Many celebrity watchers take joy in seeing a megastar as big as Whitney Houston fall flat on her face. After that happens, the same people yearn for the celebrity to make a comeback. Whitney Houston's I Look to You is one of the most eagerly anticipated albums in years.
Some say that with Clive Davis and an incredible marketing team behind her, Whitney Houston is guaranteed a successful return even if the music is mediocre. Others say that Ms. Houston shouldn't count the eggs before they hatch; her comeback bid will be an uphill battle no matter how much hype is involved.
Let's take a look at the title track from I Look to You, which is also the first single. The song has been made available at Whitney Houston's website and should be available for purchase at iTunes within the next week.
A Return to Form
“I Look to You” is a Whitney Houston by-the-numbers song: lyrics about strength, continuous piano notes, louder vocals towards the end of the song, etc. This is not a bad thing since the purpose of the song is to remind people why they fell in love with Whitney Houston in the first place.
“After all my strength is gone..in you I can be strong,” she sings above the piano notes. Instantly, one thinks of other Houston hits such as “All at Once,” “Greatest Love of All,” and “I Have Nothing.”
Whitney Houston Voice
Many listeners of the single have noted that technically, Whitney Houston’s voice isn’t what it used to be in terms of overall range and timbre. Some speculate that is might have been all the drugs and others suggest lack of use; a voice is an instrument that has to be used continuously in order to have the same effects.
Whitney Houston makes up for the minor loss of the technical side of her voice by singing with great feeling and emotion. Whitney’s greatest strength is being able to take a bland song and turn it into a classic with her emotions. She hasn’t lost this strength one bit.
Radio Airplay
“I Look to You” will not make it to the front of Top 40 playlists thanks to her age (46 is considered old in the music world) and the fact that this song doesn’t appeal to the kiddies. In fact, the song may be even too slow for Adult Contemporary radio as well.
The song has received an excellent response from die-hard fans, but a mixed reception to critics and other listeners. The song could grow on people or it could disappear. Let’s hope Whitney has a backup plan just in case the song doesn’t catch on.
 |
