My Love Is Your Love - Houston, Whitney (CD 1998)

What has been lost in the discussion of Whitney Houston's other, various issues (shall we say) is that her voice has consistently gotten better with age. When she first started out in '85, she was all style and no substance. Much like current young singers such as Joss Stone and Beyonce, Whitney's voice was pretty, but it had yet to project any real sort of "lived-in" quality. And having her shout loudly over watery ballads was not a good look for her, record sales be damned.

That all changed around '92 or so, when "The Bodyguard" soundtrack came out. This was also (probably not coincidentally) the same year she married Bobby Brown. Talk all you want about "I Will Always Love You" being sappy, but if you've truly been in and lost love, you will feel the pain in Whitney's voice when she sings. Age and experience brought a different dimension to Whitney's singing.

Her three albums are pretty much interchangeable. Three or four good songs wrapped around canned attempts at dance or funk and a whole lot of fodder for adult contemporary ballads. 1998's "My Love is Your Love" was her first album release in eight years, although to be fair about it, it's not like she'd fallen off the planet. There had been three releases in the intervening time-the soundtracks to "The Bodyguard", "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife"-that were Whitney releases in all but name. However, "My Love" represented a definite shift in style for Whitney, and it actually came off well.

Of course, the major stylistic change in the pop music landscape had been the emergence of hip-hop flavored R&B as the dominant musical form, and for Whitney's album to have any sort of success commercially, her music was going to have to reflect that. Executive producer & mentor Clive Davis provided Whitney with tracks from R&B's hottest producers, tossed in a couple of guest artists, and the resulting mix is probably Whitney's most aurally satisfying album.

For those old enough to remember the "In Lving Color" spoof on Whitney's lack of dancing ability called "Rhythmless Nation", it may have come as a surprise to hear Whitney bounce effortlessly over the album's uptempo tracks. "If I Told You That" (not the version featuring George Michael's vocals that appeared on her "Greatest Hits" album) has a playful vibe to it as well as a stylistic similarity to Brandy & Monica's "The Boy is Mine". Both songs were productions by Rodney Jerkins, who also contributes the blah "Get it Back" and the percolating "It's Not Right But It's OK". This sizzling kiss-off to a do-wrong man is best known know in it's high-energy dance version, but the original version isn't too shabby either. A skittering, off-center beat frames Whitney's attitude-filled vocals, and she rides the beat like a pro.

(Most folks read a lot more into the lyrics than was intended, and I guess Whitney was prepared for that, since in the liner notes, after the thank-you's, Whitney writes "The events and characters depicted in this album are fictitious, and any similarity to actual persons living or dead, or to actual events, is purely coincidental". I don't know if anyone actually believed this, but it was a nice try on Whitney's behalf).

While the album is obviously hip-hop influenced, there is very little actual rapping to be found here. Missy Elliott provides a brief and forgettable rap interlude on the sassy "In My Business", while Wyclef Jean smartly decides to forgo the ad-libs on the album's standout title track. Over a smoothly chugging reggae groove, Whitney passionately delivers a testimony to the unconditional love she and her man have. Lines like "Even if we're sleeping in Grand Central Station/it's okay, 'cause I'm sleeping with you" are tender and heartwarming.

Then, of course, there are the ballads. Whitney just might be the best "pop" ballad singer of her generation, although the songs here are a mixed bag. Sure, it's overorchestrated and cheesy, but her Diva Summit with Mariah Carey, "When You Believe", is actually quite pretty. While Babyface provides her with a couple of faceless (punny!) ballads like "Until You Come Back" and "You'll Never Stand Alone", there are fortunately songs like the brassy "I Learned From the Best" (a Diane Warren/David Foster affair that ranks as one of the duo's five best works) and the slyly seductive "Oh Yes", to balance things out. And speaking of Diva Summit, Whitney takes new-school R&B femmes Faith Evans and Kelly Price on the ride with her to "Heartbreak Hotel". Whitney's vocals are sharply downcast and bitter here, and no one sells a mournful chorus like Faith.

Even though the quality of the songs wavers from track to track, there's no disputing the power of Whitney's voice. Where before, it might have seemed like she was shouting for no reason at all, this time every song sounds like it was either written by or expressly for her life situation. For the first time in her career, on an album solely hers, she comes across as her own artist, not just someone singing words written by others (although I'll grant you those songs were sung well). "My Love is Your Love" is certainly not a perfect album, but it's more substantial than the rest of her works up until that time. It remains to be seen how history will portray Whitney, particularly in light of her recent pratfalls, but no one can deny that voice, and "My Love" will forever remain proof of that.

"My Love is Your Love" by Whitney Houston
Released 1998 on Arista Records
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars (rated down for Epinions sake, but this is one of those times where I *really* wish Epinions used half-stars in their rating system.