Mariah Carey: Rainbow (2LP) [COLUMBIA / LEGACY]

Why you'll love it

This Columbia / Legacy reissue spreads the remastered album over a 2LP set. Rainbow went triple platinum within a month, topped the charts in France and Greece and has sold an estimated eight million copies.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Remastered

About the album

Rainbow is the sound of Mariah Carey steering her own ship. With more control over her music than ever, she swapped longtime balladeer Walter Afanasieff for Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and went all in on the R&B and hip-hop direction Butterfly had hinted at, calling up Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Da Brat, Master P and Mystikal along the way.

"Heartbreaker" was the first of her lead singles to feature another artist, with Jay-Z riding a sample-driven groove, and its remix adds Da Brat and Missy Elliott. "Crybaby" with Snoop Dogg and "How Much" with Usher bring heavy R&B beats, while "Thank God I Found You," written with Terry Lewis, is a soaring ballad with Joe and 98 Degrees. "After Tonight" came from a session with Diane Warren, and "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" is a defiant, uplifting anthem. A cover of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" rounds it out.

It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 323,000 copies in its first week, and two of its singles hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. A rainbow on the cover and two chart-toppers inside is what we call a fair trade.

Also at Kops: more Mariah Carey on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On Columbia / Legacy (cat# 19439776431), a reissue of the 1999 album.