Entertainment plus

Date: December 10, 1998
By Chris Chilton

From The Evening Post (Wellington)
Submitted by: Rachel D.


WHITNEY HOUSTON
My Love Is Your Love
(Arista)

After eight years, you could have written off Whitney as yesterday's news. But Mrs Bobby Brown has been through some tough times, trying to keep her hell-raising husband under control, since her last studio album. The experience has left Houston with an edge she didn't have before. It's in her voice - not as irritating, but incredibly powerful - it's in the album sleeve credits - with her defiant "let's give 'em something to talk about" message to hubby Bobby - and it's in the album's fresh, funky, urban sound.

Despite its unpromising title, My Love Is Your Love is way better than just another middle-of-the-road pap and ballads collection. With the supreme confidence of someone who's used to being treated as royalty, Houston has assembled a stellar cast of hip producers, including Babyface and Wyclef Jean, a superior set of hot songs and some happening beats.

While there are a few mandatory Whitney-as-warbling-diva-up-for-a-Grammy tracks (such as When You Believe, a duet in which she outshines Mariah Carey), for a satisfying chunk of the album Houston gets gritty and funky, with attitude. Tracks like Heartbreak Hotel, If I Told You That and In My Business groove with a vengeance and move with a passion.

And regardless of the debate about whether someone who doesn't actually write her own songs deserves to be taken seriously as an artist, there's no denying Houston's voice. When the moment moves her and Whitney opens those powerful pipes she can belt it out with a soul sistah growl beyond her years.

At its flattest points My Love Is Your Love still sounds like the old Whitney, with string-drenched ballads and over-the-top vocals. But there are tracks here that hint at a new Whitney, a funky, streetwise, damn sexy r'n'b groove queen. When she gets tired of winning Grammys she should go with that.