Glenn Gamboa | DROPS
April 15, 2008

With her new album, "E=MC2", Mariah Carey has assembled a collection of perfect little pop pleasures that will charm even the staunchest naysayer.

Carey worked through nearly all her various personal and musical issues throughout the long, six-times-platinum run of 2005's "The Emancipation of Mimi." And all the success shows on "E=MC2."

Not only does Carey get to work with all the best hit makers around - from the unstoppable T-Pain to the masterful Jermaine Dupri - but she has a little extra bounce herself, the deserved swagger of knowing for sure that your ideas are going to work.

There were songs on "Mimi" that felt a little forced, a little too desperate to be liked, but there's none of that on "E=MC2." In fact, the first notes of the album come from one of her patented high-register, dog-whistle flourishes that get her so much grief. But because she surrounds it with the irresistible hip-hop groove of "Migrate" with T-Pain, even that works.

That's only the start of her risk-taking. She adopts a Jamaican accent for the middle of the reggae-tinged "Cruise Control" with Damian Marley to make a plot point, and she pulls it off. It doesn't hurt that the song has a rock-steady hook or that Carey incorporates trappings of reggae style - the sweet harmonies, the organ riffs, as well as a recognizable riddim - into a song that's still distinctively hers.

She goes straight-up, carefree disco for "I'm That Chick," even slipping in some verses from Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" for those who missed the vibe she was going for.

Will that be the No. 1 single that breaks The Beatles' record of 20? Maybe. Carey would need an astonishing four No. 1 singles from "E=MC2" to pass the Fab Four, but the album is so packed with potential that the feat actually is possible.

Between the "We Belong Together"-ish ballads ("Love Story" and "I Stay in Love"), the touching current single "Bye Bye," the T-Pain and Marley collaborations, and the old-school gospel ballad "I Wish You Well," she will have plenty of chances, given the right record company support, which she definitely has these days.

But Carey makes it sound like all that doesn't really matter to her. Throughout "E=MC2," she sounds relaxed and confident, practically daring the listener to resist her, which, as her most recent No. 1 single, the playful "Touch My Body," shows, is almost impossible. She's built one of the year's best albums and she knows it.

E=MC2. Mariah Carey gets the formula right for what will be the soundtrack for 2008. In stores April 15. Grade: A.