The Gospel According To Whitney

Date: December 01, 1996
By Jane Stevenson

From The Toronto Sun
Submitted by: Larry A.


WHITNEY HOUSTON
The Preacher's Wife soundtrack
(Arista)
* * * (out of five)

It was inevitable that pop diva Whitney Houston's gospel roots would catch up with her one day.

And what more logical place than on her latest album, yes, another soundtrack, for her new angel-themed movie co-starring Denzel Washington which opens Dec. 20.

The chart-dominating diva, who is the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston and began singing publicly at age 11 in a church choir in Newark, N.J., proves she can sing the Lord's praises like nobody's business on six of the 15 songs on the over-long album.

(Perhaps she plans on spinning off single after single from the soundtrack for the unforeseeable future since she is two months pregnant and plans to take most of 1997 off.)

Her mother also weighs in with the Hezekiah Walker Choir on the only non-Whitney track, The Lord Is My Shepherd.

But helping Houston out immeasurably on the gospel tracks is the Georgia Mass Choir and the setting, the Greater Rising Church in Atlanta.

Songs like the jubulant I Go To The Rock and He's All Over Me, the heartfelt I Love The Lord, and the truly uplifting cover of Joy To The World are the standouts, but it's unlikely any will get mainstream radio play.

Better bets are the Diane Warren-penned ballad You Were Loved, the straight-ahead version or dance mix of Annie Lennox's Step By Step, or the holiday-themed Who Would Imagine A King.

The first single is the non-descript ballad I Believe In You And Me, while another surprising weak link is provided by Houston's longtime collaborator Babyface, in the form of My Heart Is Callling.

Meanwhile, the toughened-up pop of Somebody Bigger Than You And I seems totally out of place with the inclusion of Houston's husband, Bobby Brown, and his New Edition pals Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill, Monica and Faith Evans.