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Click above to purchase "Mariah Carey: #1s" at amazon.com
Mariah Carey: #1s
review by Ren C.
Not Rated
Studio: Sony/Columbia
Running Time: 75 Minutes
Starring Mariah Carey
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Biography, Bonus Video
Specs: 1.33:1 Standard, English 5.1 Dolby Digital,
English PCM Stereo
I'm almost convinced at this point that the Mariah Carey
that debuted in 1990 is not the same Mariah Carey of today.
"Mariah Carey-The #1's" is supporting evidence for this
argument. This video traces the path of Carey's thirteen
number ones, in reverse chronological order, so we see Carey
morph from underdressed diva to the sweet, innocent girl
with the good voice.
The disc starts out with "Heartbreaker", directed by
Brett Ratner (Rush Hour). This video showcases Carey and her
friends taking over a theater lobby for a dance sequence,
and beating up Jerry O'Connell. Then, they dress up and
pretend that they're in "Grease". An entertaining video,
especially with Mariah fighting herself. Probably something
that is better seen than explained. For those who care about
such things, this is the video with the cartoon Carey, and
not Jay-Z. Next up is "My All", directed by Herb Ritts,
features a sad Carey floating around on a piece of
driftwood. The more Herb Ritts videos I see convince me that
they all look basically the same. For reference, I direct
you to Madonna's "Cherish" and Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game".
Next, we move on to "Honey", which started the
metamorphosis for Carey, which apparently involved losing
most of her clothing. Fun storyline here, with Eddie
Griffin, and Carey playing a spy agent. Definitely one of
the more entertaining videos on the disc.
"Always Be My Baby" features Carey in innocent mode, at
sleepaway camp on a swing while she sings that he will
always be her baby. Somehow, all of these songs managed to
go number one, which is an amazing feat in and of itself.
Next is the longest reigning number one single in Billboard
history, "One Sweet Day", which Carey performs with Boyz II
Men. The video is a "making of the song" type, so no major
excitement here, unless you happen to enjoy watching people
in the recording studio. "Fantasy" was directed by Carey
herself, and is fairly impressive for a first outing. Take
not that this is not the original video, but the remix,
which becomes readily apparent when we see O.D.B. about two
seconds into the song.
"Hero", from a live NBC performance is next, and my
goodness, was this song overplayed. Even today, it is hard
to listen to without cringing. Carey is in full good girl
mode here, looking very sweet and very adorable. This is
followed by "Dreamlover" which shows Carey frolicking
through the fields with some random dancers. Not a bad
video, but not one of the best ever made either. An MTV
Unplugged performance of the Jackson Five's "I'll Be There"
is next, and Carey makes it her own with some unnecessary
high notes. As an aside, it's becoming readily apparent that
the newer artists were influenced by Carey. I point you to
Christina Aguilera as reference.
"Emotions", from the album of that name, is next, and the
video is very, very sepia toned. The video is notable only
for that, and the song is notable mainly for having the
highest notes that I have ever heard from a human being. "I
Don't Wanna Cry" is almost the pinnacle of sweet, innocent
Carey, and it is amazing how much she has changed in the
last ten years. After this, the disc really starts to annoy
me. "Someday" is the next song included, and while I thought
it would be the music video, instead we get another
performance from MTV Unplugged. I know that a video exists,
and a question the logic of putting something on that was
different from the version that went to number one on the
charts.
This trend continues with "Love Takes Time", which looks
to be taken from the same NBC concert that produced the
"Hero" video. The difference between these two is that the
concert footage was used for "Hero" all along, while "Love
Takes Time" had a separate concept video produced. The disc
wraps up with "Vision of Love", but instead of the video, we
get concert footage that looks to be from around 1997. Not
only is it insulting not to have the video, it is even more
insulting to have the concert footage be nowhere near the
time when the song was first released.
These videos look better than they did on television, as
they are clear, and the colors are very vibrant. Overall,
they look about as you would expect videos of these varied
ages to look when transferred to DVD.
This is one of the areas where the disc shines. There are
two tracks included, a stereo and a 5.1, with the 5.1
sounding very good. There are only two songs, "Heartbreaker"
and "Honey" where the full effect comes through, but it is
very impressive, nonetheless. The music comes across very
well throughout.
There are a few extras supplied on this disc, the first
of which can be considered the small introductions that
Carey gives before each song. While these aren't earth
shattering, they are nice to have nonetheless. There is also
a text biography included which is nothing more than a
Mariah-Carey-patting-herself-on-the-back session. This goes
into detail on her number one singles, her multiple awards,
and how many times her albums have gone platinum. Nothing
all that interesting here.
The other extra is the music video for the "Heartbreaker
Remix" featuring Da Brat and Missy Elliott. After seeing
this video, a lesser person might call Carey a tramp, but I
choose to see this as the next step in her evolution from
pop superstar to hip-hop diva. The video is fairly
interesting, and is a nice companion to the original
"Heartbreaker".
While this is a nice introduction to Carey and her work,
the lack of the videos as mentioned above is almost
inexcusable. In addition, very few of Carey's videos stand
out as being particularly memorable. However, if you are a
fan, you might be able to overlook the relative lack of
features, and irrelevant concert footage and enjoy this
disc. It would be nice if Columbia had wanted to release a
concert video; they had just done that. Recommendation to
avoid.
 (2.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3.5/5)
(3.5/5)
 (1.5/5)
 (2/5,
NOT an average)
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