Glitter (soundtrack) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

At the time of its release, reviews for Glitter were mixed at best. The album's main criticism laid within its content; many music reviewers felt that through an over-abundance of guest musicians, Carey was overpowered throughout most of Glitter. Additionally, many criticized its 1980s theme, which most felt was poorly conceptualized. On the website Metacritic, which averages professional reviews into a numerical score, the album received a 59/100, indicating "generally mixed or average reviews." Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album one and a half out of five stars, calling it an "utter meltdown -- the pop equivalent of Chernobyl" and wrote "It's an embarrassment, one that might have been easier to gawk at if its creator wasn't so close to emotional destruction at the time of release." Michael Paoletta from Billboard was less critical, citing it as a "minor misstep in a stellar career that has earned the singer a few free passes. Editor Sarah Rodman from The Boston Herald gave Glitter a mixed review, praising Carey's song-writing and voice, although panning the excess of secondary musical guests. While criticizing the album's roster of appearances, Rodman wrote "the artists contribute mostly distracting, self-promoting jibber jabber all over what could have been Carey's best, most emotionally mature record to date." Daily News editor Chuck Campley rated the album two and a half out of five stars, writing "Maybe this was the best Mariah Carey could muster under the circumstances, but 'Glitter' needed more work." David Browne from Entertainment Weekly gave Glitter a mixed review, criticizing the abundance of rappers and describing Carey's vocals as "barely there" on several tracks. Concluding his review on a poor note, Browne wrote "'Glitter' is a mess, but its shameless genre hopping (and Carey's crash) makes it an unintentional concept album about the toll of relentless careerism."

Heather Vaughn from The Free-Lance Star gave Glitter a positive review, complimenting both the dance-oriented tracks, as well as the ballads. In reference to their weight on the album as a whole, Vaughn wrote "Sounds like Mariah's other albums, but with more of an 80s twist. The ballads really let you hear how stunning her voice actually is." Los Angeles Times critic and writer Natalie Nichols gave Glitter two out of a possible four stars, writing how Carey let the album "reflect the synth-driven robo-funk of that wretched decade." Nichols called the album's covers "tepid and pointless", while agreeing that Carey was overwhelmed by the several guest rappers, calling her voice "semi-disguised". Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, criticizing the ballads as "big and goopy, with zero melodic or emotional punch." Aside from the ballads, Sheffield complimented Glitter, but felt it failed to deliver the success or quality that Carey needed on her debut film and soundtrack. He concluded his review of the album with a comparison to Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard (1992), "Mariah still hasn't found her theme song, the one people will remember her voice by. 'Glitter' is good enough to make you hope she finds it. It's not too late, either — Whitney was a veteran if not a has-been when she hit her peak with 'The Bodyguard'." Slant magazine editor Sal Cinquemani awarded Glitter three out of five stars, writing "Carey's edgier tracks are inundated with so many guest artists that her sound ultimately becomes muddled; her pop tunes are so formulaic that it's difficult to distinguish one from the next." USA Today's Edna Gunderson rated the album one and a half out of four stars, criticizing Carey's overall image for the project, as well as the many guest artists on the record. She described Carey as "cheapening her image" and wrote "The whiff of desperation grows more pungent on 'Glitter' in Carey's gratuitous coloratura and transparent enlistment of street-cred boosters such as rappers Ja Rule and Mystikal.