Mariah Carey returns with her 10th release entitled “E=MC2.” Her formula for success on this album includes taking bits from her past and giving it a hip-hop twist.

Leading Carey on her path back to chart domination is the flirty song “Touch My Body” which has proven to be a great choice for the first single from the album. The song and the video have remained in the top spot for weeks.

Not only has the song topped the charts, but it has also given Carey her 18th No. 1 hit surpassing Elvis Presley’s previous record of 17.

Oddly, the first song on the disc “Migrate” opens up with Carey hitting some of her (in)famous piercing high notes, (which luckily only last six seconds.)

The song tells her story of a night out with friends as they move from the house to car to the club, to the bar, to VIP, to the after party and ultimately to the hotel.

Can’t you just see her migrating in her uniform of a mini dress, stilettos, cropped jacket and her dark shades as her girls “Shawntae and Mae-Mae” follow on her heels?

The mid-tempo track features the industry’s favorite “Rappa Ternt Sanga” T-Pain, who seems to be a successful but over used formula these days. He is currently featured on five of the top 50 songs on the Billboard charts.

For years Carey has played both sides of the coin. When heads is on the up side, she is a sweet and innocent fun-loving girl draped in Hello Kitty but when the coin lands on tails she reveals her sassy street side that seems to come out when she is in the company of another on a song.

An example of her street sass can be heard in the song “Cruise Control” which features Damian “Jr Gong” Marley.

Carey takes on a Jamaican accent and sings: “He’s the flyest ting when he be crusin’ on me avenue.” She later references a street fight where she warns of bodily harm, “Step up step up bottle broken think I’m jokin’.”

It just wouldn’t be a Mariah Carey CD if it didn’t have that one track that takes you to church. This comes in the form of “I Wish You Well,” which is along the same lines as “Fly Like A Bird” off 2005’s success “The Emancipation of Mimi.”

The piano-driven track allows Carey to show her vocal range while delivering several biblical scriptures that seem to help her through difficult times in her life.

“E=MC2” continues with her career-long theme of love.

Another track familiar to one on “Emancipation” is the song “Last Kiss,” a continuation of the Grammy winning song “We Belong Together.”

“Bye Bye” attempts to be “One Sweet Day,” and while it is effective, it doesn’t quite compare to the 1995 hit featuring Boyz II Men off of the Daydream album.

Songs like “O.O.C.” and “I’m That Chick” are fun and will send off old-school vibes as they penetrate speakers.

Scott Storch produced the album’s most personal song “Side Effects.”

Carey’s life has remained seemingly private outside of her diva demands and that public meltdown a few years back, but this song is a revelation of troubling times in her life when she lived in a “private hell” and recalls “violent times.”

While the song’s message, some of her most personal to date, can’t be ignored, it does seem to get lost in the beat and rap of Young Jeezy.

This album is a solid collection although it safely follows the direction of her last album.

Just about every song on this album has the potential to be a hit single, so Carey’s new album is obviously on its way to the top.