My Love Is Your Love

by Whitney Houston

Overview

For all intents and purposes, Whitney Houston retired from being a full-fledged recording artist after her third album, 1990s I'm Your Baby Tonight, choosing to be a Streisand-like celebrity who cultivated a career through movies, soundtrack contributions, and social appearances. She may have been content to continue in that direction for many years if Arista president Clive Davis didn't push her into recording My Love Is Your Love, her first album in eight years, which easily ranks among her best. Never before has Houston tried so many different sounds or tried so hard to be hip. It's one thing to work with Babyface, the standard-bearer of smooth soul in the '90s, but it's quite another to hire Wyclef Jean, Lauren Hill, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, and Q-Tip -- all cutting-edge artists (albeit on the accessible side of the cutting edge), the kind who never would have been associated with Houston in the late '80s. The gambit works. There is still a fair share of David Foster-produced adult contemporary ballads, but the true news is on the up-tempo and mid-tempo dance numbers. In fact, the songs that feel the stiffest are the big production numbers; tellingly, they're the songs that are the most reminiscent of old-school Houston. That's not to say she can no longer belt out ballads convincingly -- in fact, the best ballads are where she restrains herself, delivering them with considerable nuance. Houston has never been quite so subtle before, nor has she ever shown this desire to branch out musically. That alone would be reason enough to rank My Love Is Your Love among her more interesting albums, but the fact that it works more often than not pushes it into the top rank of her recorded work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	06/23/2009
Label:	Arista / Sony Bmg
UPC:	0886974786122
Rank:	66824

Tracks

1. It's Not Right But It's Okay
2. Heartbreak Hotel
3. My Love Is Your Love
4. When You Believe [From "the Prince of Egypt"]
5. If I Told You That
6. In My Business
7. I Learned from the Best
8. Oh Yes
9. Get It Back
10. Until You Come Back
11. I Bow Out
12. You'll Never Stand Alone
13. [Untitled Tracks]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Whitney Houston   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Kelly Price   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Mariah Carey   Primary Artist,Guest Artist
Dyme   Primary Artist
Faith Evans   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Missy Elliott   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals
Babyface   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background),Keyboards
Sheila E.   Guest Artist,Percussion
David Foster   Guest Artist,Keyboards
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins   Keyboards,Strings
Ali Boudris   Guitar (Acoustic)
Beverly Crowder   Vocals (Background)
Larry Kimpel   Bass
Shanice Wilson   Vocals (Background)
Greg Phillinganes   Piano
Gavin Greenaway   Conductor
Loren Dawson   Strings
Ryan Toby   Vocals
V. Jeffrey Smith   Flute
Nathan East   Bass
Jerry Barnes   Bass
Ricky Lawson   Drums
Michael Thompson   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Sharlotte Gibson   Vocals (Background)
Toni Estes   Vocals (Background)
Sherrod Barnes   Guitar
Sue Ann Carwell   Vocals (Background)
William Ross   Conductor
Bill Meyers   Conductor
Eric Rigler   Pipe

Technical Credits

Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins   Producer,Drum Programming,Composer
David Foster   Arranger,Producer
Hans Zimmer   Arranger
John Smeltz   Engineer
Kelvin Bradshaw   Composer
Paul J. Falcone   Mixing,Engineer
Kevin Parker   Engineer
Carsten Schack   Composer
Isaac Phillips   Composer
Lloyd Turner   Composer
Babyface   Drum Programming,Composer,Producer,Programming
Kenneth Karlin   Composer
LaShawn Daniels   Composer
Jon Gass   Mixing
Karlin   Arranger,Producer
Lula Mae Hardaway   Composer
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis   Composer,Producer
Mick Guzauski   Mixing
Missy Elliott   Composer,Producer
Toni Estes   Composer
Whitney Houston   Producer
Tamara Savage   Composer
Paul Boutin   Engineer
Soulshock   Mixing,Arranger,Producer
Sylvia Moy   Composer
Daryl Simmons   Composer
Wyclef Jean   Composer,Producer
Diane Warren   Composer
Tim Boyle   Engineer
Tommy Vicari   Engineer
Brad Gilderman   Mixing,Engineer
Stevie Wonder   Composer
Manny Marroquin   Mixing,Engineer
Henry Cosby   Composer
William Ross   Arranger
Stephen Schwartz   Composer
Clive Davis   Producer
Felipe Elgueta   Engineer
Don Murray   Engineer
Humberto Gatica   Engineer

Editorial Reviews

Does Whitney Houston ever exhale? Following three megahit soundtrack albums -- The Preacher's Wife happens to be one of the bestselling soundtracks of all time -- she gives her fans My Love Is Your Love. On this, her first studio recording in eight years, Whitney confronts sticky romantic issues, but she's got the supporting cast to tackle anything. Mariah Carey teams up with the diva for "When You Believe," and a host of hotshot producers -- Lauryn Hill, Babyface, and Wyclef Jean -- add some hip-hop spice to Whitney's amazing sound. Release date: November 17, 1998.

barnesandnoble.com

For all intents and purposes, Whitney Houston retired from being a full-fledged recording artist after her third album, 1990's I'm Your Baby Tonight, choosing to be a Streisand-like celebrity that cultivated a career through movies, soundtrack contributions and social appearences. She may have been content to continue in that direction for many years if Arista president Clive Davis didn't push her into recording My Love is Your Love, her first album in eight years -- which, for those of you keeping score, is one of the longest gaps between albums by contemporary acts in pop history. It's not that she's been inactive -- during that time, she topped the charts with "I Will Always Love You," one of the biggest singles in history -- but she seemed to have no interest in creating albums, which is a feeling that feeling dogged I'm Your Baby Tonight, her underdeveloped third record. She or Davis must have realized this, since My Love is Your Love is easily among her best albums. Never before has Houston tried so many different sounds or tried to be hip. It's one thing to work with Babyface, the standard bearer of smooth soul in the '90s, but it's quite another to hire Wyclef Jean, Lauren Hill, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Q-Tip -- all cutting-edge artists (albiet on the accessible side of the cutting edge), the kind that never would have been associated with Houston in the late '80s. The gambit works. There is still a fair share of David Foster-produced adult contemporary ballads, all of which is solid if not particularly remarkable, but the true news is on the uptempo and midtempo dance numbers, such as the Missy Elliott collaboration "In My Business," the opener "It's Not Right But It's Okay" and the unlisted Hill-produced cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Him." In fact, the songs that feel the stiffest are the big production numbers, such as the Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe," taken from The Prince of Egypt. Tellingly, they're the songs that are the most reminiscent of old-school Houston. That's not to say she can no longer belt out ballads convincingly -- in fact, the best ballads are where she restrains herself, delivering them with considerable nuance. Houston has never been quite so subtle before, nor has she ever shown the desire to branch out musically. That alone would be reason enough to rank My Love is Your Love among her more interesting albums, but the fact that it works more often than not pushes it into the top rank of her recorded work. --All-Music Guide

Stephen Thomas Erlewine