BUTTERFLY (MARIAH CAREY ALBUM)

'''Butterfly''' is the seventh album and sixth studio album by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on September 16 1997 by Columbia Records.

Contents

Description

Reception

Track listing

Charts, sales and certification

Notes

Description

The album was Carey's first to be released following the ending of her marriage to Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola, and it includes contributions from producers such as The Trackmasters, Puff Daddy, Stevie J and Walter Afanasieff. In a 2006 interview with ''MTV Overdrive'' Carey referred to the album as "ahead of its time", and she said she considers "Babydoll", "Breakdown" and "The Roof" as "still some of my favourites".^[1]
Carey had visualized the title track, "Butterfly", as a house record; the legacy of this is in the David Morales-produced "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" (based on the Elton John song "Skyline Pigeon"). The song was made instead into a ballad, which she co-wrote with Walter Afanasieff. According to Carey, women who have suffered abuse during childhood or in relationships have told her that "Close My Eyes" saved their lives.^[2] She has said the album's closing track, "Outside", is "about being multi-racial and feeling like I was from another planet". She referred to ''Butterfly'' in a 1997 MTV televised interview as one of her closest albums, because it was the first to really begin to express her personality.
When asked which among her albums is her favorite, Carey insists that ''Butterfly'' would be at the top of the list.^[3]

Reception

''Rolling Stone'' described ''Butterfly'' as "a transitional album" for Carey, who placed herself firmly in the "milieu of hip-hop-inflected R&B" and give it three stars, while the All Music Guide gave it four stars, stating that "it is one of her best albums, illustrating that Carey continues to improve and refine her music which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers".^[4] ''Billboard'' magazine called it "a milestone record for one of the most successful and visible artist of the nineties", while ''Slant'' included it in the feature "Vital Pop — 50 Essential Pop Albums" giving it four and a half stars. An entire episode was dedicated to ''Butterfly'' on VH1's Ultimate Albums series.^[5] The 2005 book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' referred to ''Butterfly'' as "astonishing", "stunning", and "an album on which bitterness becomes beauty and glumness becomes gold".
''Butterfly'' debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart with 236,000 copies sold in its first week; it remained there for one week, in the top twenty for twenty-one weeks and on the chart for fifty-five weeks (making one re-entry). The album sold more in both its fourteenth week and fifteenth week of release than in its opening week, peaking at 283,000 copies in its fifteenth (when it was at number eight). It has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA and produced two number-one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "Honey" and "My All". "Honey" became the sixth single (and the third by Carey) to debut at number one on the Hot 100. The album also yielded the airplay-only singles "Butterfly" and "Breakdown". "The Roof" and "Whenever You Call" received limited release in some countries. By 2005, the album had sold 3.7 million copies in the U.S. and over 15 million copies worldwide.
"Honey" was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Awards for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song", while "Butterfly" was nominated for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". The album won International Pop Album of the Year at the Gold Disc Awards in Japan, and also won at the IFPI Platinum Europe Awards. For ''Butterfly'', Carey won the "Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B" award at the American Music Awards of 1998. The album also helped Carey win the BMI Pop Awards for "Songwriter of the Year" and the "Songwriter" awards for "Honey", "Butterfly" and "My All". Additionally, Carey won the Top Female Artist Blockbuster Entertainment Award.
In Asia, it is the only album of Carey to have released six singles, four of which went to number one, with the two other singles reaching the Top 20. This is the most successful album in terms of single release, as the songs went to maintain in the charts for a long period, from late 1997 until mid-1998.

Track listing

;U.S. editions
# "Honey" (Mariah Carey, Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Steven Jordan, Stephen Hague, Bobby Robinson, Ronald Larkins, Larry Price, Malcolm McLaren) – 5:00
#:Samples the Treacherous Three's "The Body Rock"; replays the World Famous Supreme Team's "Hey DJ"
# "Butterfly" (Carey, Walter Afanasieff) – 4:35
# "My All" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 3:52
# "The Roof" (Carey, Jean Claude Oliver, Samuel Barnes, Cory Rooney, Albert Johnson, Kejuan Waliek Muchita) – 5:14
#:Replays Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones"
# "Fourth of July" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:22
# "Breakdown" featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone (Carey, Anthony Henderson, Charles Scruggs, Stevie J.) – 4:44
# "Babydoll" (Carey, Missy Elliott, Rooney, Stevie J.) – 5:07
# "Close My Eyes" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:21
# "Whenever You Call" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:21
# "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" (Carey, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, David Morales) – 3:49
# "The Beautiful Ones" featuring Dru Hill (Prince) – 6:59
# "Outside" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:46
;Non-U.S. editions
:13. "Honey" (So So Def radio remix) (Carey, Robinson, Hague, Larkins, Price, McLaren, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, Berry Gordy, Dennis Lussier) featuring Da Brat & JD - 3:59
:14. "Honey" (Def Club mix) (Carey, Robinson) - 6:17
:15. "Mi Todo" ("My All" in Spanish) - 3:52

Charts, sales and certification

Country	Chart[6]	Peak position	Certification	Sales
Worldwide				15,000,000
U.S.	''Billboard'' 200	1 (1 week)	5x Platinum	3,704,0001[7]
Japan	RIAJ	1 (1 week)	8x Platinum	1,600,000
Europe	IFPI		Platinum	1,000,000
South Korea	RIAK		3x Platinum	300,000
France	IFOP	6	2x Gold	225,000
Canada	CRIA	1 (1 week)	2x Platinum	200,000
Australia	ARIA	1	2x Platinum	140,000
Italy	FIMI	2	Platinum	100,000
Spain	EIM	5	Platinum	100,000
UK	BPI	2	Gold	100,000
Hong Kong	IFPI Hong Kong		4x Platinum	80,000
Mexico	AMPROFON		Gold	100,000
Singapore	RIAS		4x Platinum	60,000
Netherlands	NVPI	1 (2 week)	Gold	40,000
Belgium	IFPI Belgium		Gold	25,000
Switzerland	Hit Parade	3	Gold	25,000
New Zealand	RIANZ	4	Platinum	15,000

Country	Peak
Sweden	4
Austria	5
Norway	5
Germany	7

¹ This figure only includes Soundscan sales.

Notes

1. http://www.mcarchives.com/news.asp?id=5489 ''MCarchives.com''
2. Gardner, Elysa. "Hot again, Carey launches a summer tour". ''USA Today''. May 22 2006. June 11 2006.
3. http://www.mariahcarey.com ''Mariahcarey.com''
4. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8c881va1zzpa~T1 ''Allmusic.com''
5. http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/ultimate_albums/65093/episode.jhtml ''Vh1.com''
6. MariahJournal
7. http://www.mariahjournal.com/infozone/charts/archives/mariahsoundscan123106.html ''Mariahjournal.com''