{"id":41678,"date":"2009-09-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/i-look-to-you\/"},"modified":"2009-09-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-10T00:00:00","slug":"i-look-to-you","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/i-look-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"I Look To You"},"content":{"rendered":"

This album (Houston\u2019s sixth original release) is only a week old, and already I\u2019ve read some pretty slamming reviews by jaded critics who were obviously expecting the Whitney of old to come bellowing through the speakers. Well, I gotta say, that\u2019s not going to happen, and if this is what you want, then don\u2019t bother with this album \u2013 just stick to the Greatest Hits sets.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The truth is that Whitney has a new singing voice due to her vices of old (remember kids, \u201ccrack is whack\u201d), but it certainly hasn\u2019t taken her long to adjust to it. Her voice is still pleasant enough for ballads and her conviction alone is more than enough to make the grittier R&B tracks on I Look To You <\/i>work very well. \u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In one way, it\u2019s a relief for me because the pointless vocal gymnastics that peppered her \u201890s output (\u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d and \u201cExhale (Shoop Shoop)\u201d being the main offenders) are long gone. The only challenge for Ms. Houston will be if she decides to tour again, which will call for her to reinvent her showstoppers of old like \u201cI Have Nothing\u201d and \u201cDidn\u2019t We Almost Have It All.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That being said, Whitney\u2019s pipes are still in fine form, and if you can get over the fact that her range isn\u2019t what it was, then there\u2019s no reason why you can\u2019t enjoy this album for what it is. It\u2019s obvious that the directive for the writing team was pretty straightforward, Whitney is a survivor and she wants to believe in love again. Nearly all of the songs are woven around these sentiments, and although it\u2019s not a bad thing, it can be a tad monotonous at times. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The material is expertly produced, and although it sounds fresh, you can still hear 1980\u2019s calling throughout most of the record. The opener \u201cMillion Dollar Bill\u201d could be mistaken for a Grace Jones track until Houston\u2019s unmistakable voice cuts in to bring us up to speed with where she\u2019s at right now. The track was co-written by Alicia Keys, and as well as being the perfect choice to open the album with, it remains one of the strongest tracks Whitney has recorded in years.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The edgy intensity that made her 1998 release My Love Is Your Love <\/i>so great is replaced with an almost carefree attitude that\u2019s most prevalent on \u201cNothin\u2019 But Love.\u201d She could have used a little more punch to drive it home with, though, because the nature of the lyric is very much a \u201cme against them\u201d kind of song.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cCall You Tonight\u201d is a sweet song of love and adds a little heart to record \u2013 never a bad thing.\u00a0 Next up is the title track, the first straightforward ballad of the album. The lyrics are defiant and so is Houston\u2019s performance, which finds her testing the waters of her reduced range seemingly effortlessly enough.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cLike I Never Left\u201d credits Houston with a co-write and features the album\u2019s only guest appearance by Akon. The arrangement is very \u201880s though, and it\u2019s one of only a couple of true throwaway tracks to be found here. Faring much better is another clear highlight in \u201cA Song For You,\u201d an awesome dance track that features a gutsy reading from Houston.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This is followed by the other throwaway song, not surprisingly penned by Diane Warren. \u201cI Didn\u2019t Know My Own Strength\u201d is a clich\u00e9-ridden survivor lyric that just seeps of the kind of stuff fans will lap up. Even Whitney can\u2019t rescue this doozy, and she actually sounds bored with this one.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWorth It\u201d and \u201cFor The Lovers\u201d bring some life back into the proceedings. The former is an easy R&B groove that is sweet enough, but not exactly memorable. The latter brings the funk back in style as Whitney weaves around the punchy track with ease.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI Got You\u201d is another strong track that is a perfect vehicle for Houston these days, as is the album\u2019s closer \u201cSalute,\u201d which is no doubt directed to the ex. This one is more in-line with the sound and style that worked so well on My Love Is Your Love<\/i> and possibly features the most poignant lyric of all (\u201cDon\u2018t call it a comeback \/ I\u2018ve been here for years \/ Through all the drama and the pain \/ Through all of the tears\u201d).<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So Whitney has made it through whatever battles she endured, and reasonably unscathed as she tells us. At one time, Whitney possessed the greatest voice I\u2019ve ever heard, and although it has suffered somewhat, it should in no way hamper her future endeavors if she uses the \u201cnew\u201d voice to her advantage. I Look To You <\/i>works best when Houston digs deep for the soulful deliveries on the ballads, but she also handles the dance tracks with ease, and in spite of a couple of duds, this should remind everyone her journey is far from over.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5705],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-41678","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-whitney-houston","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41678"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}