Daydream

Looking back, *Daydream* can be seen as a demarcation point in Mariah Carey’s career. At the time, the singer had built her enormous success upon powerhouse ballads and frothy dance tunes. *Daydream* nudged Carey towards a more hip-hop based sound, moving her away from grand love arias and towards streetwise jams. That’s not to say that the big ballads are absent — “I Am Free” and an overwrought remake of Journey’s “Open Arms” give her plenty of room to exercise her phenomenal pipes. But the best moments come when Mariah climbs off her pedestal and mixes it up with lesser mortals. “Fantasy” lets her voice slither and glide around an effervescent track taken from Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love.” “One Sweet Day” (her shiver-inducing duet with Boyz II Men) and “Always Be My Baby” borrow from early R&B to create an organic yet ethereal feel. And “Melt Away” lives up to its title as Mariah delivers a molten performance. Mariah would take bolder steps in the years ahead, but the big change really started with *Daydream*.

On 1995’s Daydream, the spectacular pop vocalist fine-tuned her songcraft. The album redrew the boundaries of what a Mariah Carey song—and a pop song—was supposed to sound like.

Discover Daydream by Mariah Carey released in 1995. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.