My Love Is Your Love - Houston, Whitney > Reviews > Has to be the album of the year for 1998 to 1999

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Very easy - listening, good tracks in general
Disadvantages:	Some mediocre tracks, some beats a bit too strong

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Whitney Houston is an artist that has been around for years now. Through the ages she has managed to keep up the standard, similar to Madonna in the way she evolves as her fans do. This album is no exception. The entire album is obviously written and sung by a genius. All of the tracks have their own style (almost their own genre) and they are all completely different from each other, yet somehow they seem to make an excellent mixture of brilliant tracks when put together as an album. Here is a quick briefing of the tracks:

1. It's Not Right But It's OK: Released as a single, this up-beat mixture of soft R&B and strange background music makes for an unmissable catchy tune.

2. Heartbreak Hotel: This song is very laid-back and features Faith Evans and Kelly Price. Soon to be released as a single, it promises to be a very big hit in the UK.

3. My Love is Your Love: An up-beat ballad, this love song makes a whole new genre of love songs which others can only follow. Strings and drums are combined with vocals for a great result. Also released as a single in 1999.

4. When You Believe: This duet with Mariah Carey was released nearly 2 years ago for the release of the 'Prince of Egypt' film. A very pleasant ballad.

5. If I Told You That: Released late this year, this song is another very beat-orientated song which and has a very strange piano accompaniment which is almost jazz-style but works really well.

6. In My Business: More TLC style, this up-beat R&B track features Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott who makes this song very cool and hip. The constant scratching of records in the background does get annoying though.

7. I Learned From The Best: Another Top 10 UK release for Whitney, this song is an amazing example of how good quality easy listening ballads can still be popular in today's music world.

8. Oh Yes: A perhaps too-long ballad (nearly 7 minutes) is slightly too boring for my likings. It is really dreary and tends to drag on when you wish it would just end.

9. Get It Back: An up-beat R&B track again, very similar in style to Pink or TLC again. A very decent song, with a very catchy chorus.

10. Until You Come Back: A very relaxed karaoke style song, with not too much bass. A very pretty ballad, but nothing more.

11. I Bow Out: It seems that as the album goes on, the album becomes worse. This song is rather mediocre. Worth a listen, but not a classic. Rather too slow and the beat doesn't work with the rest of the song.

12. You'll Never Stand Alone: Another karaoke style slow ballad that is easy listening and very amiable. Nothing more than that though.

13. I Was Made To Love Him: An amazing Fugee-style finish to the album, which should have been released but unfortunately wasn't. A very funky bass and a catchy chorus makes this song a success.

In this album, Whitney mainly uses R&B to make her mark, and with artists on the album such as Faith Evans, Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey and Kelly Price, it is hardly difficult to understand why the album is as brilliant as it is. As you can see, the album features no less than 6 hit UK singles as well, which really is phenomenal. In fact, it is even more unbelieveable considering that about 2 years after its original release, Whitney is still releasing singles (Heartbreak Hotel is due out in January 2001) from it.

I would strongly recommend this album to any fans of Whitney or soft R&B/dance. I think that the people who will like it most are anybody in teens up to about 40 year olds, as it is rather too beat-orientated and very 'rap-py' for anyone outside those boundaries. I think that this album is a classic example of how modern R&B should be written and performed and I eagerly await her next album.