Music Box (album)

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Music Box
Music Box cover
Studio album by Mariah Carey
Released August 31, 1993 (U.S., Canada)
August 17, 1993 (U.K.)
Recorded 1993
Genre Pop, R&B
Length 47:24
Label Columbia
CK-53205
Producer Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff, David Cole, Robert Clivillés, Babyface
Professional reviews
Mariah Carey chronology
MTV Unplugged
(1992)		 Music Box
(1993)		 Merry Christmas
(1994)
Singles from Music Box
  1. "Dreamlover"
    Released: July 27, 1993
  2. "Hero"
    Released: October 19, 1993
  3. "Without You/Never Forget You"
    Released: January 24, 1994
  4. "Anytime You Need a Friend"
    Released: May 27, 1994

Music Box is the fourth album and third studio album by pop and R&B singer Mariah Carey. It was released by Columbia Records on August 31, 1993 (see 1993 in music) in North America. The album comprises ballads primarily co-written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff — with whom she had previously worked on Emotions (1991) — and a few urban dance tracks. Other collaborators on Music Box include Babyface and Robert Clivillés/David Cole (also known as Clivillés & Cole).

Lead single "Dreamlover" became Carey's most successful single at the time of its release when it topped the U.S. and Canadian singles charts, and Badfinger's "Without You" became her first to reach number one in the UK and several other countries across Europe. Carey was nominated for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for "Dreamlover" at the 1994 Grammy Awards; she received the same nomination for "Hero" at the 1995 Grammy Awards. It remains Carey's most successful album to date. It became a tremendous commercial success internationally, officially cementing Carey into the ranks with Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Madonna.

Contents

[edit] Chart performance

Music Box entered the U.S. Billboard 200 at #2 and ascended to #1 fifteen weeks after its release, staying at the top for eight non-consecutive weeks. It remained in the top twenty for forty weeks and on the Billboard 200 for 128 weeks (more than two years, and the most for a Mariah Carey album), re-entering the chart three times. The album also reached number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and as of 2005 it had sold more than 9.16 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan,[1] with an additional 0.74 million sold at BMG Music Clubs.[2] Music Box was the second-best selling album in the United States in 1994, only behind Ace of Base's The Sign.

Music Box was a big success in Canada but only managed a peak position of number five despite the success of "Dreamlover". The album was a large seller elsewhere because of its singles, and it topped the charts in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In the latter it debuted at #1 where it stayed for one week, returning to the top spot in February 1994, to spend another five non-consecutive weeks at number one. With this, it was just the tenth best-selling album of 1993 in the United Kingdom, but the third best-selling album of the following year in that country. Additionally, the album became the #1 selling album of 1994 in many European, Asian, and South American countries.

The album is Carey's most successful album to date worldwide, and by 2005 it had sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide.[3][4] Moreover, it is 47th most successful album ever and the tenth most successful female album of all time according to United World Chart's All Time Chart.[5]

Music Box yielded Carey's seventh and eighth U.S. #1 singles, "Dreamlover" and "Hero". "Dreamlover" (based around a sample of "Blind Alley" by The Emotions) spent eight weeks at #1 and has become one of Carey's most popular songs to date; it continued the trend of Carey's debut singles from each studio album topping the U.S. Hot 100 (which lasted until the turn of the decade). "Hero" spent four weeks at #1 and became her first Christmas #1 single. The album's third and fourth singles, "Without You" (a cover of the Badfinger song made famous by Harry Nilsson in 1972) and "Anytime You Need a Friend", respectively, were slightly less successful in the U.S. The former did not reach number one, but it became Carey's first single to top the UK chart, was very successful around the world and became the biggest worldwide hit in Mariah's career until We Belong Together, while "Anytime You Need a Friend" failed to make the U.S. top ten (Carey's first single to do so). Media Traffic ranked Without You as the most successful single of 1994. All four singles were top ten Adult Contemporary hits, though none of them attained the #1 Adult Contemporary spot, making it Carey's first album without a #1 Adult Contemporary hit. Having sold approximately 42 million copies globally, Music Box is one of the best selling albums of all time.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Dreamlover" (Carey, Dave Hall) - 3:53
  2. "Hero" (Carey, Walter Afanasieff) - 4:19
  3. "Anytime You Need A Friend" (Carey, Afanasieff) - 4:25
  4. "Music Box" (Carey, Afanasieff) - 4:57
  5. "Now That I Know" (Carey, Clivillés, Cole) - 4:19
  6. "Never Forget You" (Carey, Babyface, Daryl Simmons) - 3:46
  7. "Without You" (Peter Ham, Tom Evans) - 3:36
  8. "Just To Hold You Once Again" (Carey, Afanasieff) - 4:00
  9. "I've Been Thinking About You" (Carey, Clivillés, Cole) - 4:48
  10. "All I've Ever Wanted" (Carey, Afanasieff) - 3:51

European, Australian and Asian editions
11. "Everything Fades Away" (Carey, Afanasieff) - 5:25

Canadian edition
11. "Do You Think of Me" (Carey, Afanasieff) - 4:45

Latin American edition
11. "Héroe" (Hero in Spanish) (Carey, Afanasieff) - 4:19

[edit] Charts, sales and certification

Country Chart[6] Peak
position[6]		 Certification[6] Sales[6]
Worldwide 32,000,000
U.S. Billboard 200 1 (8 week) Diamond (10x Platinum) 9,900,0001[7]
Europe IFPI 1 (11 week) 7x Platinum 7,000,000
Japan RIAJ 2 11x Platinum 2,300,000
UK BPI 1 (6 week) 5x Platinum 1,500,000
France IFOP 1 (4 week) Diamond 1,300,000
Brazil 5x Platinum 1,290,000
Germany IFPI Germany 1 (11 week) 2x Platinum 1,000,000
South Korea RIAK 13x Platinum 1,300,000[8]
Australia ARIA 1 (18 week) 13x Platinum 910,000
Canada CRIA 5 7x Platinum 700,000
Netherlands NVPI 1 (12 week) 6x Platinum 600,000
Italy FIMI 2 5x Platinum 500,000
Taiwan IFPI Taiwan 10x Platinum 500,000
Spain EIM 2 4x Platinum 400,000
Switzerland Hit Parade 1 (1 week) 4x Platinum 200,000
Mexico AMPROFON Platinum 250,000
Singapore RIAS 8x Platinum 120,000
Hong Kong IFPI Hong Kong 5x Platinum 100,000
New Zealand RIANZ 2 5x Platinum 90,000
Austria Media Control 1 (11 week) 2x Platinum 80,000
Sweden IFPI Sweden 3 Platinum 80,000
Israel IFPI Israel 1 (11 week) Platinum 60,000
Norway IFPI Norway 2 Platinum 40,000
Hungary[9] MAHASZ Top 40 Albums 4 unknown
Finland IFPI Finland 1 Platinum 47,338
Belgium Wallonia IFP Belgium 34 unknown

1 This figure only includes Soundscan and BMG record club sales.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22858&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=1775 UKmix.org U.S. Nielsen SoundScan sales from 1991 to December 2005]
  2. ^ U.S. BMG Music Club and Columbia House sales as of February 2005
  3. ^ http://www.mariahcarey.com/news/bio.php Mariahcarey.com
  4. ^ "Diva Pitch"
  5. ^ Global Track Chart
  6. ^ a b c d MariahJournal
  7. ^ http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=47877 Mi2n.com
  8. ^ http://www.imbc.com/broad/radio/fm4u/goldendisc/gold_musictable/1530950_4617.html iMBC.com
  9. ^ mahasz.hu archive
Preceded by
Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg		 Billboard 200 number-one album
December 25, 1993 - January 14, 1994
January 22 - February 11, 1994
March 5 - March 18, 1994		 Succeeded by
Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains
Preceded by
The One Thing by Michael Bolton		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
March 27 - April 2, 1994
April 10 - April 16, 1994
May 8 - June 25, 1994
July 3 - July 30, 1994
August 7 - September 3, 1994
September 18 - September 24, 1994		 Succeeded by
Far Beyond Driven by Pantera
v • d • e
Mariah Carey
Studio albums
Compilations
Live
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