. Do better, not mediocre.

23 Angels Advocate

The Nicki Minaj assisted track Up Out My Face is the standout here

24 Valentines
25 Japan Best
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