Underneath The Stars

Mariah Carey

CBS Records - Promotional release, 1995

http://www.mariahcarey.com

REVIEW BY: JB

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/27/1997

Underneath the Stars is a promotional single that may never see the light of day. Seen from an artistic standpoint, the cut from Mariah Carey's latest effort my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Daydream is an excellent song and a milestone in Carey's lyric-writing abilities.

Yet from a popular standpoint, the song is slightly too R&B to be mainstream. It's not one of her power ballads or upbeat dance mixes, which define Carey's past success on the charts. Despite that, it's still a very good song and perhaps the best Carey-Afanasieff collaboration since "Hero" off of Music Box.

"UTS" (as it is fondly called in Mariah circles) is frequently quoted to be her personal favorite on Daydream. So no wonder she trusted her brainchild to Trackmasters in making the "Drifting remixes." The result is a very dark deja vu of the original song, which in contrast was a warm, high school-romantic mix. Her vocals are relaxed to an almost murmur, and the effect is, like the picture that graces the disc, hypnotic. It's a long way from "Dreamlover".

Chances are, Underneath The Stars won't be released to droves of starving Carey fans. Carey stated that the Daydream project should last for only a year, a deadline which passed on October 3. Still, Carey fans hunger for more material - 1996 was the first year without a Mariah Carey album since her debut in 1990.

Although another album is scheduled for release come summer 1997 (but Columbia Records is not famous for punctuality), "Underneath The Stars" and perhaps "When I Saw You" (a song subject to an Internet mailing campaign with a strong following) could tide fans over until then. Daydream is in near exhastion; only Jagged Little Pill is in a worse state. A wide-spread release of Underneath The Stars would be a graceful end to put Daydream to rest.

Rating: A-

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© 1997 JB and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of CBS Records - Promotional release, and is used for informational purposes only.