Every Mariah Carey Album, Ranked

By the time Carey recorded Rainbow in 1999, she was at the end of her contract with ex-husband Tommy Mottola’s Sony label and itching to free herself from his constraints once and for all. Rainbow marked the last studio album she owed Sony and the singer recorded the entire thing in less than three months. The end result is a mix of meddling R&B cuts and saccharine ballads that are ultimately passable but unmemorable. “Heartbreaker” (and the Missy Elliott remix) remains one of the singer’s most rousing hits, and “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)” is one of the best self-empowerment songs in her catalogue, but everything else on the album feels half-baked.

Nothing will top the exhilarating rush of Carey’s first holiday album, but Merry Christmas II You deserves a seasonal spin if only for the festive “Oh Santa!” and the earth to high heavens “O Come All Ye Faithful (Hallelujah Chorus),” which finds Carey going note to note with her opera-singer mother Patricia. Of course it’s Carey who takes the final (whistle) note on the track, because what good is it to be the Queen of Christmas if you don’t get to ascend the throne?

Carey was rushed back into the studio following the success of her debut album in an effort to maintain the momentum she had created with “Vision of Love” and the three subsequent chart-toppers that followed suit. Fortunately, there was no sophomore slump here, as Emotions yielded the singer her fifth consecutive number-one single with the title track, while introducing now-canon fan favorites “Make It Happen” and “Can’t Let Go.” Emotions also featured a Carole King co-write on the soulful, “If It’s Over,” which could easily have been a B-side to “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman.” Out of all of Carey’s releases, Emotions feels the most true-to-its time, which is not a bad thing, as evidenced by the four million album units that have since shipped. Still, the songs are perhaps the most dated tracks in a catalog that has otherwise amassed a roster of timeless enduring hits.

After the controversy surrounding Glitter (her one-and-done album on Virgin), Carey signed with Island Records and began work on Charmbracelet, which was intended to be her big comeback release. Lead single “Through the Rain” was poignant if disarming, but subsequent singles failed to make a dent on the charts. Critics argued that Carey was struggling to regain her form, but perhaps their expectations were misguided. While it’s true the singer favored her “whistle register” more on the album, songs like “Lullaby” and “Irresistable” (featuring Westside Connection) allowed the singer’s silky vocals to float over heavy hip-hop beats, resulting in some of her slickest rap and hip-hop collaborations to date. Ice Cube and co. weren’t the only rappers guesting on the album: Charmbracelet also featured guest turns from Cam’ron, Jay-Z and Freeway, plus Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes on the international editions. The masterful, “Clown,” meantime, finds Carey going HAM on a “frail shook one” in a clapback track coated in sugar. While everyone expected Carey’s comeback album to be light and bright, the singer delivered an unexpected swerve.

Leave it to Carey’s fans – or lambs, as they call themselves – to release a self-proclaimed “huge burden” from the singer’s shoulders. Carey has spoken at length about how Glitter, released on 9/11 of all days, “almost ruined my life,” with rumors about a supposed breakdown and the film’s low ticket sales dominating headlines during that time. But in 2018, the lambily got the hashtag #JusticeforGlitter trending on social media, propelling the soundtrack back to the top of charts.The campaign just highlighted what many fans already knew: Glitter actually features some of the singer’s most inspired efforts in the studio, mixing the 80s synths and discofied beats of the era with her contemporary hip-hop and R&B stylings. Not every song is a winner here – the Mystikal collab “Don’t Stop (Funkin’ 4 Jamaica)” remains a head-scratcher of a single – but most of it works, if not for the radio then for the nostalgia. The standout track is the soaring ballad, “Lead the Way,” which ends on one of the most complex runs Carey has ever attempted. It led to another Glitter-inspired trend: the “Lead the Way riff challenge,” which still racks up views and attempts today.

Few artists had the kind of instant impact on the music industry like Carey did when she released her eponymous debut album in 1990. The big-voiced (and big-haired) singer was just 20 years old when “Vision of Love” topped the charts, though she demonstrated a maturity far beyond her years. In fact, she would later reveal in her memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” that she wrote many of the songs on her debut album as a teenager. While the entire album is still surprisingly listenable, there are two standouts: the moving “Alone in Love,” which Carey penned when she was just 15, and the soul-crushing “Vanishing,” written just a few years later. “Reaching out into the distance, searching for spirits of the past, just a trace of your existence to grasp,” she wails. “And if somehow I could recapture all of the memories and bring them to life, Lord knows I would.” Sensitive yet astute, the song – and album – would set the foundation for a career full of revelatory melodies and moments to come.

Carey may now be R&B royalty, but on Music Box, she was the people’s pop princess, ruling radio with hit after hit, while soundtracking weddings, proms and parties alike. Music Box showed off the power of Carey’s now-instantly recognizable voice as she belted her way through ballads like the wistful “All I’ve Ever Wanted,” or amped up the vocals for the C+C Music Factory remix of “Anytime You Need a Friend.” And then there’s “Hero,” which Carey originally wrote for Gloria Estefan but ultimately decided to record and release for herself. Though she may have intended it for someone else, it quickly became her signature anthem, one that millions of fans are eternally grateful for.

Eyebrows were raised when Carey released her first Christmas album in 1994. Why would an artist at the top of her game pivot to holiday music, something normally reserved for legacy acts at the end of their careers? Of course, Carey has since had the last laugh, with her holiday album reportedly earning her a whopping $3 million in royalties every year. More importantly though, the album spawned a rare modern-day Christmas classic: “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is now one of the most popular holiday songs of all time and has cemented the singer’s status not only as the Queen of Christmas, but as someone who truly delivers joy to the world.

More than three decades after bursting onto the music scene, Carey surprised everyone with one of the boldest and most creative releases of her career. Caution was tender, moody and mischievous all at once, with the singer somehow pulling out new tones and textures in her voice. The production – helmed by hitmakers that ranged from Mustard to Skrillex – was as diverse as it was complex, amalgamating sounds and tempos that were a welcome antithesis from the 4/4 dance pop dominating the charts. Album opener “GTFO” wraps a NSFW callout around a Porter Robinson sample, while the Timothee Chalamet-approved “Giving Me Life,” features Slick Rick and Blood Orange, and is at once lush and lo-fi. Carey trades lines with Gunna and rides a trap-lite beat on “Stay Long Love You,” while the Timberland-assist on “8th Grade” juxtaposes the producer’s laidback groove with a little drama, as Carey tells a potential suitor that “I’m not your world [and] I’m not your life. Maybe the lyrics are too heavy in my song?”With Carey’s voice and pen in full form, Caution showcased the singer at her most inspired, making a case for what contemporary R&B could – and should – sound like today.

Daydream isn’t the most dynamic album in the superstar’s catalogue but in many ways, it’s the one that longtime fans identify with the most. Everyone remembers where they were when they first heard “Fantasy” on the radio or bawled their eyes out to the Boyz II Men duet, “One Sweet Day.” The Jermaine Dupri-produced “Always Be My Baby” remains one of the singer’s most beloved hits, while Carey’s cover of Journey’s “Open Arms” almost eclipsed the popularity of the original.Yet while Daydream is best remembered for its number-one singles, it’s the album cuts where Carey truly shines. “Underneath the Stars” is one of the prettiest songs she’s ever recorded and “Melt Away” wraps you up in its intoxicating melody and loved-up lyrics. Album closer “Looking In,” meanwhile, finds Carey at her most vulnerable – and most confessional.

Artists these days are lucky enough to have one hit era, but Carey has had a career full of them. After the underperformance of Glitter and Charmbracelet, the diva came back with a vengeance on 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi. From the confident declaration of album opener “It’s Like That” and the breezy “Your Girl,” to the gospel hit “Fly Like a Bird” and jazzy “Mine Again” (the best song on the album in our opinion), Mimi marked the return of The Voice and proved there was no melody, genre or octave this voice couldn’t hit.Of course, Carey’s biggest song from this era is “We Belong Together,” which spent 14 weeks atop the Billboard charts. From its piano-driven melody and earnest lyrics, to its 808-style beat (and that final chorus), “We Belong Together” embraced listeners like a warm and comforting hug. “Hero” may be Carey’s signature anthem, but “We Belong Together” is her most stirring hit. And if Butterfly is her signature album, consider Mimi a well-deserved encore.

Lead single “Obsessed” may have captured all the headlines for its lethal lyrics (reportedly about Eminem) and its accompanying video (with Mariah dressed as someone who looks like Eminem), but the track is actually an outlier on the singer’s pretty perfect 2009 release. The mid-tempo bop is the poppiest track on an otherwise snappy hip-hop and R&B-driven compilation (Carey’s cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” notwithstanding). Songs like “Betcha Gon’ Know” and the underrated “H.A.T.E.U” wrap the singer’s creamy vocals around a sparse beat, offering a surprisingly soulful and dare-we-say subtle listen. “It’s a Wrap” rode a Barry White sample and TikTok dance to viral success in 2024. And “Up Out My Face” saw Carey and Nicki Minaj playfully jostling in the studio over a marching band-inspired beat before they tussled (for real?) on TV a few years later.The singer produced Memoirs almost entirely with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, and the pair were able to coax out nuances in her performance that prove Carey doesn’t always need bombast to make her voice heard. The result is one of her most interesting and cohesive releases to date – an album that demands listening from start to finish.

While many will remember The Emancipation of Mimi as Carey’s comeback album, it’s the follow-up, E=MC², where the singer truly let loose. If Mimi was the party starter, she sounds like she’s having the time of her life on MC². Lead single “Touch My Body” was frisky and coy, while the rollicking “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” is made for beach days and bonfires alike. “For the Record” finds Carey cleverly referencing her old song titles in the lyrics, and on the Damian Marley duet, “Cruise Control,” Carey even breaks out a little Jamaican patois. We also stand by the opinion that the head-bopping “Migrate” should’ve been a single. Of course it’s not all fun and games – the Jeezy-assisted “Side Effects” gets dark and candid as the singer spills on her troubled marriage over a gritty Scott Storch beat. And album closer “I Wish You Well” is a savage diss track bookended by Bible verses (something only MC could do). But that’s exactly why we love this album: for someone who has spoken at length about her insecurities, Carey has never sounded more carefree.

Every artist has their magnum opus and Butterfly is to Mariah Carey what Lemonade is to Beyonce and Purple Rain was to Prince. The 1997 album marked a personal and professional turning point in Carey’s career, as the titular butterfly was leaving her marriage with Tommy Mottola while moving further into the R&B and hip-hop stylings she’s best known for today.In her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” the singer wrote about how Butterfly was a liberating experience for her. “The narratives and the melodies were coming from a fresher place [and] I was feeling freer and less apprehensive to spread my creative wings,” she wrote, adding that she finally “advocated for the sound I wanted.”The creative breakthrough is evident on the 12-track album, which spawned the irrepressible “Honey,” but also fan favorites like “The Roof,” “Breakdown” and “My All.” “Close My Eyes” is at once devastating and determined, with Carey flashing back to her unsettled childhood, admitting that “maybe I grew up a little too soon.” And “Outside” has become a beacon for biracial fans around the world, who see the singer as proof that success can be colorblind.The album’s title track is a sweeping ballad about learning to “spread your wings and fly.” The twist: while many interpreted the lyrics as an act of self-determination, Carey told Rolling Stone in 2022 that she initially wrote it from the point of view of ex-husband Mottola. “If you listen to the lyrics of the song ‘Butterfly,’” she said, “that’s what I was kind of always hoping that Tommy would say to me. As if, you know, ‘Here’s all you have to do, and it’ll all be good.’”Of course as Carey admits, “It was too late for that,” and while her love for the Butterfly album has never wavered, perhaps her perspective on the song has. Whereas previous releases saw her caught in a delicate dance between expectations and desires, love and loss, and yes, even between genres, Butterfly proved to the world that Carey’s singular voice could hold power and command attention all on its own. And all on her own.