Clive Davis has been with Whitney Houston since the beginning: He discovered her, he promoted her, he stepped in when various albums were failing and he spent years planning the ultimate comeback. I Look to You has all the pieces in place just like a puzzle: This is the album’s main problem.
Whitney Houston Voice
The voice – which many consider the greatest in the history of the recording industry – is simply gone. Many have speculated, especially after seeing Whitney Houston’s recent live performances, that there is a lot of studio manipulation on this album, especially the use of auto-tune.
On songs such as “I Look to You” and “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength,” Houston sings the lyrics, but the feeling isn’t there. In order to believe that Houston actually “made it through,” which she claims on the later song, we have to hear the emotions come out. On “Like I Never Left,” a duet with Akon, she sounds distant and soulless. Akon is the true star of the song.
Whitney Houston Singles
Whitney Houston is just as much of a singles artist as she is an album artist. She had a record breaking string of number one hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Every album, save for her 2002 bomb Just Whitney, contains several songs that fit radio playlists like a glove. I Look to You has only one potential hit single, the uplifting and danceable “A Song for You.”
“I Look to You” and “Million Dollar Bill,” the first two singles, have bombed on the charts. Part of the reason is that pop music programmers rarely spin new songs from artists over forty years old. However, none of the songs scream “Give me a chance!” either. The songs on I Look to You are too formulaic and neither appeal to the younger generation or adult contemporary audience.
The album was pieced together with several different collaborators such as Alisha Keys, Akon, R. Kelly, Danja, etc. The album is all over the place: We have classic R&B with “Million Dollar Bill,” contemporary R&B with “Salute,” and “For the Lovers,” cheesy ballads with “I Look to You” and “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength,” and classic dance with “A Song for You.”
Lack of Focus
The universal theme of the album is supposed to be that with strength and love, one can come back strong. However, the theme fails to pull through due to the album being all over the place. It’s as if Clive Davis couldn’t decide if he wanted Whitney to be the new Beyonce or the Whitney that everybody fell in love with in the 1980s.
Conclusion: I Look to You by Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston’s I Look to You should be a lesson of what not to do for those who want to market future comebacks. Clive Davis gathered all the producers he could, contacted all the writers he knew for hype, and put in hours of effort to make Whitney Houston’s comeback possible. Unfortunately, you need the artist there as well and it’s pretty obvious that either Whitney Houston wasn’t into it or she wasn’t allowed any creative control.
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