Heartbreaker [CD/Vinyl Single] – Mariah Carey

Heartbreaker, the first single from Mariah Carey's Rainbow, prompts one to ponder whether or not this disc actually includes a "song." The song, if you will, takes on completely different personalities on each track. The first track, the album version, sounds almost interchangeable with her earlier hit "Fantasy," and the melody is close to nonexistent. That version also relies on Jay-Z's rap cameo to embellish it further. The second version, a bouncy hip-hop remix featuring Da Brat and Missy Elliott (both ladies lending comically explicit lyrics), pits the song against the beat of Snoop Doggy Dogg's familiar "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)." The final three mixes are dance remixes that combine the song with another composition, "If You Should Ever Be Lonely," resulting in a highly danceable medley. So, in essence, instead of "Heartbreaker" being an actual song, it's more of an actual "record," or physical "thing" that can be bought and sold, and mixed and matched with different beats and essentially different songs to create different consumer products, all falling under the umbrella of Heartbreaker. So, this number one hit brings to question the integrity of a song. If a great song is what one is in pursuit of, with a great melody and interesting chord progressions, then one won't find it here. One will, however, find a good record with fun beats, great production, soaring vocals, and comical raps. ~ Jose Promis, All Music Guide