 Music critic Robert Christgau felt that Carey was being too political in her " brave , young , idealistic attack " on war and <unk> . Ralph Novak , David <unk> and David <unk> of People wrote that it is a " testimony to her talent that she does so much with so little . " They continued to write that Carey 's " tone and clarity " makes " There 's Got to Be a Way " a " <unk> " track . To mark twenty @-@ five years since the release of Mariah Carey in June 1990 , Billboard writer Trevor Anderson wrote a track @-@ by @-@ track review of the album in June 2015 . He noted that " There 's Got to Be a Way " follows the same melodic tone as the album 's opener " Vision of Love " but highlighted their stark lyrical differences , as the former is about social activism and the latter is about love . Although he praised Carey 's vocals , writing that she " deploys " one of her best whistle notes of her career , he felt that " the aim for broad appeal comes at the expense of memorable lyrics . " 
