Mariah Carey's Emotions for me. Every song showcases her vocal ability so well-her riffs/runs, whistle notes, low notes, and belts are insane! Like you said, she also writes her lyrics-she wrote 18 out of her 19 No. 1 hits. She's an incredible vocalist and she's underrated as a songwriter. Not many people know that Mariah is a songwriter as well. Mariah has the whole package-vocals, lyrics, production-just WOW. And I agree I LOVE the live version of Make It Happen at 1995 MSG more than the studio version. Her belts were SOO RESONANT!!!!!! I love If It's Over and Can't Let Go. And same when it comes to Make It Happen I usually replace it with the 1995 MSG version, especially the undubbed version (idk if you have listened to it but the version Mariah released is actually dubbed but people have posted the undubbed version and it's soo much better actually-the audio quality isn't quite as good but her belts are soo much more resonant) also I would say my favorite song on the album is Emotions as well. It's impossible to sing, she showcased her 5 octave range, and it really proves that Mariah is one of the greatest vocalists of all time. She's belting the whole time and the whistle notes are insane. The vocal performance is just top tier. Mariah in her prime was a league of her own. Love Beyonce too though, but I just had to give this to Mariah.
Honorable Mentions: Yola - Stand For Myself & Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
Nice list! Some of my favorite sophomore albums are D'Angelo - Voodoo, Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun and Nirvana - Nevermind.
Mariah Carey's Emotions for me. Every song showcases her vocal ability so well-her riffs/runs, whistle notes, low notes, and belts are insane! Like you said, she also writes her lyrics-she wrote 18 out of her 19 No. 1 hits. She's an incredible vocalist and she's underrated as a songwriter. Not many people know that Mariah is a songwriter as well. Mariah has the whole package-vocals, lyrics, production-just WOW. And I agree I LOVE the live version of Make It Happen at 1995 MSG more than the studio version. Her belts were SOO RESONANT!!!!!! I love If It's Over and Can't Let Go. And same when it comes to Make It Happen I usually replace it with the 1995 MSG version, especially the undubbed version (idk if you have listened to it but the version Mariah released is actually dubbed but people have posted the undubbed version and it's soo much better actually-the audio quality isn't quite as good but her belts are soo much more resonant) also I would say my favorite song on the album is Emotions as well. It's impossible to sing, she showcased her 5 octave range, and it really proves that Mariah is one of the greatest vocalists of all time. She's belting the whole time and the whistle notes are insane. The vocal performance is just top tier. Mariah in her prime was a league of her own. Love Beyonce too though, but I just had to give this to Mariah.
Justice for Emotions! The Wind is such an underrated gem
What about Back to Black (Amy Winehouse), Stripped (Christina Aguilera) and even Future Nostalgia (Dua Lipa)? :)
Back to black should’ve been an honorable mention for sure. Stripped is great and future nostalgia is carried by the singles.
THE GARAGE PERIOD