Music Box (Mariah Carey album)
Released August 31, 1993
Recorded August 1992–May 1993
Studio
Right Track Studios
(Sausalito, CA)
The Record Plant
(Los Angeles)
Genre
Pop[1] R&B[1]
Length 42:01
Label Columbia
Producer
Mariah Carey Dave Hall Walter Afanasieff David Cole Robert Clivillés Babyface Daryl Simmons
Music Box is the third studio album by American singer Mariah Carey. It was released by Columbia Records on August 31, 1993, 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. During the course of the album’s development, Carey wanted to broaden her audience, choosing a more pop/R&B oriented sound. During this time frame, she experimented with different musical instruments, leading the album’s sound away from her more contemporary previous two efforts. Two unused tracks from the album sessions were released as B-sides: “Do You Think of Me” and “Everything Fades Away”.
In order to successfully take the album in a new direction, Carey and Afanasieff sought out new and innovative producers, as well as some from Carey’s previous releases. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds first began working with Carey on Music Box, where he helped produce some of the album’s softer and more melodious tracks, as well as being part of the songwriting process. Additional writers and producers were Robert Clivillés and David Cole (a pair also known as C+C Music Factory) and Daryl Simmons. While the album featured a range of different talented music producers, the bulk of the songwriting was done by Carey and her writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. In future projects, they would continue writing material for Carey’s albums, until her 1999 release Rainbow, where he is absent from the writing credits.
Four singles were released from the album. The first three, “Dreamlover”, “Hero” and “Without You”, became worldwide chart-topping singles, the latter becoming Carey’s highest charting international single of her career. “Without You” became Carey’s first number-one single in most European markets and reached the top three in the United States. To promote Music Box, Carey embarked on the short but successful Music Box Tour which traveled to select cities in North America. Carey was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Dreamlover” at the 1994 Grammy Awards and received the same nomination for “Hero” at the 1995 Grammy Awards.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Mariah Carey, except where noted.
No. Title Lyrics Music Producers Length
1. “Dreamlover”
Carey Dave Hall
Carey Walter Afanasieff Hall
3:54
2. “Hero”
Carey Afanasieff
Carey Afanasieff
4:19
3. “Anytime You Need a Friend”
Carey Afanasieff
Carey Afanasieff
4:26
4. “Music Box”
Carey Afanasieff
Carey Afanasieff
4:57
5. “Now That I Know”
Carey Robert Clivillés David Cole
Carey Clivillés Cole
4:19
6. “Never Forget You”
Carey Babyface
Carey Babyface
Carey Babyface Daryl Simmons
3:46
7. “Without You” (Badfinger cover)
Pete Ham Tom Evans
Ham Evans
Carey Afanasieff
3:36
8. “Just to Hold You Once Again”
Carey Afanasieff
Carey Afanasieff
3:59
9. “I’ve Been Thinking About You”
Carey Clivillés Cole
Carey Clivillés Cole
4:48
10. “All I’ve Ever Wanted”
Carey Afanasieff
Carey Afanasieff
3:51
Personnel
Credits adapted from Music Box album liner notes.
Musicians
Mariah Carey – lead vocals, background vocals
Walter Afanasieff – keyboards, additional keyboards, synthesizers
Dave Hall – synthesizers, keyboards, rhythm programming
David Cole – keyboards
Babyface – keyboards, percussion, background vocals
Ren Klyce – Akai and Roland programming
Gary Cirimelli – MacIntosh and synthesizer programming
Ricky Crespo – programming
Shawn Lucas – programming
James T. Alfano – programming
Michael Landau – guitars
Kayo – bass
Robert Clivillés – drums, percussion
Mark C. Rooney – background vocals
Cindy Mizelle – background vocals
Melonie Daniels – background vocals
Kelly Price – background vocals
Shanrae Price – background vocals
Production
Mariah Carey – arranger
Dave Hall – arranger
Walter Afanasieff – arranger
Robert Clivilles – arranger
David Cole – arranger
Babyface – arranger
Bob Rosa – engineer, mix engineer
David Gleeson – engineer
Dana Jon Chappelle – engineer, vocal engineering
Acar Key – engineer
Frank Filipetti – engineer
Jim Zumpano – engineer
Jim Caruana – 2nd engineer
Jen Monnar – 2nd engineer
Kent Matcke – 2nd engineer
Mark Krieg – 2nd engineer
Kirk Yano – additional tracking engineer
Mick Guzauski – mixing
Bob Ludwig – mastering, Gateway Master Studios
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