Whitney Houston – The Greatest Hits – Out Monday.


In a nutshell: Whitney’s had some problems of late, suspected of carrying soft drugs by airport police and reportedly suffering from “stress” and “exhaustion”. However, business goes on as usual.

This double CD of her biggest sellers, plus four new songs, swiftly follows the success of the 1999 album My Love Is Your Love, which returned her to the top of the charts after eight years.

What is it like? Although blessed with a wonderful voice (Whitney is the daughter of soul singer Cissy Houston, niece [Wrong! Dionne is her cousin.] of Dionne Warwick, and goddaughter of Aretha Franklin), she sometimes over eggs the pudding, as divas often do. And while the Lauryn Hill inspired My Love Is Your Love demonstrates her ability to keep up with the times, 80s hits like I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) sound dated. The first CD is subtitled Cool Down and features all the slow slushy stuff like I Will Always Love You and her cute debut single Saving All My Love For You. The second is upbeat, dubbed Throw Down, and includes 80s hen-night favourites like How Will I Know and the new single If I Told You That, a playful duet with George Michael (allegedly recorded in separate studios) on which George sounds 19 again.

How Many Good Tracks? 20, out of 35. Best Track: I’m Your Baby Tonight. A glittering dance track as euphoric as any loved-up Ministry Of Sound tune.

Worst Track: A frankly appalling version of Chaka Khan’s disco staple I’m Every Woman featuring touches of gospel and a beat straight out of Technotronics Pump Up The Jam.

Verdict: Celine and Mariah may have upstaged her in recent years, but with 100 million record sales to her name, and more to come, Whitney remains a genuine superstar. She hasn’t made a double album’s worth of great records yet.

Three out of Five