Rainbow

01/01/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy

Give Mariah Carey credit for ambition--a concept album about getting dumped and finding someone new might not be high art, but Rainbow pulls off the idea, sort of.

And give Carey credit for making some effort to rein in her vocal excesses; aside from the ear-grating trills that mar "Bliss," she seems to have learned that showing off her range doesn't always equal great singing. If only you could give Carey credit for more songs as good as "Petals," a restrained and mature ballad that may be the best thing she's ever done, or the joyous "Thank God I Found You," with sunny harmonies from 98 Degrees and Joe atop its stuttering beat.

The rest of Rainbow, produced by Carey with such luminaries as Jam and Lewis, Jermaine Dupri, and schlockmeister David Foster, will generate hits (bet on the tearjerker "After Tonight" and the cover of Phil Collins's "Against All Odds"), but isn't quite enough to elevate Carey to the next level of do-it-all divas like Madonna.