Music Box

After blowing listeners away with her dizzying five octave range on her first two energetic albums, <i>Music Box</i> is a much mellower affair, more appropriate for a candle-lit evening than a night at the club. This subdued approach allows Carey to squeeze every ounce of drama from the synth-soaked ballads that dominate the album. The songs, most of which were co-written by Carey, feature a lot of lyrics focused on love as a form of escape, as on the album’s two biggest hits, the tellingly-titled “Dreamlover” and “Hero.” Elsewhere she touches on the various stages of longing and heartbreak, including a cover of the tearjerker “Without You,” which was a huge hit for Harry Nilsson in 1971. Carey does offer two chances to dance the blues away on the uptempo tunes “Now That I Know” and “I’ve Been Thinking About You,” but on the whole <i>Music Box</i> is Carey’s way of showing that she’s not all vocal pyrotechnics — she can pull off a slow burn just as well.