Retro Spins: Whitney Houston - Whitney

When it comes to album titles, Whitney Houston really doesn't get creative. Her debut album was entitled Whitney Houston, which okay, she gets a pass on that. Many artists self title their debuts. However, when you follow up with your second album, that's when you should pick a good title. Preferably one which is your lead track for the album. Whitney Houston thought hard about it, then went with "Whitney". Lame. I'm honestly surprised her third album wasn't entitled, "Houston".

Dumb titles aside, with Jermaine Jackson out of the way, Whitney and producers, Narada Michael Walden, Michael Masser, Jellybean Benitez and Kashif coulf focus on a more pop oriented sound suitable for the 80's. For those of you who read my post on the singers initial debut album, you may recall my dislike for its dated sound. I felt this was the fault of Jermaine Jackson, who produced the album, because musically, he couldn't seem to move past the Motown sound. Even his own solo studio albums at the time faltered from this.

The album is of course most notable for Whitney's hits, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Didn't We Almost Have It All, So Emotional, Where Do Broken Hearts Go. However and I Know Him So Well. However, I also found myself enjoying Love Will Save The Day. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, "It's a  pretty decent album." Definitely better then her debut.

It is a little ballad heavy, which really isn't my thing. I think this is what makes it falter a bit for me. Even some of the "hits" aren't necessarily my favorite because of this fact. Still, if you're looking for a good 80's album to sit through, this one isn't a bad choice. It's not the best, but it's not a bad one.

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Retro Spins: Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston

As a debut, Whitney Houston's 1985 album isn't as good as I expected. My biggest issue is it felt dated by about four to five years. 80's material, but more so in line with that of what we were hearing when 70's artists were making the transition into the new decade.

The clue in to what the problem was when I heard not one, but two tracks which featured Jermaine Jackson singing duets with Houston. This caused me to dig into the album credits, and that's where I found what was wrong, and how this all happened. That was, the album was produced by Jermaine Jackson.

Huh? Produced by Jermaine Jackson, how is that a problem?

Well, let me summarize. To me, Jermaine Jackson's solo albums have always had the same problem. They always felt three to five years behind the times. Smooth R&B in an era when pop rock was big, big, big. His brother Michael figured this out when he made the transition to the 70's sounds of Off the Wall to his pop opus, Thriller. Yet somehow, Jermaine never seemed to catch on to the evolution of music throughout the decade, staying lost in the past.

This transitions big time into Houston's debut album, and only becomes more noticeable in the finale track, Hold Me, featuring Teddy Pendergrass. With its ballad style and orchestrated background, you can't help but feel you've stepped out of 1985.

Mind you, it's not that it's a bad album. It just catches you off guard. At least it did for me. Still, there are good tracks, classic Houston ones at that, to be found here; You Give Good Love, Saving All My Love For You, How Will I Know and Greatest Love Of All. Out of those four, How Will I Know is definitely the best.

If anything, Whitney Houston, the album, sets the stage which would become the singer's powerhouse follow up, Whitney (1987) - Apparently she wasn't very creative with her album titles - and future things to come.

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