Butterfly
by Mariah Carey

Butterfly by Mariah Carey
Year: 1997
Release date: 1997-09-10
Overall rank: 2,659th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
65/100 (from 180 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1997 (41st)
Award Top albums of of the 1990s (453rd)
Award Best albums of all time (2,659th)

Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY
eBay
Sorry, no matches on eBay for "Butterfly Mariah Carey".

  My favourite store:  

Listen & Collect

Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.

Mariah Carey bestography

Butterfly is ranked as the best album by Mariah Carey.

Mariah Carey album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (2,659th)
Butterfly
Lower ranked (3,436th) »
Daydream

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Listen to Butterfly on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

Butterfly rankings

Butterfly rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,659th | 1990s rank: 453rd | 1997 rank: 41st  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)

Butterfly collection

Butterfly ratings

Average Rating: 
65/100 (from 180 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 180 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !
08/09/2026 03:28 daCritic  Ratings distribution  4,60473/100
 
75/100
 !
06/04/2026 15:05 Fritz  Ratings distribution  1,36377/100
 
70/100
 !
05/28/2026 10:42 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,47370/100
 
75/100
 !
05/02/2026 16:56 Liks_on_music  Ratings distribution  65681/100
 
85/100
 !
02/04/2026 16:32 saltysurprise  Ratings distribution  2,95983/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 65.3/100, a mean average of 64.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 64.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 25.1.


Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to leave a rating

Butterfly comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 11 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/30/2021 10:36 | #272056
It's constantly fascinating how adaptable this ballad singer with a vocal register that extends to birds is. She first tried Janet's new jack swing, and now follows in the footsteps of Mary J. Blige with hip hop.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/27/2018 15:21 | #228040
Disco mais independente da grande artista feminina dos anos 90. Repleta de clássicos.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Mariah Carey's greatest record and easily one of the best R&B albums of the 90s was a crucial turning point in her career. Breaking free of the grips of abusive ex-husband tommy mottola, Mariah seized more creative control and allowed her love of hip-hop and smooth R&B to take over, creating some magnificent gems like "Breakdown" & "The Roof" which are easily some of the very best songs of their decade. The record may sag when relying a little too heavily on ponderous ballads, but other than that it's a marvel with highly articulate lyrics by Mariah herself along with a more subdued vocal performance throughout. These lyrics form very personal tales, building into profound statements like the closing track "Outside" commenting on the plight of mixed-race children not really fitting into any of their ethnic backgrounds. Mariah has always referred to this record as her magnum opus, I don't disagree. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 04/20/2018 02:56 | #213255
I'm actually finding it hard to hate on this. It's not something I'm likely to ever listen to again, but it's got more depth than I expected.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
I love this album a big step forward in sound & overall feel to anything she had recorded before. Butterfly, 4th Of July, My All,The Roof, Breakdown, Whenever You Call & Outside make this a brilliant RnB album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
"Butterfly", Mariah's 6th album in 7 years, is a surprisingly mature piece of work that's fixated on identity and less on impersonal ballads. Mariah co-produced and wrote the majority of this album and her lyricism is nothing short of astounding. Furthermore, the record refreshingly doesn't feel the need to speed things up for the listener; the majority flows at a smooth pace. Carey also experiments with her vocals and doesn't rely on belting every other line out, which really adds to the album's sensuality and delicacy.

"Butterfly" is no doubt Mariah's best work and is an unfortunately neglected album that would've been hailed as a tremendous piece of art if it came from anybody else, but I suppose unashamedly feminine R&B never does well on this site anyway due to high levels of rockism.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/16/2016 00:15 | #163885
This album is the best R&B.Love her voice and art.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 01/17/2015 12:55 | #131746
omg, this album!!!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
10/100
From 10/17/2012 17:05 | #52533
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -5 votes (2 helpful | 7 unhelpful)
So... who's actually heard this album, and who's just rating it low because it's Mariah Carey?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Butterfly

Anonymous
What do you think of this album? Leave a comment or rate it below.
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
Log in or create an account to rate this album, leave comments and join the discussion.