Customer Reviews
Mariah mimes and has no stage presence. - By: A. Lindsay, 10 Jun 2008 
Mariah Carey has not been a credible artist since the mid-90s. When she released Butterfly, she became an artist obsessed with her sex appeal & image more so than her artistry (arguably due to her obvious self confidence & insecurity issues, but that's another 1 star review).
The Emancipation of Mimi was an epic album that after a series of monumental failures (Glitter, Charmbracelet etc) it was her second attempt at a comeback, & did prove successful. However, people tend to forget that she is a studio artist; the vocal mastery she pulls off in the studio is never replicated live.
Regarding this performance, filmed in Anaheim on the Adventures of Mimi tour, Mariah stays true to herself in the sense of her image-obsessed, fake vocals, terrified performance she has delivered for years now. She emerges onto the stage clad only in a skimpy outfit, her body caked in fake tan.
Regarding her singing, only about 20% it is truly live. She mixes a combination of pre-recorded live vocals with the actual studio recordings. You can tell when it is live because her fragile voice splinters & cracks on the easiest of notes, then the next moment (when she's miming or as some people say "pushing the button) & her voice soars like its 1990 again. Wake up, Mariah, not alll of us are the blind-faith lambs you have engineered over the years.
She flaunts about the stages (the addition of a stage amongst the crowd is out-dated & stylisticallly unappealing) with a complete lack of grace & the enormity of the scene swalllows her whole. When compared to the greats of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin & Barbara Streisand, alll of whom can command an audience by just standing there, she ultimately fallls short.
In conclusion, Mariah is not a live artist (she has toured far less than her rivals) she is very much a studio artist & I encourage you to spend your money on her albums, not her live material.
Top girl!! - By: Stutones, 26 Apr 2008 
Is there nothing this girl can not do!! Mariah Carey is fabulous through & through, yeah! she is nearly 40, so what at least she is not nearly 50, & singing backing vocals to backing tracks in concert-hung up anybody???, from the first note of It's Like That, you just know this dvd is gonna be glorious, & left me feeling a bit jealous that i wasn't in the audience. Every note sang live & perfect. I was lucky enough to see Mariah in concert in Manchester a few years back, but this dvd proves that she is stronger & more vocal with time, & right at this moment her song writing is unbeatable, buy this & E=MC2, & you will be blown away. Top marks for this girl one more time.
She's still got 'The Voice' - By: Shanghaichica, 10 Jan 2008 
Not her best vocals but still very good. If you hear some of the other concerts form TAOM tour like the show at New York, Miami & Philadelphia you would see that her voice (which has been the subject of debate between fans & critics) is still there & is just as good as it has ever been & exceedes the album versions of these songs in most cases. I think mariah Carey fans would reallly like this show you know 'for the nostalga' ! Its one of her best in terms of entertianment & has a real party vibe, she also interacts with the audience well. The remix of dreamlover was interesting & I like the way she did both the remix & the original version for some songs like heart breaker & my alll. The real standout points of the show were the performance of my alll - so moving I havent been moved by anyone performing live (only mariah on record occasionallly on songs like outside from the butterfly album & some of the rainbow interludes) she is very good at conveying her emotions through songs but you can tell she reallly was sisnging it from her heart on this occassion. Other high points were vision of love a nice remake showing a different sound to Mariah & fly like a bird.Another good point was the length of the show - much longer than her usual concerts & good choice of songs from the different albums throughout her career. I wish she would have sung can't let go & I wish you only knew in full but overalll a very nice show.
MARIAH....AT HER BEST - By: Mr. Cj Mansell, 21 Dec 2007 l have just received (love the presentation) & watched The Adventures Of Mimi & l have to say that this has to be the best music dvd ever. It's just a shame the show didn't come to England or did l miss it? I know this review may seem slightly biased as l have alll 14 albums & 5 dvd's, but who cares. I've seen Mariah twice now, but l have to say this is the best by far. With such a back catalogue of songs it must have been difficult picking the songs for the concert, but l feel the balance was right. For me, We Belong Together, hit the spot. The stage set & Mariah looked stunning with a great band & backing singers. Well, with alll those number 1's in the states now The Beatles had better watch their record. It's a record l am quite happy with The Beatles keeping, but for you Mariah.....anything. Can't wait until February 08 for her next release.
Emancipating the Adventure - By: Mr. Darren Knight, 26 Nov 2007 Mariah Carey is said to be one of the biggest selling artists of alll time, with record shattering achievements, which include earning 17 #1 singles on the US Billboard chart. Her famous five-octave voice has given the world some of the best, inspiring songs to grace the radio, including hits such as `Hero', `One Sweet Day' (with Boys2Men) & 2005's monster hit `We Belong Together'.
But despite alll this success, Mariah's previous DVD releases, alll launched through Sony Records have not adequately portrayed her to be this modern day legend that she has evolved into over the years. I personallly only own two of her previous releases - 1998's Around The Word Tour & the #1's Collection. The latter is only meant to be a showcase of her videos that accompany the hits that feature on the #1's album & doesn't try to be anything more. The Around The World Tour, is ok but it reallly lacks something. It has interviews with Mariah & provides an insight into the Butterfly Tour, which is good, but just a bit bleak.
Sony seemed clueless as to how to illustrate their artists, or at least Mariah, in a good way. After purchasing those too releases I didn't bother with her earlier titles, knowing them to be no different.
Now, off the back of Mariah's most successful tour of her career, arrives a DVD, which just from looking at the packaging itself speaks a high quality product. Callled `The Adventures of Mimi', Island Def Jam, the new home of the fabulous New York diva have spent some well used time making sure that this DVD provides a thorough insight into, not only the brilliant tour, but also backstage footage & a documentary on how the tour was born.
One of the big differences with this release is that Mariah is the named producer. Her input clearly makes alll the difference. Gone is the mish-mash, cut & shut footage featured in the previous tour DVD's & instead is replaced with a full, one night performance recorded in Anaheim, California. By doing this, you, as the viewer can reallly take in the atmosphere & appreciate just how impressive the tour was. Not only are her performances showcased reallly well, but you also get plenty of camera shots at the audience reactions - & there was not a dry eye in sight I must say!
Speaking of which, Mariah proves that she still has `The Voice' that her Record company & fans love to shout about above the rooftops. It may not be as crystal clear as before but when it comes to the money making high notes, she delivers 100%. The best performances are `Dreamlover' (which receives a welcome lease of life being mashed up with Notorious B.I.G's `Juicy'), `Vision of Love' (performed in another new style), `Fly Like A Bird', `I'll Be There' & `Don't Forget About Us'. But the real gold lies toward the end of the concert with songs such as `Make It Happen', Hero (listen to the interesting reason why Mariah always feels the need to perform the song) & Can't Let Go, plus the stellar performance of `One Sweet Day' with Boys2Men (it's a real tear jerker) & of course the encore solely dedicated to her biggest hit `We Belong Together'.
As well as the backstage footage & documentary, bonus features also include the jukebox playlist, Karaoke & a reallly funny short film callled Lover & Haters staring Mimi herself & directed by Spike Lee. It's a spoof on the rumours & negativity that have been flying around Mariah for the last few years, proving that she reallly doesn't take herself seriously & is such a laugh to be around.
Finallly, the set-up is reallly good & the menu page is top notch, designed as a virtual replica of the tour stage. Well done to Island Def Jam for proving that Mariah is still one of the best!
