# What is the best Mariah Carey album?

> Mariah's catalog stretches from whistle-note ballads and hip-hop remixes to holiday staples and late-career R&B that critics only caught up with later. Chart giants and cult favorites sit side by side, along with one soundtrack fans spent years defending.

*By YPB Team · Published October 26, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-mariah-carey-album*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Butterfly** — score 1000/1000
   Her 1997 reinvention, a breezy R&B record she has called her most personal.
2. **The Emancipation of Mimi** — score 640/1000
   The 2005 triumph of We Belong Together, the best-selling album in the US that year.
3. **Here for It All** — score 587/1000
   Her 2025 studio album, led by the single Type Dangerous.
4. **Caution** — score 512/1000
   The sleek 2018 album of With You and GTFO, hailed by critics as a late-career high.
5. **E=MC²** — score 419/1000
   The 2008 album whose single Touch My Body gave her an 18th Billboard Hot 100 number one.
6. **Music Box** — score 363/1000
   The 1993 blockbuster of Hero and Without You, one of the best-selling albums of all time.
7. **Rainbow** — score 363/1000
   The 1999 album of Heartbreaker and Thank God I Found You, packed with hip-hop collaborations.
8. **Emotions** — score 299/1000
   The 1991 follow-up steeped in gospel and Motown, led by its whistle-register title track.
9. **Glitter** — score 299/1000
   The 2001 soundtrack to her film debut, a 1980s-styled record that fans later championed.
10. **Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel** — score 299/1000
   The 2009 collaboration with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, including her cover of I Want to Know What Love Is.
11. **Merry Christmas** — score 226/1000
   The 1994 holiday record that gave the world All I Want for Christmas Is You.
12. **Daydream** — score 226/1000
   The 1995 album of Fantasy and One Sweet Day, where pop met hip-hop remixes.
13. **Merry Christmas II You** — score 226/1000
   Her 2010 second holiday album, with Oh Santa! and an orchestral remix of her signature carol.
14. **Mariah Carey** — score 140/1000
   Her 1990 debut, which launched five-octave ballads like Vision of Love and won her the Grammy for Best New Artist.
15. **Charmbracelet** — score 140/1000
   The 2002 comeback album of Through the Rain, mixing ballads with soul.
16. **Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse** — score 140/1000
   The 2014 album named after a childhood self-portrait, featuring Beautiful with Miguel.

Tags: r&b, pop, music, mariah carey