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Mariah Carey surprised fans earlier this month with a generous digital expansion of her 1995 smash album Daydream. Physical versions of the 30th anniversary set are forthcoming – but, to quote one of the album’s biggest hits, the variations in track list might have you feeling kinda hectic inside.

Legacy Recordings’ 2CD-equivalent digital offering, issued on July 17, added 21 rare and unreleased bonus tracks to the original 12-track album: vintage remixes, B-sides and outtakes, writing session demos, a cappella versions and excerpts from three concerts recorded across 1995 and 1996. The physical 2CD version, however, will drop several of those tracks – a Spanish-language version of Carey’s cover of Journey’s “Open Arms,” the three a cappellas (two unreleased), one of the two writing demos and a substitution of Eric Kupper’s new remix of fan favorite “Underneath the Stars” for an exclusive radio edit – making an extra disc with 16 bonus tracks. A triple vinyl edition changes things up even more: one LP includes the original album, another includes nine of the previously-released B-sides and remixes, and the last offers the complete 11-track audio from Carey’s 1995 concert  special Fantasy: Mariah Carey At Madison Square Garden. Four of those tracks are released on a physical format for the first time ever, and nine of these cuts only appear on this LP for the reissue campaign. A cassette version will also be available.

Coming off a half-decade of strengths, from her self-titled 1990 debut to 1994’s perennial Merry Christmas (which, 25 years later, yielded a No. 1 hit in the modern standard “All I Want for Christmas is You”), Carey was keen to make her fifth album album on her own terms. That meant a much stronger balance of her pop sensibilities with modern R&B and even hip-hop flavors. Opening track “Fantasy,” anchored around a killer sample of Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love,” was remixed by Sean “Puffy” Combs for some singles, with iconoclastic Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard delivering a memorable intro and bonus verse. Atlanta mogul/So So Def Records founder Jermaine Dupri, who discovered hitmakers like Kris Kross and Xscape, collaborated with Carey as a co-writer and co-producer on one of the most enduring singles, “Always Be My Baby.”

“Baby” and “Fantasy” both topped the Billboard Hot 100, but the real success was another team-up with longtime writing/producing partner Walter Afanasieff and Philadelphia vocal group Boyz II Men on the tribute ballad to fallen friends, “One Sweet Day.” That song became a stunning success, reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 for an unprecedented 16 straight weeks across 1995 and 1996 – a record that would not be broken until Lil Nas X’s country-rap earworm “Old Town Road” in 2019. (Afanasieff also indulged Carey’s love of throwback radio balladry, co-producing her cover of Journey’s 1981 smash “Open Arms.”) When the dust settled, Daydream sold more than 11 million copies in the U.S. alone, and Mariah had a total of 11 No. 1 hits to her name. (Today, she has 19 – only one less than all-time record holder The Beatles.)

The physical versions of Daydream (30th Anniversary Edition) hit stores on October 16 and can be pre-ordered below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Daydream (30th Anniversary Edition) (Columbia/Legacy, 2026)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP (iridescent gold vinyl): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP (exclusive pink vinyl): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Cassette: Official Store

CD/LP 1: Original album (released as Columbia CK 66700, 1995)

1. Fantasy
2. Underneath the Stars
3. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men)
4. Open Arms
5. Always Be My Baby
6. I Am Free
7. When I Saw You
8. Long Ago
9. Melt Away
10. Forever
11. Daydream Interlude (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix)
12. Looking In

CD 2: Bonus material (* previously unreleased)

1. Fantasy (feat. O.D.B.)
2. Always Be My Baby (Mr. Dupri Mix feat. Da Brat & Xscape)
3. Underneath the Stars (Drifting Re-Mix)
4. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men) (Chucky’s Remix)
5. One Night
6. Slipping Away
7. Fantasy (Def Club Mix)
8. Underneath the Stars (Eric Kupper Klassic Club Mix Radio Edit) *
9. Always Be My Baby (Def Classic Radio Version)
10. Fantasy (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 10/10/1995)
11. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men) (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 10/10/1995)
12. Underneath the Stars (Live At the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – 3/7/1996)
13. Forever (Live At Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – 3/7/1996)
14. Open Arms (Live At The Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands – 6/17/1996) *
15. Always Be My Baby (Live At The Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands – 6/17/1996) *
16. I Am Free (Writing Session Rough Demo) *

Tracks 1 and 7 released on “Fantasy” CD single – Columbia 44K 78044, 1995
Tracks 2 and 6 released on “Always Be My Baby” CD single – Columbia 38K 78276, 1996
Track 3 released on “Underneath the Stars” promo CD single – Columbia CSK 8776, 1996
Tracks 4 and 11 released on “One Sweet Day” CD single – Columbia 44K 78075, 1995
Tracks 5 and 12 released on The Rarities – Columbia/Legacy 19439 80694-2, 2020
Track 9 released on “Always Be My Baby” U.K. CD single – Columbia 663334 5, 1996
Track 10 released on “Open Arms” U.K. CD single – Columbia 662872 2, 1996
Track 13 released on “Forever” promo CD single – Columbia CSK 8204, 1996eee

LP 2: Remixes and B-Sides

Side C

1. Fantasy (feat. O.D.B.)
2. Always Be My Baby (Mr. Dupri Mix feat. Da Brat & Xscape)
3. Underneath the Stars (Drifting Re-Mix)
4. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men) (Chucky’s Remix)
5. Melt Away (Extended A Cappella)

Side D

1. Slipping Away
2. One Night
3. Fantasy (Def Club Mix)
4. Always Be My Baby (Def Classic Radio Version)

LP 3: Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 10/10/1995 (* previously unreleased, + exclusive to this format)

Side E

1. Fantasy
2. Make It Happen +
3. Open Arms * +
4. Dreamlover +
5. Without You * +

Side F

1. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men)
2. I’ll Be There (with Wanya Morris) * +
3. Hero * +
4. Always Be My Baby +
5. Forever +
6. Vision of Love +

Tracks E1-E2 and F6 released on “Open Arms” U.K. CD single – Columbia 662872 2, 1996
Track E4 released on “Dreamlover” #MC30 digital EP – Columbia/Legacy (no cat. #), 2020
Track F1 released on “One Sweet Day” CD single – Columbia 44K 78075, 1995
Track F4 released on “Always Be My Baby” #MC30 digital EP – Columbia/Legacy (no cat. #), 2020
Track F5 released on “Forever” Australian CD single – Columbia 663440 2, 1996.
All other tracks released on video in Fantasy: Mariah Carey Live At Madison Square Garden – Columbia Music Video 19V-50134, 1996

Digital bonus track list (* previously unreleased, + exclusive to this format)

1. Fantasy (feat. O.D.B.)
2. Always Be My Baby (Mr. Dupri Mix feat. Da Brat & Xscape)
3. Underneath the Stars (Drifting Re-Mix)
4. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men) (Chucky’s Remix)
5. One Night
6. Slipping Away
7. El Amor Que Soñé +
8. Underneath the Stars (Sweet A Cappella) +
9. Long Ago (Extended A Cappella) * +
10. Melt Away (Extended A Cappella) * +
11. Fantasy (Def Club Mix)
12. Underneath the Stars (Eric Kupper Klassic Club Mix) *
13. Always Be My Baby (Def Classic Radio Version)
14. Fantasy (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 10/10/1995)
15. One Sweet Day (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 10/10/1995)
16. Underneath the Stars (Live At Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – 3/7/1996)
17. Forever (Live At Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – 3/7/1996)
18. Open Arms (Live At The Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands – 6/17/1996)
19. Always Be My Baby (Live At The Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands – 6/17/1996)
20. Melt Away (Writing Session Rough Demo) * +
21. I Am Free (Writing Session Rough Demo)

Track 7 released on “Open Arms” Spanish promo CD single – Sony SAMPCD 3401, 1996
Track 8 released on “Underneath the Stars” #MC30 digital EP – Columbia/Legacy (no cat. #), 2020