Emotions is the second album by American singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on 17 September 1991 by Columbia Records. It is primarily composed of strong ballads and dance music— written by Carey herself, Walter Afanasieff, Clivilles & Cole, and Carole King.

The album produced Carey’s fifth consecutive number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, giving her the distinction of being the first and only recording act to have its first five singles top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album also generated two more top five singles. Contrary to her debut album, Carey was able to co-produce some of the music material she had written for the album. Carey was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Emotions was eventually certified five times platinum by the RIAA, selling over 12 million copies worldwide.

Writing and recording

With the success of her debut album, Carey and top Sony/Columbia executives such as Tommy Mottola and Don Ienner realised it was time to decide her future plans. Carey was now given permission to produce (which had been denied for most of her first album) and the option to work with producers of her choice. She decided she wanted to give her album a very soulful R&B feel, unlike the mainstream-crossover feel of her debut.

Many options were considered: Carey could delay her second album and release more singles from her first album; she could stop releasing singles and work on her second album slowly, taking a break for a few years to give the public a rest in order to avoid overexposure; or she could release her new album while she was still a popular artist. After much deliberation, it was agreed that her second album would be released soon after the last single from her first album.

Conflict had arisen between Carey and Ben Margulies, with whom she had co-written most of the material on her debut album. She had signed a contract with Margulies that entitled him to half of all her earnings (not just writing royalties) but later realized that the contract would cost her millions, and she was able to nullify it with the help of Sony/Columbia executives. Margulies was angered by this, and consequently refused to co-write any more songs with Carey. Carey tried to save their friendship and professional relationship by offering him money (but not as much as what he would have earned under the previous contract), but the two parties were unable to reach an agreement and parted on bad terms.

Sony/Columbia executives suggested that Carey work with producers from her first album such as Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake or Narada Michael Walden. Carey vetoed this as her experiences with them, particularly Walden, had not been very good. She had been impressed with Walden’s protegé, Walter Afanasieff, who had come in at the last minute to produce “Love Takes Time“. Carey decided to meet Afanasieff while he was on tour with Michael Bolton, and during their first meeting they co-wrote “Can’t Let Go” after Carey had improvised melodies over chords Afanasieff had been playing. The pair went on to co-write three more songs (”So Blessed”, “And You Don’t Remember”, and “Till the End of Time“) for the album.

Carey felt that the album needed up-tempo compositions and had always been a big fan of hip hop music, but Sony/Columbia executives felt she was going too far and ruled out her suggestion to introduce hip hop into her material. Dance music was her second choice, and she co-wrote “Make It Happen” and “You’re So Cold” with David Cole and Robert Clivillés of the C&C Music Factory. Sony/Columbia executives believed that “You’re So Cold” had great potential as a lead single for the album but felt something was missing, and Carey was sent back to work with the C&C Music Factory. They were in a much lighter mood for their second session together and, inspired by the flow and soul of The Emotions song “Best of My Love”, created “Emotions” and “To Be Around You”. The disco-influenced “Emotions” impressed label executives, who chose it as the album’s lead single over “You’re So Cold”.

Carey received an unsolicited phone call from folk/pop singer Carole King, who had been very impressed by Carey’s debut album. She suggested that Carey cover her song “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman” but Carey declined, stating that she preferred to write her own songs and felt that she could not do justice to “Natural Woman” after Aretha Franklin had recorded it. King instead suggested that they write a new song, and Carey co-wrote “If It’s Over” with King on the piano.

Carey decided that a jazz standard would contribute to the album’s soulful/R&B-influenced feel, and she contacted Russell Freeman. With his permission she began to write new lyrics for his new song “The Wind”, and she had been inspired to write it after the death of a friend in a car accident. Sony/Columbia executives felt “The Wind” carried a universal theme that could be applied to the album, and it was considered as the album’s title. They also thought it would be fitting as Carey’s first name originated from the song “They Call the Wind Mariah”. Because its first single was “Emotions”, the album was titled Emotions.

Promotion and reception

Emotions did not receive as substantial promotion as Carey’s debut album, and Carey once again faced criticism when she refused to go on tour. In the wake of a recent scandal at the time involving Milli Vanilli, critics once again attacked Carey as they believed she was a “studio artist” who was unable to perform live, and that her famous high notes were nothing more than a creation of synthesized instruments in the studio. Carey later said she did not tour because she faced her own insecurities and a general lack of self confidence in performing for an audience. She explained her issues by stating that most artists overcome anxiety during their live performances before they get a record deal, but she did not have the same experience performing live. Carey’s stage fright was diminishing and she felt relatively comfortable in smaller environments, so she booked an appearance on the television show MTV Unplugged to promote the album and prove her critics wrong. Her performance on the show became so popular that promotion for Emotions was cut down to release the set list on an EP, MTV Unplugged.

Though the reviews for the album were generally favorable, critics often denounced Carey for the abundance of high notes in her vocals on the album, especially those on the title track where her vocal range is showcased more than on any of her previous songs. In addition, critics believe that Carey’s singing does not adequately convey the emotions of her songs and that she sings in this style to show her vocal prowess. Rolling Stone magazine wrote, “Carey has a remarkable vocal gift, but to date, unfortunately, her singing has been far more impressive than expressive”.^[1] The album earned two 1992 Grammy Award nominations for “Producer of the Year” and “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” (for “Emotions”), losing in both categories.

Emotions debuted and peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 129,000 copies, which surprised some following the huge success of Mariah Carey. It spent twenty-seven weeks in the top twenty and a total of fifty-five on the Billboard 200. It became the first of four Carey studio albums not top the Billboard 200 and was her lowest peaking album until Glitter (2001), but it was certified five times platinum by the RIAA on 30 January 2003. As of 2005 the album had sold 3.57 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan,^[2] with an additional 0.6 million sold at Columbia House outlets.^[3] It performed better on the charts than her debut in the UK, peaking within the top five and spending four weeks more in the top seventy-five, with a total of forty weeks. The album was a success in Canada and Australia, but as in the U.S. it did not sell as well as Mariah Carey. The album made the Canadian top five and the Australian top ten, and was certified two times platinum in both countries. In Brazil it only received a gold certification, and Carey’s success was once again moderate across continental Europe. By 2005 Emotions had sold approximately 12.5 million copies worldwide.^[4]

Emotions were not huge hits and, like her debut album, only the lead single was a success outside of the U.S. The first single, “Emotions“, became Carey’s fifth consecutive number-one single in the U.S. giving her the distinction of being the only act in chart history to have their first five U.S. singles reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It also made the top five in Canada, but failed to go beyond the top twenty in the UK and Australia. “Can’t Let Go” peaked at number two in the U.S., breaking Carey’s streak of number-one singles, and it was a modest hit elsewhere: despite making the Canadian top ten, it barely reached the UK top twenty and missed the Australian top forty altogether. “Make It Happen” peaked at number five in the U.S. and became her first single to miss the Canadian top ten, but managed to peak within the UK top twenty and the Australian top forty. A fourth single, “Till the End of Time“, was commissioned to radio in Costa Rica and Mexico in an attempt to boost sales of the album. Because the song received minimal airplay, and to make way for the release of the MTV Unplugged EP, it was not given further promotion as a single.

Track listing

1. “Emotions” (Carey, David Cole, Robert Clivillés) – 4:08
2. “And You Don’t Remember” (Carey, Walter Afanasieff) – 4:26
3. “Can’t Let Go” (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:27
4. “Make It Happen” (Carey, Cole, Clivillés) – 5:07
5. “If It’s Over” (Carey, Carole King) – 4:38
6. “You’re So Cold” (Carey, Cole) – 5:05
7. “So Blessed” (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:13
8. “To Be Around You” (Carey, Cole) – 4:37
9. “Till the End of Time” (Carey, Afanasieff) – 5:35
10. “The Wind” (Carey, Russell Freeman) – 4:41

Charts