Houston's Gospel Swings On 'Preacher's Wife'

Date: December 26, 1996
By Chris Dickinson

From St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
Submitted by: Larry A.


The Preacher's Wife
Whitney Houston (Arista)

Now on her third film and soundtrack (following the blockbusters "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting To Exhale"), R&B-pop superstar Whitney Houston is becoming the queen of the lucrative album/film promotional tie-in.

There's no question that Houston is blessed with some of the biggest pipes in the business. Technical proficiency she's got. What some have questioned, though, is the soul quotient. Houston's soaring vocal pyrotechnics haven't always translated into genuine emotional resonance. Too often, she has displayed a smooth, appealing surface while foregoing the tougher route of digging deep, deep, deep.

Houston is a gifted singer nonetheless, and with "The Preacher's Wife," she fuses her current pop impulses with her gospel roots. Many of these pop-gospel numbers swing with bright melody, aided frequently by a mighty back-up assistance from the Georgia Mass Choir.

On a fine traditional track, Whitney's mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, sings solo and is joined by the Hezekiah Walker Choir on "The Lord Is My Shepherd."

Although gospel weaves heavily throughout this disc, Whitney covers her other musical bases. There's the smooth pop ballad "I Believe In You and Me." To winning effect, Houston layers a good deal of vocal grit against the smooth strains of the Babyface-produced cut "My Heart Is Calling."

With the accompaniment of husband Bobby Brown, Faith Evans, Johnny Gill, Monica and Ralph Tresvant, she enters contemporary funk-land with "Somebody Bigger Than You and I." This track throbs along pleasantly enough, but it's more pro-forma exercise than inventive collaboration. Far better is the Annie Lennox-penned "Step by Step," a percolating disco-new-wave number that highlights the funner side of Houston.

Houston has been in the business long enough for most folks to have made up their minds about her. If you're already a fan, this disc will more than satisfy as the brisk pop and gospel numbers genuinely breeze by.