Mariah Carey Love

“What I tried to do is to put it, sort of, a texture on a lot of songs, like as a background part I did certain things, and you know I just meant to get a little more creative with it.” – Mariah on her styling on Daydream

Daydream is the fifth studio album by Mariah Carey, released on September 26, 1995, by Columbia Records. The follow-up to her internationally successful studio album Music Box (1993), and the holiday album Merry Christmas (1994), Daydream differed from her previous releases by leaning increasingly towards urban music. Throughout the project, Carey collaborated with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she wrote and produced most of her previous albums. With Daydream, Carey took more control over the musical direction as well as the album’s composition. Carey considered the album to be the beginning of her musical and vocal transition, a change that would become more evident in her sixth studio album Butterfly (1997). During the album’s production, Carey endured many creative differences with her label and then-husband Tommy Mottola. On Daydream, Carey collaborated with Jermaine Dupri, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, and R&B group Boyz II Men. With Afanasieff’s assistance and the addition of a few contemporary producers, she was able to make a subtle transition into the contemporary R&B market, after previously only pursuing pop, adult contemporary and traditional R&B music.

Daydream received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising the album’s production, its sonic quality, and Carey’s musical progression. It became Carey’s best reviewed album up to that point and garnered six nominations at the 38th Grammy Awards, including for Album of the Year. It was later included on the List of 200 Definitive Albums in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Daydream became a global success, topping the charts in nine countries, and reaching the top five in almost every major music market. It was Carey’s second album to be certified Diamond by the RIAA. Daydream has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Five singles were released from the album. Its lead single “Fantasy” became the first single by a female artist to debut at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and went on to top the chart for eight weeks, and became the second best-selling single of 1995 in the country. The second single “One Sweet Day” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for sixteen weeks and became the longest-running number-one single in Billboard’s history, holding the record for 23 years. The album’s next single “Always Be My Baby” reached number one as well. Jointly, the singles from Daydream spent a combined six months at the top of the Hot 100. To promote the album, Carey embarked on the short but successful, Daydream World Tour, visiting Japan and Europe.

Tracklisting