[a] Mixing dance-pop, funk, hip hop and R&B, the album was a departure from Carey's previous releases, focusing heavily on a 80's post-disco sound to accompany the film which was set in 1983.

Despite this, Glitter was universally viewed as a commercial and critical failure, leading to Virgin Records dropping Carey from the label and buying her out of their $80 million contract.

[12] Due to the parent film taking place in 1983, the soundtrack harbored on recreating an older sound, while incorporating the usual pop-R&B ballads for which Carey was known.

[12][13] While some critics favored the album's retro style, and inclusion of several sampled melodies, many felt that Glitter lacked originality, and its excess of guest artists overpowered Carey's artistry.

[23] It features "a bed of synthesized strings, gentle drums and Spanish-style guitar" as its primary instrumentation, and incorporates violin and keyboard notes prior to the first verse.

[26] Chris Chuck from Daily News described its lyrics as "an airy requiem for a friend lost to suicide" and felt it was "the only memorable song on the album.

"[15] With lyrics reading "Feelin' kinda fragile and I've got a lot to handle / But I guess this is my way of saying goodbye", David Browne from Entertainment Weekly felt that Carey was possibly referring to her own suicide rather than her friends, especially in light of the events that were taking place during the album's release.

[35] Instead, a video was created using a scene taken directly from the film Glitter, where Billie Frank (played by Carey) sings the song at Madison Square Garden during her first sold-out concert.

[35] The album's third single, "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)", released on September 11, 2001[36] mirrored the same weak charting as "Never Too Far", although receiving more rotation on MTV due to its video.

[40] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album two and a half out of five stars, calling it an "utter meltdown -- the pop equivalent of Chernobyl" and wrote "It's an embarrassment, one that might have been easier to gawk at if its creator wasn't so close to emotional destruction at the time of release.

[25] Editor Sarah Rodman from The Boston Herald gave Glitter a mixed review, praising Carey's song-writing and voice, although panning the excess of secondary musical guests.

[18] While criticizing the album's roster of appearances, Rodman wrote "the artists contribute mostly distracting, self-promoting jibber jabber all over what could have been Carey's best, most emotionally mature record to date.

"[18] Daily News editor Chuck Campley rated the album two and a half out of five stars, writing "Maybe this was the best Mariah Carey could muster under the circumstances, but 'Glitter' needed more work.

"[15] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly gave Glitter a mixed review, criticizing the abundance of rappers and describing Carey's vocals as "barely there" on several tracks.

[14] Concluding his review on a poor note, Browne wrote "'Glitter' is a mess, but its shameless genre hopping (and Carey's crash) makes it an unintentional concept album about the toll of relentless careerism.

"[24] Los Angeles Times critic and writer Natalie Nichols gave Glitter two out of a possible four stars, writing how Carey let the album "reflect the synth-driven robo-funk of that wretched decade.

[43] He concluded his review of the album with a comparison to Whitney Houston's massive The Bodyguard (1992), "Mariah still hasn't found her theme song, the one people will remember her voice by.

"[43] Slant Magazine editor Sal Cinquemani awarded Glitter three out of five stars, writing "Carey's edgier tracks are inundated with so many guest artists that her sound ultimately becomes muddled; her pop tunes are so formulaic that it's difficult to distinguish one from the next.

"[19] USA Today's Edna Gunderson rated the album one and a half out of four stars, criticizing Carey's overall image for the project, as well as the many guest artists on the record.

[54] Following seventeen weeks fluctuating in the chart, the album was certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP), denoting shipments of 100,000 units.

[71] Following commencement for Glitter and the release of the soundtrack's lead single "Loverboy", Carey embarked on a short promotional campaign for the song and its parent album.

[75] Seemingly anxious and exhilarated, Carey began delivering individual bars of ice cream to fans and guests on the program, while waving to the crowd down below on Times Square, and joking that the event was her "therapy".

"[73] While she later revealed that Daly was aware of her presence in the building prior to her appearance, she admitted that he was meant to act surprised in order to provide a more dramatic effect for the program.

On July 20, Carey held a record signing for the CD single of "Loverboy" at Roosevelt Field shopping mall in Long Island before fans and the media.

As a camera crew covered the event, she began rambling on several subjects before finally discussing radio host Howard Stern and how his jokes about herself on his program bothered her greatly and how everything general in life should be positive.

"[76] Only days later, Carey began posting irregular voice notes and messages on her official website: I'm trying to understand things in life right now and so I really don't feel that I should be doing music right now.

[78] Following the heavy media coverage surrounding Carey's publicized breakdown and hospitalization, Virgin Records and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of Glitter, as well as its soundtrack of the same name.

[b][3] When asked regarding the motives behind the delay, Nancy Berry, vice chairman of Virgin Music Group Worldwide, addressed Carey's personal and physical condition: Mariah is looking forward to being able to participate in both her album and movie projects and we are hopeful that this new soundtrack release date will allow her to do so.

"[81] Vulture writer Matthew Jacobs noted that, "two dynamics were working against [the film] at once: post-9/11, Americans simply weren't going to the movies, and certainly not to see what had been framed as a slice of celebrity fluff".

[94] In 2014 article for MySpace, Steven J. Horowitz praised a remix version of "Loverboy", which was included to Glitter tracklist: "Mariah invoked the ‘80s and relatively played the background to satiating verses from hot-right-nows and longtime friends.".