 The Houston Chronicle 's Joey Guerra felt all of the album 's tracks were strong , and wrote " Every track plays like a potential hit single , and that 's exactly what fans will love about ' E = MC ² ' . Expect it to soundtrack much of the summer and beyond . " Los Angeles Times staff writer , Richard Cromelin , gave the album two out of four stars , noting its " alternatives to the glass @-@ shattering flamboyance of her early ' 90s youth . " He concluded in his mixed review of the album , " Of course , consistency isn 't so important when an album is assembled as a series of singles rather than a cohesive work . Fortunately for Carey , the tabloid @-@ tailored real @-@ life back story on one side and the producer 's craft on the other matter more than the art of singing in this particular fairy tale . " Ben Ratliff of The New York Times felt the album didn 't level up to par with Carey 's previous release , writing " Much of the record sounds like urban @-@ radio imitations , without the peculiarities and effective hooks of ' Mimi ' . Maybe emancipation isn 't a continuing procedure ; maybe it only comes once . " Writing for PopMatters , Evan Sawdey rated E = MC ² four out of ten discs , describing it as a " shallow imitation of its predecessor " . Sawdey concluded his review on a mixed note , stating " the second act of Mariah 's comeback doesn 't wisely expand her sound : it instead succumbs to the blueprint so carefully laid out by its predecessor , a pointless remake that exists only because it has to . If you ever had a doubt as to its formulaic nature , you need to look no further than its title . Long live the Diva . " Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone questioned why she limited her vocal abilities throughout the record , " nearly every song confines Carey to four @-@ note verses , offering little room for her glorious range . " Journalist Eric Henderson , writing for Slant Magazine , graded the album three out of five stars , and concluding with , " Such are the rewards of an album like ' E = MC ² ' , in which one does reach a solution , but not before Mariah bends over backward to show her work . " The album finished in the top @-@ ten of several " best of 2008 " lists , ending at number four on an official poll held by Billboard , eight by The Detroit News , and number ten by The San Diego Union @-@ Tribune . Robert Christgau picked out one song from the album , " Touch My Body " , as a " choice cut " ( ) . 
