Fridae

Innocently first dubbed as the next Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey has risen from a shy girl who preferred unflattering black outfits to a now harrowing Playboy Bunny look-alike, evident ever since her last effort, Rainbow.

One look at the CD cover of her latest soundtrack/studio album Glitter shows that she's taken her fashion-unconsciousness to new heights.

But that's not where my criticism stops. Having been an ardent fan ever since her eponymous debut, I was horrified at first listen to Glitter. Surely this must be a big joke. (Yes, Mariah, you're a star, but you can't expect your fans to lap up everything you throw at them!)

Her semiautobiographical movie of the same name takes place in the '80s, so the album "appropriately" relives that era's sound, thanks to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Just when we think the '80s is well behind us, it comes sneaking and stabs us in the back. Listen to her reworking of Didn't Mean To Turn You On and Want You, the upsetting duet with Eric Benet and you'll feel the sharp disabling pain.

Fortunately, Mariah still had some sanity left in her when she decided to include her trademark ballads, although only four. Never Too Late and especially Lead The Way sound as if they were unreleased tracks from her early days, when her voice sounded more, shall I say, "soulful".

The glittering gem here is the poignant Reflections (Care Enough), a gospel-influenced number that's on my list as one of her greatest songs (right up there next to Vision Of Love). An abandoned child speaks of her dying love for her mother, telling her that "you could have had the decency to give me up before you gave me life".

At least it's a good enough excuse for me to not have to return the album and get my money back.

Fans can listen to the diva's audio message on her official Web site, www.mariahcarey.com, letting them know that she is recovering from her recent hospitalisation and doing well.