Pop Diva Whitney Houston Gets Risky On Her Latest

Date: November 15, 1998
By Brian McCollum, Pop music critic

From Detroit Free Press
Submitted by: Rachel D.


Whitney Houston -- "My Love is Your Love" (Arista) THREE STARS

It's always a big deal when Whitney Houston's in the mix. But the mix doesn't have to be big when Houston's in it. That's the key revelation on "My Love is Your Love," the pop diva's first real pop album in eight years and edgiest record yet.

My, how far we've come since 1990: Yes, Houston indulges in the grand balladry that made her name -- sweeping, anthemic productions that allow her potent throat to get unapologetically busy up top. That time-tested methodology rears its head on oozing Babyface tracks "Until You Come Back" and "You'll Never Stand Alone," and the requisitely limp Diane Warren-David Foster package "I Learned From the Best." But more notable on this 13-track collection, rushed together this summer at the behest of Arista chief Clive Davis, is the stripped-down, hip-hopped fare.

Young hotshot Rodney Jerkins, who earned his rep carving sparse polyrhythmic beds for Mary J. Blige and Brandy, contributes the top goods. Jerkins injects mercury into "It's Not Right, But It's OK," which leads the album with a slippery groove and steers white-bread Whitney down the sultry streets she avoided in the past. Wyclef Jean hands in the title track, a feathery shuffle streaked with a Caribbean pulse. Houston swaps sass with Faith Evans and Kelly Price ("Heartbreak Hotel") and tweaks a Stevie Wonder chestnut with of-the-moment Lauryn Hill ("I Was Made to Love Him").

Houston's taffy voice now comes coated with a dash of pepper, and a crust of darkness has muscled its way into her assertive sparkle. It'll be fun to watch how all this clicks: As Houston's fan base ages, her sound is aimed decidedly younger, placing her squarely in a nebulous zone between her target audience and sonic chic. In stores Tuesday.