Charmbracelet

[img]Charmbracelet is the ninth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on December 3, 2002 by Island Records. It was her first album on the label and was also her first following the release of her film Glitter (2001) and its accompanying soundtrack album Glitter, both of which were critical and commercial disappointments. Sales of Charmbracelet were an improvement over those of Glitter, and the album went platinum in the United States. The album was unable to garner any U.S. hits, as none of its singles made the top 80 of the Billboard Hot 100. She once again collaborated with many artists on this album such as rappers Cam'ron, Jay-Z, Freeway, Westside Connection and R&B artists Kelly Price and Joe.[1] To date, Charmbracelet has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[2][/img]

The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 241,200 copies sold in its first week, just behind Tim McGraw's Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors which held the number two spot in a second consecutive week after selling over 250,000 copies, and Up! by Shania Twain which held the top spot for the third consecutive weeks with 317,000 copies sold.[3] Charmbracelet remained in the top twenty for just three weeks and on the chart for twenty-three. The second single, "Boy (I Need You)", failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Another track from the album "Irresistible (Westside Connection)" peaked at number 81 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

The first single from Charmbracelet, "Through the Rain", only peaked at number 81 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, but it was more successful in Canada and the UK where it reached the top ten. It also hit number 1 on the U.S. sales and dance charts. In association with the album's release, Carey was the subject of an MTV special, Shining Through the Rain.

Carey's tour in support of the album, the Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey, was the biggest tour of her career, lasting over eight months with more than sixty shows across many countries. During the tour, "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" was issued as the third single. The album was re-released in Asia and Europe to support the concert tour under the title Charmbracelet: Limited Edition with four bonus, unreleased tracks and videos for "Through the Rain" and "Boy (I Need You)".

Charmbracelet was certified platinum by the RIAA.[4] On May 18, 2005 "My Saving Grace" was solicited as a promotional single to gospel radio stations across the U.S. with "Fly Like a Bird", a song from Carey's tenth album The Emancipation of Mimi (2005).
"You Got Me" also appeared on collaborator Freeway's debut album, Philadelphia Freeway, released in February 2003.

Singles

"Through the Rain" was released as the first single. It peaked at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100, Carey's lowest peak for a lead single to date. In other countries, the song managed to reach the top twenty. And it hit number 1 on the U.S. sales and dance charts.
"Boy (I Need You)" was the second single to be released from the album. It failed to chart in the Billboard Hot 100, but hit 57 on the U.S. sales chart and the top 20 in the UK.
"I Know What You Want" was a single released by Carey and Busta Rhymes. It features the Flipmode Squad as the other rappers who appeared in the song. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Carey's highest peaking single since 2001's "Loverboy". It was a bonus track on the re-release of the album.
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" is the fourth and final single from the album. It was an original by Def Leppard, and was produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson. It failed to chart in the Billboard Hot 100, but made number 5 on the U.S. dance chart.
Other songs
"The One" was the aborted second single from the album. Footage for the video was shot and directed by Joseph Kahn while Carey was in Japan, but due to the label's decision of changing the single, the shot footage was used for "Boy (I Need You)". It was released as a Promo single in the U.S. on 12" and CD single on December 3, 2002.

Reception

In general, the critical response to Charmbracelet was mixed to average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 43, based on 13 reviews. The album was nominated in the category Rock and Pop Album of the Year at the 2003 Japan Gold Disc Awards.[5] According to Metacritic, it is the 36th worst album since 2000.[6]
In 2003 for the 45th Grammy Award ceremony, the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis production of the song "Through the Rain" was nominated for Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, but lost to Arif Mardin's Come Away with Me.[7]

Track listing

Mariah Carey co-wrote most of the songs on the album; exceptions are marked with: (*); additional writers are listed below.
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Through the Rain" Lionel Cole Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Mariah Carey, James "Big Jim" Wright 4:40
2. "Boy (I Need You)" (featuring Cam'ron) Justin Smith, Norman Whitfield Just Blaze, Mariah Carey 5:09
3. "The One" Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox Jermaine Dupri, Mariah Carey, Bryan-Michael Cox 4:03
4. "Yours" James Harris III, Terry Lewis,
James Wright Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Mariah Carey, James Wright 5:06
5. "You Got Me" (featuring Jay-Z & Freeway) Shawn Carter, Smith, Leslie Pridgen Just Blaze, Mariah Carey 4:20
6. "I Only Wanted" Cole Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson 3:35
7. "Clown" Andre Harris, Vidal Davis, Maryann Tatum Dre & Vidal, Mariah Carey 3:20
8. "My Saving Grace" Kenneth Crouch, Randy Jackson, Trevor Lawrence Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson 4:08
9. "You Had Your Chance" Cox, Dupri, Leon Haywood Jermaine Dupri, Mariah Carey, Bryan-Michael Cox 4:19
10. "Lullaby" Davis, Harris Dre & Vidal, Mariah Carey 4:55
11. "Irresistible (West Side Connection)" O'Shea Jackson, Quincy Jones III, Theodore Life, Dexter Wansel, Damion Young Mariah Carey 4:22
12. "Subtle Invitation" Marcus Vest, Jackson, Crouch, Lloyd Smith, Rob Bacon Mariah Carey, 7 Aurelius 4:19
13. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (*) Pete Willis, Steve Clark, Joe Elliott Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson 4:31
14. "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy" Cole Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson 2:56
15. "Through the Rain" (Remix featuring Kelly Price & Joe) Just Blaze, Mariah Carey 3:34

Bonus tracks
16. "Miss You" (featuring Jadakiss) (Carey, Cox, Dupri, Terry M. Etlinger, Linda Laurie, Jason Phillips) – 5:09 (UK/Japanese bonus track)
17. "I Know What You Want" (with Busta Rhymes featuring the Flipmode Squad) (Busta Rhymes, Rah Digga, Rampage, Rick Rock, Spliff Star, L. Jones) – 4:44 (UK bonus track)
Special tour edition bonus disc
1. "There Goes My Heart" – 4:11
2. "I Know What You Want" (with Busta Rhymes featuring the Flipmode Squad) – 4:44
3. "Got a Thing 4 You" (with Da Brat featuring Elephant Man) – 5:02
4. "The One" (So So Def Remix) (featuring Bone Crusher) – 4:38
5. "Through the Rain" (video)
6. "Boy (I Need You)" (video)

Chart Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[8] 42
Austrian Albums Chart[8] 34
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[8] 48
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[8] 28
Canadian Albums Chart[9] 12
Dutch Albums Chart[8] 30
French Albums Chart[8] 12
German Albums Chart[10] 32
Italian Albums Chart[11] 22
Japanese Albums Chart[12] 4
Spanish Albums Chart[13] 24
Swedish Albums Chart[8] 50
Swiss Albums Chart[14] 9
UK Albums Chart[15] 52
U.S. Billboard 200[16] 3
U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[17] 2

Certifications
Country (Provider) Certification
(sales thresholds)
Brazil (ABDP) Gold[18]
Canada (CRIA) Gold[19]
France (SNEP) Gold[20]
Hong Kong (IFPI) Gold[21]
Switzerland (IFPI) Gold[22]
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold[23]
United States (RIAA) Platinum[24]

Personnel

Asif Ali – engineer
Florian Ammon – digital editing, mixing
Giulio Antognini – assistant engineer
Bobby Ross Avila – guitar
Robert Bacon – guitar, electric guitar
Karen Elaine Bakunin – viola
Charlie Bisharat – strings, string quartet
Printz Board – trumpet
Oswald "Wiz" Bowe – assistant engineer
Denyse Buffum – viola
Eve Butler – strings, string quartet
David Campbell – string arrangements
Darius Campo – strings, string quartet
Mariah Carey – vocals, background vocals, producer
Dana Jon Chappelle – engineer
Susan Chatman – strings
Lionel Cole – piano, synthesizer bass
Larry Corbett – cello
Bryan-Michael Cox – producer
Kenneth Crouch – organ, synthesizer, piano, keyboards, Fender Rhodes
Melonie Daniels – background vocals
Vidal Davis – mixing
Joel Derouin – strings, string quartet
DJ Vice – programming
Jermaine Dupri - background vocals, producer, mixing
Elizabeth Dyson – cello
Brian Frye – engineer
Matt Funes – viola
Armen Garabedian – strings, string quartet
Paul Gregory – engineer
Kevin Guarnieri – overdubs, digital editing
Mick Guzauski – mixing
Dawn Hannay – viola
Andre Harris – mixing
David Ryan Harris – guitar
Steve Hodge – engineer, mixing
John Horesco IV – assistant
Jimmy Jam – producer, instrumentation
Jay-Z – rap
Eric Johnson – acoustic guitar
Just Blaze – producer, instrumentation
Suzie Katayama – cello, string contractor
Steve Kempster – string mixing
Peter Kent – strings, string quartet
Ann Kim – violin
Lisa Kim – violin
Myung Hi Kim – violin
Melissa Kleinbart – violin
Soo Hyun Kwon – violin
Trevor Lawrence – percussion, drums, drum programming
Jeanne LeBlanc – cello
John Lemkuhi – sound design
Ken Lewis – engineer, mixing
Terry Lewis – producer, instrumentation
Trey Lorenz – background vocals
Bob Ludwing – mastering
Rob Mathes – conductor, string arrangements
Jeremy McCoy – bass
Colin Miller – engineer
Ann Mincieli – assistant engineer
Tadd Mingo – assistant engineer
John Mitchell – drum programming
Bill Molina – engineer
Billy Odum – guitar
Tim Olmstead – assistant engineer
Suzanne Ornstein – violin
Alyssa Park – strings, string quartet
Sara Parkins – strings, string quartet
John Patitucci – bass
Dave Perini – assistant engineer
Kelly Price – vocals, background vocals
Michele Richards – strings, string quartet
Steve Richards – strings, cello
Alexander Richbourg – vocal programming
Robert Rinehart – viola
Tom Rosenthal – viola
Jeff Rothschild – assistant engineer
Laura Seaton – violin
7 Aurelius – programming, producer
Andrew Sherman – piano
Jaime Sickora – assistant engineer
Dexter Simmons – mixing
Fiona Simon – violin
Carl "Butch" Small – percussion
Jon Smeltz – engineer, mixing
Dan Smith – strings, cello
Xavier Smith – assistant engineer, assistant
Brian Springer – engineer
Brian Sumner – assistant engineer
Phil Tan – engineer, mixing
Mary Ann Tatum – background vocals
Lesa Terry – strings, string quartet
Michael Hart Thompson – percussion, strings, electric guitar, steel guitar, synthesizer bass, nylon string guitar
Jeremy Turner – cello
German Villacorta – assistant engineer
Seth Waldman – assistant engineer
Evan Wilson – viola
John Wittenberg – strings, string quartet
Mary Wooten – cello
Jason Wormer – assistant engineer
James "Big Jim" Wright – producer
Sharon Yamada – violin
Jung Sun Yoo – violin
Bradley Yost – assistant engineer, assistant
Antony Zeller – assistant engineer