Butterfly (Mariah Carey album)

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Butterfly
Studio album by Mariah Carey
Released	September 16, 1997 (U.S.)
Recorded	1997
Genre	Pop/R&B
Label	Columbia
Producer(s)	Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff, Puff Daddy, Q-Tip, Stevie J, The Trackmasters, Cory Rooney, David Morales
Professional reviews
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide link Rich Juzwiak, Slant Magazine link
Mariah Carey chronology
Daydream (1995)	Butterfly (1997)	#1's (1998)
Alternate Cover

Butterfly is the seventh album and fifth studio album by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on September 16, 1997 (see 1997 in music) by Columbia Records. It was Carey's first album to be released following the ending of her marriage to Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola, and it includes contributions from producers such as The Trackmasters, Puff Daddy, Stevie J and Walter Afanasieff. In a 2006 interview with MTV Overdrive Carey referred to the album as "ahead of its time", and said she considers "Babydoll", "Breakdown" and "The Roof" as "still some of my favourites".^[1]

Carey had visualized the title track "Butterfly" as a house record; the legacy of which is in the David Morales produced "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" (based on the Elton John song "Skyline Pigeon"). However, the song evolved instead into a ballad, which she co-wrote with Walter Afanasieff. According to Carey, women who have suffered abuse during childhood or in relationships have told her that "Close My Eyes" saved their lives.^[2] She has said the album's closing track, "Outside", is "about being multi-racial and feeling like I was from another planet".^{[citation needed]} She referred to this album in an MTV interview as one of her closest albums, because it was the first to really begin to express her personality.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Reception

Rolling Stone described Butterfly as "a transitional album" for Carey, who placed herself firmly in the "milieu of hip-hop-inflected R&B" and give it three stars, while the All Music Guide gave it four stars, stating that "it is one of her best albums, illustrating that Carey continues to improve and refine her music which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers".^[3] Billboard magazine called it "a milestone record for one of the most successful and visible artist of the nineties" while Slant included it in the feature "Vital Pop — 50 Essential Pop Albums" giving it four and a half stars. The 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die referred to Butterfly as "astonishing", "stunning", and "an album on which bitterness becomes beauty and glumness becomes gold".

Butterfly debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 236,000 copies sold in its first week; it remained there for one week, in the top twenty for twenty-one weeks and on the chart for fifty-five weeks (making one re-entry). The album sold more in both its fourteenth week and fifteenth week of release than in its opening week, peaking at 283,000 copies in its fifteenth (where it was at number eight). It has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA and produced two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Honey" and "My All". "Honey" became the sixth single (and the third by Carey) to debut at number one on the Hot 100. The album also yielded the radio airplay hit "Butterfly", though "Breakdown" was far less successful. "The Roof" and "Whenever You Call" received limited release in some countries.

"Honey" was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Awards for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song", while "Butterfly" was nominated for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". The album won International Pop Album of the Year at the Gold Disc Awards in Japan, and also won at the IFPI Platinum Europe Awards. For Butterfly, Carey won the "Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B" award at the American Music Awards of 1998. The album also helped Carey win the BMI Pop Awards for "Songwriter of the Year" and the "Songwriter" awards for "Honey", "Butterfly" and "My All". Additionally, Carey won the Top Female Artist Blockbuster Entertainment Award.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Honey" – 5:00
2. "Butterfly" – 4:35
3. "My All" – 3:52
4. "The Roof" – 5:14
5. "Fourth of July" – 4:22
6. "Breakdown" – 4:44
7. "Babydoll" – 5:07
8. "Close My Eyes" – 4:21
9. "Whenever You Call" – 4:21
10. "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" – 3:49
11. "The Beautiful Ones" – 6:59
12. "Outside" – 4:46

[edit] Notes

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Gardner, Elysa. "Hot again, Carey launches a summer tour". USA Today. May 22, 2006. June 11, 2006.
3. ^ [2]