Mariah Carey has sold over 200 million albums worldwide with over 20 UK top 10 hits. She made her recording debut in 1990 with Columbia records, becoming the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the US, Billboard Hot 100 chart. Enjoy 17 instantly recognizable tracks from the diva with "The Voice" including spine-tingling ballads such as 'Hero', 'Without You' and 'Anytime You Need A Friend' plus celebrated duets with Westlife for 'Against All Odds', and Boyz II Men with 'One Sweet Day'. And to get you in the mood for the festive season, there's a bonus track in the form of 'All I Want For Christmas'...

Mariah Carey: The Ballads represents a rather bizarre choice of songs. You'd be forgiven, given the album's title, for expecting this CD to contain a collection of ballads. Sadly not every track included fits the criteria.

Maybe someone at Sony BMG needs to invest in a dictionary. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a "ballad" can be "a poem or song telling a popular story" of "a slow sentimental or romantic song".

With that in mind I'd love to know why several of the tracks on this collection are included. For starters 'The Roof' could never in a million years be described as a ballad. Technically speaking, 'How Much' is more a duet, and 'Dream Lover' is on the fringes of being a ballad.

The biggest problem though is that Carey takes several hits that everyone knows inside out - rendering her interpretation as second rate as those nameless covers that used to be played over speaker systems in restaurants in the '80s. If you have ever slow danced to Journey's 'Open Arms' then you'll have those romantic memories shattered by the version included here - there's a little too much forced vibrato for my liking - and there's a very noticeable squeak during her rendition of Phil Collins's 'Against All Odds'.

To be honest I'd have preferred to see an album of her greatest hits, but then there is already a good selection of Carey compilation albums out there: #1's (1998); Valentines ( 2000); Greatest Hits (2001); and The Remixes (2003). Or how about a compilation of Carey's ballads without the introduction of any covers.

Another thing I was curious about was why is 'All I Want for Christmas' listed as a bonus track? Is there a copy of the album available without it? The term "bonus" means nothing and has been used in this instance to make potential purchasers think they're getting something extra for free.

Tracks include:

Hero
Vision Of Love
Without You
Always Be My Baby
My All
How Much
Dreamlover
Thank God I Found You (Nas And Joe) - Make It last Remix
The Roof
One Sweet Day
Anytime You Need a Friend
I'll Be There
I Still Believe
Reflections
Open Arms
Against All Odds
Endless Love
All I Want For Christmas

This is destined to become a big seller, in the run up to Christmas, as that present to buy for mum. While fans of Carey will no doubt lap this up, everyone else will probably feel a little cheated.

6

Nick Smithson