Vision of Love

thumb|Critics positively compared Carey's stylistic use of melisma and wider range in the song to [[Whitney Houston.]]

"Vision of Love" received universal acclaim from music critics, who complimented its lyrical content as well as Carey's vocals and use of melisma. In 2019, Bill Lamb from About.com stated that "echoes of Whitney Houston's influence are evident, but the sheer power and swooping highs are all Mariah's own." He also named "Vision of Love" "one of the best songs" of the singer's recording career, and "simply one of the most stunning debut releases ever by a pop recording artist." Ashley S. Battel from AllMusic said that it is "memorable". Upon the release, J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun remarked the "stratospheric high notes" of the song. Billboard magazine described it as a "velvety stunner" and a "retro-flavored pop/R&B ballad". An editor, Bill Coleman, noted further that it "has all the elements necessary to propel newcomer to diva status: infectious melodies, lush instrumentation, and a vocal performance brimming with unbridled power and confidence." In a retrospective review on the album in 2005, Michael Slezak from Entertainment Weekly called the song "inspired" and complimented Carey's use of the whistle register. Pan-European magazine Music & Media described it as "a smouldering 'blue-eyed' soul ballad from a new artist with a strong voice." A reviewer from The Network Forty commented, "When this one comes on the air, you better stand clear of your speakers. Her voice will blow you away!"

In 2006, Sasha Frere-Jones from The New Yorker named the song "the Magna Carta of melisma" for both the song's and Carey's influence on pop and R&B singers and American Idol contestants. The Orlando Sentinel described it as a "1950s-styled ballad". People noted that Carey's "tone and clarity" makes it a "mesmerizing" song. Rolling Stone said that "the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love", inspired the entire American Idol vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties." Slant Magazine critic Rich Juzwiak wrote, "I think ["Vision of Love"] was a vision of the future world of American Idol." In a separate review from Slant, he wrote, "The last half of 'Vision Of Love' (starting with the belted bridge) is a series of crescendos that get so intense that another Mariah has to step in to keep up the momentum." Also Juzwiak complimented the usage of the whistle register in the song, "And then there's the whistle note. And then there's the final vocal run that's more like a roller-coaster track. If you think these aren't climaxes, she proves you wrong with her denouement, the way the last word, "be", sort of wanes into an "mm hmm hmm."

Accolades

! scope="row" rowspan="3"| 1991

| rowspan="3"| Grammy Award

| Record of the Year

| rowspan="5"| "Vision of Love"

| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|

| Song of the Year

| Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

! scope="row" rowspan="2"| 1991

| rowspan="2"| Soul Train Music Award

| Best R&B/Soul Song of the Year

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|

| Best Female R&B/Soul Single

! scope="row"| 1991

| BMI Pop Award

| Best Songwriter

| Mariah Carey

| style="text-align:center;"|

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Vision of Love" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 73 during the week of June 2, 1990, and reached the chart's summit nine weeks later. The song remained atop the chart for four consecutive weeks, and was ranked sixth on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart. After four weeks at number one, it fell to number eight, and spent seven weeks lingering within the top ten. It also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for two weeks and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks for three weeks. In October 2019, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the song platinum, denoting shipments of one million units. In Canada, "Vision of Love" entered the Canadian RPM Singles Chart at number 75, during the week of July 7, 1990. In its eighth week on the chart, the song reached number one, and remained on the chart for a total of 17 weeks. It finished eighth on the RPM year-end chart.

"Vision of Love" entered the Australian Singles Chart at number 67 during the week of August 5, 1990. It peaked at number nine, and spent a total of 19 weeks within the top 100.

In the Netherlands, "Vision of Love" entered the Dutch Single Top 100 at number 99, during the week of July 14. It spent a total of 17 weeks on the chart, spending two weeks at its peak position of number eight. The song entered the French Singles Chart at number 39 on November 11. It peaked at number 25, spending two weeks at the position and a total of 14 on the chart. In Ireland, the song peaked at number ten, and spent six weeks charting. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 74, during the week of August 4, 1990. It peaked at number nine in its seventh week, and spent a total of 12 weeks on the chart. According to the Official Charts Company (OCC), the single has sold over 198,000 units in the UK.

Music video

Background

After completing the album, Sony hired Bojan Bazelli to direct the song's music video. After filming the video's first version, record label executives felt the result was sub-par in comparison to the quality of the music. They scrapped the first video and re-filmed it with director Andy Morahan, changing the plot, scenery and imagery. In July 1993, Carey recorded a live concert performance at Proctor's Theatre which included "Vision of Love". It was taped and released as Here Is Mariah Carey in December 1993.

"Vision of Love" was performed on several of Carey's tours and concert shows. It was first featured on her Music Box Tour, her first full-length stateside tour. For the song's performances, Carey donned a large black trench coat, with matching pants and leather boots. She featured her signature curly locks, and was joined by Trey Lorenz, Melonie Daniels and Kelly Price. On her 1996 Daydream World Tour, Carey once again included the song on the tour's set-list. During her shows at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, Carey donned a long black gown, with teased up straightened hair and a matching head-band. For the European leg on the tour, Carey wore a long white gown, and was joined by additional background vocalists. Carey included the song on her set-list for her Butterfly World Tour (1998), where she once again featured the same trio of supporting singers. For the show's performances, she donned a sheer and beige mini-dress, with long and wavy golden hair. Additionally, she wore a cream-colored long-sleeve sheer sweater with matching high-heeled sandals. "Vision of Love" was included on Carey's Rainbow World Tour in 2000, as well as the Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey (2002–03), The Elusive Chanteuse Show (2014) and Caution World Tour (2019). During The Adventures of Mimi Tour in 2006, Carey performed the song at select shows. For the performances of the song, she donned a long yellow cocktail gown and black Christian Louboutin pumps. Once again Lorenz was featured on stage, however with the addition of two different female back-up singers, MaryAnn and Sherry Tatum. Carey also performed the song at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards along with Infinity to promote her number 1 To Infinity album. Carey also included the song in her Las Vegas residency, Mariah Carey Number 1's, a chronicle of her 18 US number 1 hits. The song was first in the chronological setlist, and for the performance Carey donned a black sequined gown, and her signature curls. Carey also included the song during the first two legs of her Las Vegas residency, The Butterfly Returns (2018).

Legacy

"Vision of Love" was nominated for three Grammy Awards at the 33rd annual ceremony, held on February 20, 1991: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, winning the latter. Additionally, the song received the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female and a Song of the Year Award at the BMI Pop Awards. Devon Powers from Popmatters has stated during the release of Carey's Greatest Hits album that "Mariah's Greatest Hits moves chronologically through that remarkable career, beginning with "Vision of Love", the 1990 single that introduced the singer to instant stardom. Still, after so many years and songs, it's by far among her best, if not the best—a simple testament to the incredible pipes that gave her a permanent place in pop cultural memory." Powers added that "From its first moments, the song demands to be legendary—a gong crash smolders low as Mariah's gospel-inspired vocals hum confidently, grandly."

VH1 named "Vision of Love" the 14th greatest song of the 1990s. About.com ranked it fourth on its top ten pop hits of 1990 list and 28th on its top 100 pop songs of the 1990s list. Entertainment Weekly included it on their "10 Great (and 10 Grating) Karaoke Songs" list as a grating karaoke song, saying: "You cannot do this song. Seriously. Tackling this lung-crusher might seem like a fun challenge, but three minutes, five octaves, and one 10-second note later, you will realize that you did not conquer "Vision of Love." "Vision of Love" conquered you." USA Today critic Elysa Gardner picked "Vision of Love" as one of the most intriguing tracks, saying that it is still Mariah's best song. Stereogum writer Tom Breihan noted that the song, "pretty much set the stage for a whole decade of showy, pyrotechnic '90s R&B vocals. It also set the stage for the American Idol-style pageantry that followed more than a decade later. Carey created an environment where her disciples could flourish, and she did it by constructing "Vision Of Love" as a showcase for her voice".

R&B singer Beyoncé said that she began doing vocal "runs" after listening to "Vision of Love" for the first time. In an interview during the early stages of her career, Aguilera said "I've totally looked up to Mariah since 'Vision of Love' came out."

The song was featured in a late 1990 episode of the daytime soap opera All My Children as well as 1991 episodes of Santa Barbara and The Young and the Restless.

Track listing and formats

Worldwide cassette, 7-inch vinyl, CD and CD3 singles

"Vision of Love"
Special excerpts from the debut release "Prisoner / All in Your Mind / Someday"

UK 12-inch vinyl and CD singles

"Vision of Love"
"Sent from Up Above"
Medley (featuring excerpts from "Prisoner / All in Your Mind / Someday")

European 12-inch vinyl and maxi-CD singles

"Vision of Love"
"Prisoner / All in Your Mind / Someday"
"Sent from Up Above"

Filipino 7-inch vinyl single

"Vision of Love"
"Someday"

UK 7-inch vinyl and cassette singles

"Vision of Love"
"Sent from Up Above"

Costa Rican 7-inch vinyl single

"Vision of Love"
"Love Takes Time"

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the Mariah Carey liner notes.

Songwriting – Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies
Production – Rhett Lawrence, Narada Michael Walden
Instruments and programming – Rhett Lawrence, Jimmy Ripp
Recording – Rhett Lawrence
Audio engineering – Narada Michael Walden
All vocals – Mariah Carey
Programming – Ben Margulies, Marcus Miller, Ren Klyce
Mixing – Rhett Lawrence, Narada Michael Walden

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col"| Chart (1990)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

!scope="row"|Canada Retail Singles (The Record)

!scope="row"|Canada Contemporary Hit Radio (The Record)

|14

! scope="row"| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)

| 26

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 10)

!scope="row"|Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)

! scope="row"| Spain Airplay (AFYVE)

| 20

!scope="row"| UK Singles (MRIB)

!scope="row"|UK Dance Singles (Music Week)

|25

!scope="row"|US Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)

| 1

!scope="row"|US Hot Adult Contemporary (Billboard)

| 1

!scope="row"|US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)

| 1

!scope="row"|US Crossover Radio Airplay – Top 40/Dance (Billboard)

| 1

!scope="row"|US Top 100 Singles (Cash Box)

!scope="row"|US Top R&B Singles (Cash Box)

!scope="row"|US Adult Contemporary (Gavin Report)

!scope="row"|US Top 40 (Gavin Report)

!scope="row"|US Urban Contemporary (Gavin Report)

!scope="row"|US Adult Contemporary (Radio & Records)

!scope="row"|US Contemporary Hit Radio (Radio & Records)

|66

!scope="row"|Brazil (Brazilian Radio Airplay)

!scope="row"|Canada Retail Singles (The Record)

!scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM)

!scope="row"|Europe Airplay (Music & Media)

|19

!scope="row"|Europe Adult Contemporary (Music & Media)

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

|52

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

|72

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

|67

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

!scope="row"|US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)

|12

!scope="row"|US Pop Singles (Cash Box)

|16

!scope="row"|US Adult Contemporary (Radio & Records)

!scope="row"|US Contemporary Hit Radio (Radio & Records)

!scope="row"|US Urban (Radio & Records)

|15

Decade-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Chart (1990–1999)

!scope="col"|Position

!scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)

|align="center"|74

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

|align="center"|91

Certifications and sales

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col"| Region

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Format(s)

! scope="col"| Label(s)

! scope="col"|

! scope="row"| United States

| May 15, 1990

| rowspan="2"|

| Columbia

! scope="row"| Australia

| July 2, 1990

| rowspan="3"| CBS

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

| July 23, 1990

! scope="row"| France

| July 29, 1990

| 7-inch vinyl

! scope="row"| Japan

| August 22, 1990

| Mini CD

| Sony Music Japan

! scope="row"| Australia

| September 24, 1990

| Maxi CD

| CBS