FEATURE:
Second Spin
Whitney Houston - Just Whitney
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SHE has featured…
a fair few times on my blog. I love Whitney Houston’s music, though I feel one or two of her albums are underrated and should get re-evaluated. Following the brilliant My Love Is Your Love of 1998, Just Whitney arrived in 2002. Houston's fifth studio album, it was recorded after renewing her contract with Arista for a record $100 million. In terms of the sound, Just Whitney mixes R&B ballads, R&B mid-tempo numbers, and Dance songs. It did get some good reviews, though a lot were more critical. Maybe not as strong as her earlier albums – and with few songs on Just Whitney that match her peak –, the album is still really strong and contains some of Houston’s finest vocal performances. Of course, we sadly lost Houston a decade after Just Whitney came out. I often wonder what sort of music she would be putting out were she still with us. Reaching nine on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., Just Whitney did do well commercially. It is an album that was not met with similar critical affection. I am going to bring in a couple of contrasting reviews. For anyone who has not heard Just Whitney, I would definitely urge them to. Songs like One of Those Days and Love That Man are classic Houston. I think some of those who did not view Just Whitney as great felt it was a step backwards from My Love Is Your Love. Others noted how it was four years since her previous album. Perhaps some momentum was lost. With a host of producers on Just Whitney, there was a great team behind her. The legendary Babyface was among them (he produced Try It on My Own).
I will source a couple of reviews, just to give an idea of what people said about 2002’s Just Whitney. This is what AllMusic said in their three-star review:
“The four-year wait between 2002's Just Whitney and her previous album, 1998's My Love Is Your Love, was half that between that record and its predecessor, 1990's I'm Your Baby Tonight, but it felt twice the length, since Whitney Houston's career nose-dived during those four years. She retreated from the spotlight and as she cancelled concerts, scrapped albums, and pulled out of public appearances, rumors swirled that she and husband Bobby Brown were dangerously addicted to drugs. Following a disastrous performance at the September 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert, where she looked as if she had already wasted away, the chattering reached a fever pitch and she needed to restore her reputation -- hence the title of Just Whitney, an assertion that she's returning to her basics. But that's not the half of it. As her trainwreck interview with Diane Sawyer on PrimeTime Live the week prior to Just Whitney's release proved, she's arrogantly defensive about her "bad habits" and is "Unashamed" of "the life that [she] leads," as she sings on the eighth song on this odd, disarmingly brief (under 40 minutes) self-styled comeback album. Just listen to the first single, the roundly ignored "Whatchulookinat" (produced by husband Brown, who Whitney thanks for being the best producer in the world, although he only helmed this track on the album), where she plays the victim, claiming that the gossip-mongers "messing with my reputation/ain't you got no education...don't even have a clue about what I'm facin'," coming across as if she had something to hide.
It's a sentiment that runs throughout the album -- phrases like "you don't know what I'm goin' through" and "you criticize my actions/even though you don't stand in my shoes" pop up regularly -- and undermines an album that's otherwise a not-bad set of contemporary soul. Certainly, Whitney is in better voice than rival diva Mariah Carey (whose near simultaneously released Charmbracelet found her voice in tatters) and she's fortunate enough to have Babyface for four productions, three of which are among the highlights of the album. Though Missy Elliott produces a track here, this is nowhere near as concerned with hip production as My Love was and who can blame her? When a career is on the rocks, it's best to play it safe. And that's what Just Whitney is: a measured attempt to salvage a career that's on the verge of destruction. Does it work? Well, musically, it's not bad, though few songs are memorable. It would be a good standard-issue Whitney album if it wasn't for her disarming, defensive attempt to defuse every rumor hurled in her direction. Even an otherwise innocuous duet with Brown is presented like it's the two of them against the world, nearly celebrating the fact that Bobby's voice is very strained these days. Worst of all, there seems to be nobody to check Whitney and prevent her from indulging in bad ideas. After all, surely somebody in the Houston camp should have realized that at this crucial time in her career, as she admits drug "habits," that covering "You Light Up My Life" might not be the smartest move to make right now”.
I first heard Just Whitney when it came out in December 2002. Since then, I have never really lost any attachment and respect for it. With Houston’s vocal power and brilliance very much at its best, it is an album that needs to be dug and get some love. The BBC’s review was more positive (than a lot of others):
“Once upon a time there lived an extremely gifted pop princess who possessed beauty, poise and a set of vocals that would make the clouds smile. Critics were perplexed by this seemingly perfect specimen, and swiftly termed her bland and banal. However, a bad-boy husband, 120 million album sales, and rumours of a dubious lifestyle ensured that Whitney Houston never leaves the headlines.
With one of the most exceptional voices in contemporary music, her latest album, aptly titled Just Whitney sees the diva return to her former glory with a combination of high-voltage ballads and smooth-liqueur R&B.
'Love That Man' sounds suspiciously like an ode to her much criticised hubby. Here Whitney comes across as soulful and sincere as she ooohs and aaahs in the right places. The mid-tempo track harks back to 80s soul with its simple bass line, and unfussy production.
'One Of Those Days' also has a slight retro feel to it, cleverly sampling the Isley Brothers' Between the Sheets. Modern day women will be able to relate to this one, as Whitney croons about the need to withdraw from the pressures of day-to-day living for a spot of girlie pampering.
Whitney has been experiencing her own fair share of pressure-cooker environments recently. For evidence, look no further than 'Whatchulookinat', an assertive, defiant statement against her critics. The gentle vocals, which appeared on previous tracks, have now been replaced by an authoritative Whitney stating: 'Unashamed by the life that I lead, the choices I've made, the things I have done, my belief in the one'.
The most welcomed return on Just Whitney is the incorporation of big love ballads; with the melancholic "On My Own" providing one of the album's highlights. The big-band orchestral feel to this track provides the perfect platform for Whitney to deliver vocally. Climaxing with one of those highly sustained notes sung in an octave that only the likes of Mariah, Celine and Aretha are capable of, she renders this track truly awesome.
The moral of this story is always stick to what you do best. Whitney's return to big ballads will hopefully ensure that this pop princess will be able to lead the rest of her life like a clichéd fairy tale - happily ever after”.
Nearly twenty years after it arrived, Just Whitney is an album I love. It is so sad that its creator is no longer here. One of the most influential artists of her generation, I think we need to treasure the world she left behind. Maybe not as cohesive, consistent and great as albums like 1985’s Whitney Houston, Just Whitney is still a very worthy and solid album. If it is one that you have not heard or have avoided until now, I would definitely encourage you to…
CHANGE your mind.