Whitney Houston

My Love Is Your Love

Whitters Gets Hip

Review Score:

(8/10)
Whitney Houston has never been an artist that I have considered 'out there' or 'on the tip', so to speak. So when I snapped up this album in late 1998 without having heard a track from it, I was fairly astounded - & pleasurably so. Having enlisted some of today's hottest prudcers on the go, including SupaDupa Miss-E Elliott, Lauryn Hill & Rodney Jerkins to name but a few, Whitney ensured that a return after 8 years with her first full-length studio album was going to be worth it. Okay, the first single did not fare well for the eventual success of the album. Whitney goes head-to-head in the vocal arena with Ms Carey for a theme tune from The Prince of Egypt. Entitled, When You Believe, I for one did not believe that 2 of the world's greatest vocalists agreed to sing such garbage. The song only winds up being tuneless as W & M try to out-diva each other with more vocal acrobatics than a circus. Shame, as the collaboration could have proven to the world much more than it did. Anyways, that aside, the rest of the album rocks, although in a mid-tempo type of way. No So Emotional or I Wanna Dance type songs here. You have creme de la creme r'n'b. The first 'proper' single, It's Not Right hosts one of the hippest videos in existence & does the song proud - a sort of a Sistas Are Doin' It For Themselves. Then Whitney thinks she's Lauryn Hill in My Love Is You Love - & it works. The song lilts along, builds up & down as Whitney professes her unconditional love for her man (a modern equivalent of La Ross's Ain't No Mountain High Enough). There's an outstanding collaboration with unlikeley sistas Faith Evans & Kelly Price on Heartbreak Hotel, which is just lush & wonderful. A true treat. I Learned From The Best, the Diane Warren penned track is a guaranteed winner - name me a Diane Warren track that isn't!, although it sounds remarkably like En Vogue's super Too Gone, Too Long (which Diane also wrote). The rest of the album plods along. If I Told You That (sans George Michael) is better than the single version - v. happy & upbeat. The Missy collaboration, In My Business, sticks a swift middle finga up @ those who thought her marriage to bad boy Bobby Brown was doomed. I Bow Out is another true winner. This is a CD which is often played in my home & car, as it is brimming with sheer quality. The most admirable thing about the album is that despite the host of producers & song-writers who worked on the album, My Love Is You Love remains consistent & satisfying - & has marked a true return to form for those who thought La Houston had been consigned to soundtrack recordings for the rest of her career. I would have given it 5 Stars if it wasn't for that ghastly Mariah duet.

More Reviews: