Lisa's Excellent Review

Kudos to Lisa for her very thoughtful and balanced review of the duet. I will refrain from submitting my own review of the song until I hear it on radio or on album. However, having heard the audio file version on this site, I tend to agree with Lisa's excellent insights. I was immediately impressed by Lisa's grasp of the minutae of vocal technique, which is clearly reflected in her reading of the two singers' performances.

I have only one quibble with Lisa's review. As she notes, Mariah's performance suffers a bit from a lack of technical focus and does not nearly match Whitney's in vocal power, clarity or richness. However, I think that that Mariah makes up for some of this in the coda of the song--the final bar--where she makes more effective use of her coloratura head notes on the word "believe." True enough, it's a bit showy, but it contrasts nicely with the shivery power of Whitney's magnificent chest voice. The two women's also voices harmonize farily well (although Cece Winans is still Whitney's best duet partner). Also, the fact the Whitney sings with a bit more authority than Mariah on the song might be due to Whitney's greater seasoning and experience with gospel-influenced material (her gospel roots).

I also agree that the production of the song is marred by its lack of structure. All in all, however, it is a fine effort. Whitney's performance in particular is an impressive show. She sings with delicacy and restraint in the opening bar and builds gradually in power and gospel fervor, quite fitting for this kind of inspirational ballad. I especially like how she dips her voice into the lower register with remarkable control and clarity at the end of the song. Her performance shows impressive grace, richness, and authority.

This may sound like a review, but it is more of an exclamation in response to Lisa's fine review. My own review, as I said, will likely come later.