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"Someone For Me" and of course "How Will I Know" round out the uptempo tunes and are both more or less mid 80's dance productions kind of designed for pop radio:designed is a key word as spontaniaty isn't really there. Part of it comes from this debut. The overall feel of this album is very glammy and luxorious in terms of production and orientation. To be honest I've been more than a little critical of even her career choices and I don't feel it's without merrit.
There are weaknessess of course. "Hold Me".well on paper Whitney singing with Teddy Pendergrass seemed like a great idea but in his recovery from his accident his vocal prowess is a little downplayed so he's not operating on full thrusters exactly. I am not a snob or anything but to be honest this is the type of pop/R&B music that is best purely enjoyed. It's not full of a lot of genuine innovation or gutsiness by any means but it does hit you somewhere and even if the lyrical concepts and some of the production haven't aged well it was a good enough beginning for her. You could not have told me when this album came out that today she'd be a snubbed and embarrassing presense at a big aware show. That was not the sort of thing I was hearing when I heard this. Some of the production on the uptempo tunes is blander than it deserves to be and some of the needless lyrical stubborness is rearing it's head in places. Not that the music is'nt very good.
Not as if you cannot admire the determination of "All At Once" or "The Greatest Love Of All" but still they could've been so much more that way. But that's not where it's at with Whitney so on the lighter level they have a certain likability,or rather hummability. If only she could've moved up in the musical road from there she'd have seriously gone places. Jermaine Jackson's presense gives "Take Good Care Of My Heart" the needed kick that brings it to life as a strong midtempo groove. But once you get into this you can put the last decade and a half of her career aside for a moment and say.well at least there was strong potential here. "Saving All My Love For You" is a shinning moment here for Whitney;just as produced as everything else here but she really catches fire here and so does the music.
As with many people I've has a lot of diminished respect for Whitney's music and general attitude. My favorite song here is "Thinking About You",the one cut that almost gets in the groove even as the heavily slick production stops it from making it all the way. It's a place where.a glamorous person is more unhappy and determined about not "having it all" and,to be honest it sometimes gives the lyrics a bit of a shallow quality as a result. Any generational sentimentality of hearing it a lot in my youth aside this is still in many ways a very impressive album and one of her stronger. Even at this point her stock and trade appeared to be the "big ballad",or what I'd later jokingly refer to as the sad supermodel song.
5/59. "Thinking About You"-"that's what i wanna do". everyone tuned into this song and tried to sing like her. it takes me back to those good ole times when i was little. it's very romantic as roberta flack and peabo bryson's "tonight i celebrate my love". 5/5 5/53. "How Will I Know"-the only dance song on this album that moves you to your feet.
"Greatest Love of All"- another HUGE, memorable song. "All at Once"-i'm not sure if i heard this song before.i probably have but it's a really nice, decent song. for people who are beginning to like whitney and her music, you should start right here. it reminds me how music used to sound so great back then. 5/57. it sounds country-like and it's kinda boring.
"Someone for Me"-a nice, 80s pop tune.that's all i could say. unfortunately, good things don't last long. she sounded so youthful and vibrant. her vocals are so amazing. i am very familiar with most of the songs on this album. 1/56. too bad they don't have these kind of songs anymore. it's all filled with great memories and classics.
i miss this kind of whitney. some of them were hugely popular back then. 5/55. "You Give Good Love"-awww.i love this song. i could just feel it. it was an 80s equivalent to Mariah Carey's "Hero".
i love this duet with her and teddy pendergrass. this was the album that made people fall in love with whitney and her voice. it may sound cheesy, but it is really inspirational. "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do"- i don't care too much about this song. "Hold Me"-i grew up hearing this song but i never realized that this was whitney singing this.
they need to have more songs like these. i remember the kids at my school sang this song one time. it's very seductive at best. 5/510. "Saving All My Love for You"-this song was HUGE back then. it's about believing in yourself.
it's her greatest debut of all.1. 5/58."Take Good Care of My Heart"-whitney and jermaine sound great together just as they did on "if you say my eyes are beautiful". they even got steve urkel singing this song, lol. 5/52. 4/54.
How Will I Know is still my favorite Whitney song but overall, Whitney was told what to do and that's never a good thing. Whitney should've been given better material than these run-of-the-mill pop tunes. Whitney Houston's debut album was great because of Whitney's killer chops but the songs on here are pretty average. Clive Davis thinks he is the best thing that ever existed but he likes to control his artists every move, from picking the songs and what their image should be.
IT'S GREAT.STEVE: THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST ALBUM I BOUGHT OF WHITNEY HOUSTON, BACK IN 1985 IT IS MOST LIKELY HER VERY BEST ALBUM EVER IN MY OPINION. IF YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WANTING A WHITNEY HOUSTON RECORD ON CD THIS IS THE ONE TO HAVE, YOU'LL END UP LISTENING TO IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.WHITNEY, AT HER VERY BEST AT WORK.I RECENTLY NEEDED TO GET THE CD CAUSE MY OLD ALBUM BECAME TOO SCRATCHY.BUY YOU'LL LOVE IT.
Whitney came out BIG. The singles were well picked as they show the amazing range Whitney had. of 1986. She received Grammy nomination for "Album of the Year".
I almost forgot "Greatest Love of All" (originally sung by the amazing George Benson). She's known for ballads but the interesting thing is songs like "How Will I Know" (cheesy 80s pop at its most fun) showed she could other things. I just love the opening. I don't care if it seems cliché; I think the lyrics are empowering and still relevant. It's a R&B groove that gave mainstream audiences a first listen to her wonderful voice. "Whitney Houston" was best selling album in the U.S.
My favorite song on the album is "You Give Good Love". The production does age it (I've never heard the version with the piano rather than the keyboard) but it's still a lovely song. Three singles became No.1-Hits (still rare coming from one album). And she won for the touching performance "Saving All My Love for You" (one of the best singles about "the other woman").
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