in her life. "You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, "I'm proud of what I am and who I am, and I'm just going to be myself." Critical reception "Vision of Love" received universal acclaim from music critics, who mostly 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