Album Review: Whitney Houston - I Look to You (4/5)

It's been about 10 years since Whitney Houston was a major presence in pop music. During that time, under the gaze of tabloids and her own reality TV show, Houston battled drug addiction and the crumbling of her marriage to Bobby Brown. At some points it seemed she had sunk so low--such as a public appearance where she appeared scarily thin--that I would not have been surprised to read an overdose headline with tragic consequences.

Thankfully, Whitney Houston proved herself to be a fighter, and over the course of the last few years has pulled herself and her career together, under the watchful eye of mentor/producer Clive Davis. Davis has been promising for years that Whitney was working on her great comeback album and that it would be a knockout. A knockout it is not, but a pretty great comeback it is.

I Look to You is populated with a mix of ballads and more upbeat songs, although generally the album's vibe is smooth R&B-flavored pop, so there's no real stompers. Nor are there any ballads with the soaring vocal histrionics that typified Houston's past work. It seems the physical abuse she's put her body through has taken its toll on her voice. It doesn't sound the same and doesn't seem able to achieve what it used to. It's still pretty damn great though and certainly better than many (when you start at the top, if you fall a little bit, you're still much higher than everyone else). If she's playing it safe in the middle, it's a good place for her to be right now.

Thematically, the songs are also a mix of those that address head on her life's experiences and those that are just fun pop songs. Opening track "Million Dollar Bill," written and produced by Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, starts things off on the right foot. The upbeat track has a great bass line and fun retro-'70s sound. Whitney sounds--like she's having a lot of fun, and you will too. "Nothin' But Love," another upbeat track follows with a more purely modern production from Danja and Fernando Garibay. Although Whitney has never been a songwriter, its clear that many of these songs have been crafted to express the singer personally, and this song addresses how, despite her detractors and hardships, she won't let them get her down.

The next few songs are slower, smoother, but also satisfying. Stargate-produced ballad "Call You Tonight" is a sexy mid-tempo ballad with a minor key and a even a bit of twangy guitar to give it a slight country nod. While not an immediate standout, this song has really grown on me. "I Look to You," the album's first single, is a understated piano-based ballad about the power of faith. It's a simple, but lovely little song written by R. Kelly. "Like I Never Left" is a collaboration with Akon, a rather sweet song from an unexpected matchup that can be read as either a plea to a former or Houston's fans to give her a chance because she's back.

The torchy remake of "A Song for You" starts out a slow piano ballad and builds to a frothy disco chorus. "A Song for the Drag Queens" is more like it. It's the album's fastest song and quite a bit of fun. I wasn't really into "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" when it was leaked as a preview track over the summer, but really, it's not a bad song, and it's probably the album's most vocally challenging track.

It's in the last third that the album sags a bit. "Worth It" it is a smooth love song, not as good as the ones at the beginning of the album. It's followed by "For the Lovers," another Danja-produced dance pop track that is decent but unremarkable. Akon and R. Kelly also show again with "I Got You" and "Salute" respectively, neither of which are as good as the other tracks they produced.

While some songs are definitely better than others, there's no bad one here, a real improvement over her last, disappointing 2002 album Just Whitney. I'm really quite impressed that Whitney has mounted such a successful comeback with I Look to You. I've always been a big fan and I'm really glad she pulled it together. Grammy recognition is sure to follow.

Best: Million Dollar Bill, Nothin' But Love, I Look to You, I Didn't Know My Own Strength, Call You Tonight, A Song for You