The third time was the charm when Mariah Carey released Music Box three decades ago. The elusive chanteuse last week announced plans to expand her third album with a wealth of rare and unreleased bonus material.

Released as a 3CD or 4LP set on February 24, 2024 but available digitally now, the new expansion of Music Box features the original 10-track album expanded with international bonus track "Everything Fades Away"; a disc of studio material, including the unheard teaser "Workin' Hard," rare and new remixes, her popular cover of the Lionel Richie-penned "Endless Love," a duet with Luther Vandross; live appearances on Top of the Pops and a never-before-released re-recording of "Hero" from 2009; and a 10-track set from a New York theater showcase recorded a month before the album's release. The redesigned cover features a full image of Mariah as seen cropped and up close on the original sleeve. (A myriad of behind-the-scenes video footage will be added to the artist's YouTube channel this week, including making-of mini-documentaries and other trivia-packed clips.

If her self-titled debut sought to establish her bona fides as a big-voiced diva in training and 1991's follow-up Emotions was a play toward a more dance-oriented sound, Music Box sort of split the difference, Working chiefly with longtime co-writer/co-producer Walter Afanasieff and returning faces Robert Clivillés and David Cole of C+C Music Factory, Carey also found herself working with a few formidable collaborators in the R&B/dance world. Dave "Jam" Hall, who co-wrote and co-produced lead single "Dreamlover" with Carey and Afanasieff, had recently worked on Mary J. Blige's debut What's the 411? and would team up with Madonna for her 1994 hit "Human Nature." Fan favorite "Never Forget You," meanwhile, was a smooth collaboration with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his longtime creative partner Daryl Simmons.

Carey and Afanasieff were intent on bringing the house down in more than one number. The keyboard-driven ballad "Hero" was inspirational pop in the tradition of Michael Masser's work for Whitney Houston and others, and the duo also blew the doors off the studio with a powerful cover of "Without You," written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger and made immortal by Harry Nilsson. Her rendition featured Nilsson-worthy vocal acrobatics and a gospel choir breakdown at the end.

With fans ready for more from their idol and critics slowly starting to appreciate the depth of her talents, Music Box became a three-peat success for the singer. The album topped the charts in multiple countries and was Carey's first to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments above 10 million copies. "Dreamlover" and "Hero" became her seventh and eighth in an impressive career-long total of 19 No. 1 hits - only The Beatles have more - while "Without You" settled in at No. 3 and "Anytime You Need a Friend" reached No. 12. Those two chart-toppers also earned Carey back-to-back Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.

Details and order links for the expanded Music Box are available below.

Music Box: 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Columbia/Legacy, 2023)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Original album

1. Dreamlover
2. Hero
3. Anytime You Need a Friend
4. Music Box
5. Now That I Know
6. Never Forget You
7. Without You
8. Just to Hold You Once Again
9. I've Been Thinking About You
10. All I've Ever Wanted
11. Everything Fades Away

Tracks 1-10 released as Columbia CK 53205, 1993
Track 11 from international pressings of album - Columbia 474270 2 (EU), 1993

Disc 2: Bonus Tracks (previously unreleased except where noted)

1. All I Live For (Extended Version)
2. Endless Love (Duet with Luther Vandross)
3. Do You Think of Me
4. Workin' Hard
5. My Prayer
6. Hero (2009 Version)
7. Anytime You Need a Friend (Extended Mix)
8. Music Box (A Cappella)
9. Dreamlover (Live from Top of The Pops)
10. Without You (Live from Top of The Pops)
11. Dreamlover (Def Club Mix)
12. Anytime You Need a Friend (C&C Club Version)
13. Anytime You Need a Friend (Soul Convention Remix)
14. I've Been Thinking About You (Terry Hunter Remix)
15. Workin' Hard (Terry Hunter Remix)

Original version of Track 1 from The Rarities - Columbia/Legacy 19439 80694-2, 2020
Track 2 from Songs - Epic EK 57775, 1994
Track 3 from "Dreamlover" CD single #2 - Columbia 38K 77080, 1993
Track 11 from "Dreamlover" CD single #1 - Columbia 38K 77079, 1993
Track 12 from "Anytime You Need a Friend" CD single #2 - Columbia 44K 77543, 1994
Track 13 from "Anytime You Need a Friend" CD single #1 - Columbia 44K 77528, 1994

Disc 3: Live at Proctor's Theater, Schenectady, NY - 7/15-16/1993 (previously unreleased except where noted)

1. Emotions
2. Hero
3. Someday
4. Without You
5. Make It Happen
6. Dreamlover
7. Love Takes Time
8. Anytime You Need a Friend
9. Vision of Love
10. I'll Be There (featuring Trey Lorenz)

Track 2 released on "Hero" CD single - Columbia 44K 77225, 1993
Track 6 released on "Without You" U.K. CD single - Columbia 659919 2, 1994