MARIAH CAREY'S NEW LP GETS THE BIZ REVIEW TREATMENT

MARIAH CAREY'S NEW LP GETS THE BIZ REVIEW TREATMENT *** Mariah used to be on fi-ah. But no longer. While UK Brrrap pack artists such as Tinchy Stryder and DJ Ironik take soul and R'n'B in exciting new directions, veteran Carey is left looking tired and irrelevant. No more so than on new album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. *** I was played a selection of tracks from the CD, due on September 14, and they left me feeling that the diva has run out of steam. The collection has been billed as her most personal so far, harking back to the sound of her mid-Nineties heyday. But its reliance on bland, dated-sounding, dreary R'n'B bored me to tears. *** Cliched lyrics about things being better "back in the day" and loving someone like "Kool Aid" don't help either. A cover of Foreigner's I Want To Know What Love Is was competent at best. And with little of her trademark vocal pyrotechnics on display I can't find much to recommend what I heard. *** There's still more tracks to finish before the album hits the shelves. I just hope they're not as bad as the one's she's already handed in... (The Sun)