Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous.
Whitney Houston has given us some of the best pop songs in music history and her vocal stylings are legendary. There is not one pop singer out there that can deny that Whitney has had some sort of impact on the way they sing. From Mariah to Christina, her influence is more than evident.
Whitney’s “comeback” album “I Look To You,” is finally out and of course as soon as I saw it, I bought it faster than you can say “sucky, fuckie, 2 dolla.” Now, I had heard comments about how weak her voice sounds and from the leaked songs (“I didn’t Know My Own Strength” & “Million Dollar Bill”) it was more than evident that something had changed.
After giving the entire album various listens, I have come to some conclusions. To begin with let’s just start off by saying that the past 7 or 8 years for Whitney have been… well… shit. Her marriage with Bobby Brown was in the pooper, she was a crack head, then came the ill-advised “reality’ show and that interview with Diane Sawyer, seriously the woman WAS NOT having a good time. The fact that she got her shit together and put out an album at all is merit enough in my book cos people can judge and say what they want but kicking any habit is hard enough but kicking your has-been husband to the curb, kicking a drug addiction, raising kids AND recording an album is something that most people would never be able to do… but then again most people ARE NOT Whitney Houston.
Her voice has changed, there is no doubt about that, it’s matured and it has a certain husky quality that it never had before. Her voice now tells a story of a woman that has gone through it all and come out on top, stronger and and wiser from her experiences. This gives each and every song she sings a new dimension. However, this does not mean that ALL the songs are successful at showcasing Whitney’s “new” voice to it’s full potential.
Just... Whitney.
The album’s opener “Million Dollar Bill” has a retro sound that doesn’t sound the way it was intended, it just sounds dated. Whitney sounds more in control when she sings about pain, no regrets and haters. Songs like “Nothing But Love,” “I Got You” and the disco-stomping-extravaganza that is “A Song For You” show us all that Whitney is serious about her love and commitment to music no matter what life hands her.
Then there are the songs like “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” and the centerpiece “I Look To You” that try to recapture Whitney’s vocal golden era and it’s on these where it is painfully obvious that she can no longer pull off these kind of songs anymore. Before her shiny vocals could take any crap song and turn it into gold but now her husky, lower growl just make these songs a snooze to listen to cos they do not suit her voice anymore.
So it’s just a matter of Whitney growing into her own voice and picking the right material to get the most out of the way she sounds NOW. The entire album may not be the complete and utter masterpiece that most were expecting but it’s by no means a dud. If anything it just proves that no matter what, you just can’t keep and good bitch down.
Welcome back, Whitney.
