SOUND BITES: Album Review Package

Date: November 20, 1998
By Gary Graff

From Reuters
Submitted by: Rachel D.


DETROIT - A quick look at some of what's new in the record racks. Albums are rated according to the following scale:

5 stars....Buy it now
4 stars....Buy it at your leisure
3 stars....Borrow a friend's copy first
2 stars....Only for devotees
1 star.....Barely worth a first listen
No stars...Read a book instead

Whitney Houston
"My Love is Your Love" -- 4 stars

It's been eight years since Whitney Houston's last album, though she's certainly filled the gap with contributions to soundtracks ("The Bodyguard," "The Preacher's Wife," and "Waiting to Exhale"), which have sold nearly 50 million copies. But the "break" has been good for Houston's music as well as her wallet; "My Love is Your Love" is a feisty, emotional set that finds Houston working with established collaborators (Babyface, David Foster) but, more importantly, with fresh faces such as Missy Elliott, Rodney Jerkins and Fugees Wyclef Jean (on the stellar title track) and Lauryn Hill, who works with Houston on a sharp remake of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her" -- recast as "Him," of course. Houston has always been only as good as her partners, and this batch has helped her produce the best album of her career.