Mariah Carey, a record producer, singer-songwriter, and actress, released a compilation album on October 2, 2020 called The Rarities consisting of 15 unreleased songs and a 17 bonus track-list of  live versions. All of these songs were chosen first hand by Carey.

I found it really interesting that most of the songs are from different time eras because it really shows the musical evolution of a genre like pop music. “Here We Go Around Again” from 1990 is more upbeat and fun, while “Mesmerized” from 2012 had a slow and tender beginning and progressively became more up-beat with her whistle notes.

Most of the songs were the first time that I ever heard them. The only songs that I do know are her most popular songs like, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Always Be My Baby,” “Emotions,” and “Fantasy,” which are all included on the bonus track-list of the album.

I am really grateful for this because I enjoy listening to these songs that are familiar, but I also appreciate listening to the songs that I have not heard that are on the new album.

The 17 bonus track-list includes “One Sweet Day,” “Daydream,” and “Vision of Love,” along with more of her popular songs. I don’t typically prefer listening to live songs on any album. When I hear a compilation album, I would want to listen to the studio version of that song. I enjoy listening to live songs at performances and studio versions on the album.

I really enjoyed listening to this album because it brought back a lot of childhood memories through some of the songs. I thought the album was really well put together even though there are no ‘new’ songs on the album. Overall the album was really fun to listen to. Mariah Carey was an amazing voice and I will most likely listen to her music in the future.