Whitney & Her Critics

She was never a critic favorite.  While they respected her instrument, they didn't like her songs. The arguments were that a s a Black woman she should have sung more R&B less Pop.  Clive Davis has hamstrung her with sappy ballads and limp dance numbers.  And she's another singer with a Golden voice singing crappy songs.   It wasn't until the early '00's , just as her career & personal life was starting to hit bumps, that I noticed she was getting better reviews for her music.

I'm looking at the 4th edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide (the last one they put out) and the Houston discography is reviewed by J.D. Considine pretty harshly.  Except, for her last 2 albums up until the early 00's  (this guide was published in 2004, Houston's last album was in 2009).  Harsh, because I believe that Houston's first 2 albums stand up, her 3rd doesn't, the My Love Is Your Love from '98 is very good indeed,  and I like her Bodyguard songs better than the stuff on her '00 albums.

She could also do with a better Greatest Hits album than the one released in 2000, which was padded out with too many new songs and remixes, and misses some hits and album cuts.

Oh, and we know that the Rock Hall has previously considered her, and frankly I'm not even going to guess how long it will be before she gets another look by the NomCom.  They aren't big on 80's female R&B singers (ask Janet Jackson).   But Whitney was more influential than Janet, even if Janet made better albums.  So, it's anybody's guess if she'll ever get in.