This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
I can see why Mariah Carey is popular. But for the life of me, I have never been able to fathom why she’s a superstar diva.
And make no mistake, she is huge — the top-selling female artist of the ’90s (more than 120 million CDs and singles!), more weeks at No. 1 than The Beatles, 85 gold and platinum awards, yadda, yadda, yadda. OK, she has an astoundingly expressive voice. But the material on her albums — and Rainbow is no exception — never does it justice. Like her other CDs, this is another tepid collection of hip-hop lite (with the usual roster of guest stars) and diabetes-inducing ballads (including a particularly inspid cover of Phil Collins’ Against All Odds). And the closing cut Thank God I Found You (a duet with 98°) ensures there’s no pot of gold at the end of this Rainbow.
