Mariah Carey - The Essential Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey’s voice is a wonder to behold. Capable of soaring heavenward through five octaves, it dazzled the world when she first burst on to the scene with her 1990 self-titled debut album. What stood out was the sincerity with which she sang and the impossibly high notes she could hit, seemingly with ease. Her voice has influenced a generation of younger divas, including Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera, and is often cited as one of greatest instruments in popular music.

The Essential Mariah Carey is the best way to appreciate the legendary artist’s vocal talent. The two-CD set is a chronological review of her career in the ’90s, beginning with “Vision of Love,” a gospel-style number from her debut that first featured her now signature use of melisma, the art of stretching a syllable over a long run of notes. Other highlights include the buoyant “Emotions,” taken from her 1991 album of the same name, on which she hits a series of notes up in the whistle register. Dolphins are normally the only mammals capable of hitting notes that high.

Happily married to actor-rapper Nick Cannon, with whom she’s soon expecting twins, Carey is also renowned as a songwriter. The Essential Mariah Carey includes such self-penned hits as “When You Believe,” a Grammy-winning duet with Whitney Houston, and “Heartbreaker,” on which she’s joined by rapper Jay-Z. Even when Carey covers the Jackson Five’s “I’ll Be There,” she makes it unmistakably her own. That’s the power of a truly gifted vocalist.