Whitney Houston: The Greatest Album Of All?
Posted by: Daniela Guernica
Filed in:
entertainment
4:30PM, Monday August 31st 2009
I fell in love with Whitney Houston the first time I saw the “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” video. I stuck with her forever, through “The Bodyguard” and “Just Whitney.” But circa 2000, we hit a bumpy road as her marriage with Bobby Brown got seriously rocky and the rumor mill seemed pretty convincing that she was having drug issues. Then there was “Being Bobby Brown,” and no one ever thought she’d come back from discussing Bobby’s poop. But finally, she’s put out a new album, I Look To You, out today. The album is a collaboration with music mogul Clive Davis, and features ditties from the likes of Akon, R. Kelly and Alicia Keys. And, phew, the reviews look good. Here’s what the critics are saying.
“Though Houston sounds surprisingly thin as the song begins in a lower register, she gains strength as she begins firing off high, hummingbird trills. She’s comfortable in this pseudo-gospel mode, and with her great control and technical polish, it’s a fine vehicle for punctuating her comeback, a show-stopper in the making.” [The Chicago Tribune]
“I Look to You gets it right. It is a finely calibrated, just-modern-enough mix of mom-friendly club bangers and dauntless ballads that, in retrospect, seems like the only album she could have made.” [The Washington Post]
“I Look to You is a prayer, a desperate appeal to faith: ‘After all my strength is gone, in you I can be strong.’ Now her voice is thicker and lower, and her improvisatory phrases are shorter. They curve downward as if tugged by gravity, making her approachable, even sympathetic. She’s tentatively climbing back into the pop machinery, no longer invincible but showing a diva’s determination.” [New York Times]
“Houston sounds huskier and chestier on ‘I Look to You.’ A thicker tone has replaced her bell-like one. And, for the most part, she avoids most of the skyscraper notes she used to mount in her sleep.” [NY Daily News]
“Houston’s famous voice brings a gravity that the album’s often generically worded ballads lack.” [Entertainment Weekly]
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z3nger
wrote on August 31 2009 @ 05:35 pm: [report]
The songs are alright, a bit on the poppy side. She didn’t sound the same as she did on the Bodyguard album but who can blame her, there’s been decades of weathering and drug abuse (sorry Whitney). Still, she’s still got some amazing vocals, just a bit different.
I look to you is a great track, as well as Salut, Million Dollar Bill (first single), and For the Lovers…great album altogether. Now just sittin back and waitin for Mariah’s to drop a month from now.
tattooed_redhead
wrote on August 31 2009 @ 07:02 pm: [report]
I blame her for the uber-melismatic, diva-style singing that is so pervasive in pop music today. Everybody wanted to sound like Whitney. Then Whitney disappeared and left us with Mariah Carey. Ick.
Lola
wrote on August 31 2009 @ 07:33 pm: [report]
I still love the bodyguard album…. I was just playing in the shower the other day.. “I’m every woman!!!!...”
fallenangel915
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 12:24 am: [report]
Welcome back, Ms Houston.
bogart4017
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 01:52 pm: [report]
It doesnt matter what critics say. Hardcore fans will purchase it, radio will jock it, retail will put it on sale for insanely low prices (Prince’s latest lp was a 3 cd set for 9.99—easier to move more on the all important first day) and if it gets popular enough even people that are mildly interested will purchase it. That the politics of the business.