Whitney Houston – Greatest Hits (Arista)

The timing couldn’t be worse. Issuing a double CD of Whitney Houston’s finest moments was intended to shore up her rapidly eroding soul diva supremacy against the rising tide of clued-up, modern successors to her throne – Missy Elliott, Lauren Hill, Kelis. Instead, appearing among rumours of drug abuse, wobbly appearances at awards ceremonies and the recent application of round the clock minders to Whitney – it seems more eulogy than testimonial.

When the teenage Whitney was ‘discovered,’ she appeared eugenically designed to become the queen of 80s R&B. The niece of Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin, she had steely, implausible beauty, a 24-carat voice and, soon, a trophy husband (Bobby Brown).

Her debut album sold over 20 million copies and mapped her future as a Perspex-encased superstar, so ubiquitous was she over the 16 years that this collection spans that even those who despise her will know the words to every song.

From the climate controlled pop of her earliest efforts (I Wanna Dance With Somebody) to the soporific sax solos and irksome self-importance of her peak (Greatest Love Of All) Whitney was always about the voice, (flawless, unassailable) than the songs (whitewashed AOR). It’s little surprise that one of Patrick Bateman’s best pre-slaughter pontifications in American Psycho is about Whitney. She embodied the superficial affluent hum of 80s commercial radio, where cliches were spun out with assembly line efficiency that had nothing to do with real emotions. Even when she applied those tonsils to their most famously dexterous moment – the inevitable ‘I Will Always Love You’ – it was with all the passion one might employ when extolling the virtues of a favourite shower gel.

The ‘My Love Is Your Love’ album from 1998 navigated a deft swing into hip-hop in order to rescue her from obsolescence. It yielded her best ever single in ‘It’s Not Right But It’s Okay,’ and it seemed she could indeed compete with the new order. Then the troubles began. The erratic behaviour and the marijuana in the suitcase. Strangley, however, this makes Whitney more likeable. As these numbing 30-odd tracks attest, it’s the first time in her career a bit of human frailty has shown through.

5 out of 5