August 5, 1990

Most of the tunes don't quite provide the right settings for her to stretch her vocal cords.

August 6, 1990

The songs and instrumentation are like something you'd find in the generic aisle of a grocery store.

August 11, 1990

While side two falls off, this still is a memorable debut.

August 12, 1990

Because of the something-for-every-format production philosophy, this album lacks an emotional center.

August 16, 1990

If Whitney Houston could do it all over again, she'd probably try to be Mariah Carey.

August 17, 1990

Sorry Whitney, this 20-year-old New Yorker, whose range starts at the center of the Earth and rockets out of the atmosphere, blows you away.

August 18, 1990

[Her handlers] need to look farther afield than Carey's mediocre, meandering songwriting skills, which are totally at odds with her quite amazing voice.

August 19, 1990

Carey is destined to surpass the hundreds of others plundering the fertile field of pop-R&B  because she also has an unerring sense of how powerful raw, unonamented talent can be.

August 25, 1990

[The songs are] mostly disposable: built with fancy trappings but empty on the inside.

August 25, 1990

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