Hurray! a B Minus!

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

PERFORMER: MARIAH CAREY

ALBUM: MUSIC BOX

LABEL: COLUMBIA

THE BOTTOM LINE: Mariah Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead she has once again settled for Salieri-like mediocrity.

WHY DOES A SINGER AS TALented as Mariah Carey continue to limit herself to churning out generic pop songs? Her self-titled debut displayed great promise, showcasing her gospel energy and vocal range on such hit songs as Vision of Love and Vanishing. songs as Vision of Love and Vanishing. But Carey's third full album, Music Box, seems perfunctory and almost passionless . . . and that raises a lot of other questions.

Which of these lyrics appear on Carey's new album, Music Box?

A) "Dream Lover come rescue me"

B) "Dreams are hard to follow"

C) "I just dream about you, baby"

D) "My dreams would come true"

E) All of the above.

On Music Box, lyrics about dreams appear on four songs, lyrics about loneliness appear on three tracks ("the long lonely night," etc.), and five songs are addressed to "you" (Anytime You Need a Friend, Never Forget You, etc.). These are all examples of:

A) Repetitious redundancy

B) Repetitious redundancy

C) A and B

D) A and C

E) All of the above.

Carey cites soul singer Aretha Franklin as one of her influences. But on her new album, Carey tones down her vocal fireworks, seemingly in an effort to be more "mainstream." On the basis of just this album, select the pair of words that best indicates a relationship similar to that expressed in the capitalized pair ARETHA FRANKLIN: MARIAH CAREY.

A) Master: Student

B) Obi-Wan Kenobi: Luke Skywalker

C) Oak tree: seedling

D) $110-a-bottle Corton-Charlemagne white Burgundy: Jolt cola.

Pretend you are Carey. You can pick any song from the 1970s to remake for your new album. Which song would you pick and why?

1) I'd select I'll Be There, because I'm a great admirer of Michael Jackson's musical oeuvre.

2) Scratch that. I already remade I'll Be There on my deservedly acclaimed 1992 MTV Unplugged album.

3) O.K., I've got a new choice. I want to remake the 1970 song Without You by the now obscure rock group Badfinger.

True talent is hard to control. Prince (oras he now calls himself) alternately releases songs that are great and ones that are unlistenable. The unpredictability of true talent is one reason why Top 40 radio often prefers the talentless. They're not taking chances, so they're easier to program, easier to manipulate. To be sure, there are some great moments on Music Box. The gospel-flavored Anytime You Need a Friend demonstrates Carey's vocal power, although too fleetingly. And the title cut is one of Carey's loveliest songs to date, with her voice humming and hovering above a tinkling, childlike melody: "And your love/ breaks away the clouds surrounding me." Such moments are too rare on this release. One gets the sense that Carey is squandering her chance at greatness, a malfunctioning probe missing her target planet, spinning into pop oblivion.

Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this passage?

A) Music Box is a calculated waste of talent. But Carey does do a better version of Without You than Badfinger.

B) Carey is only 23 years old. Why can't hack music critics just lay off her and see how she blossoms?

C) Mariah has just spun past Mars. When she gets to Pluto, look for a duet with Michael Bolton.