#13 - Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard Soundtrack
Release Year: 1992
Genre: R&B
How much do I like my favorite track on the album? 15.2 points
I Have Nothing
Ok. Whitney Houston. I don't really have to say much more. She could sing the phonebook and I'd listen to her. The message is perfection. Her riffs. The vocals are something beyond that. What's a word for better than perfect? "Close" one more door and tell me you don't feel that.
How did/does this album influence my own taste in music overall? 15.2 points
I love Whitney. I also will admit that I like Mariah, Beyonce, Lizzo, Adele, and Lauryn Hill because I liked Whitney first.
Does this album hold up since its release? 12.8 points
The 4 tracks that lead the album - I Will Always Love You, I Have Nothing, I’m Every Woman, and Run To You are still played at almost every wedding you go to.
What percentage of the album do I listen to? 10 points
I listen to the whole damn thing, as a movie soundtrack is intended to be listened to.
What did/do the critics think of this album? 7 points
This one is sort of interesting. They loved it enough to give it the Grammy for Album of the Year, but it still receives some pretty massive, and in my opinion, undeserved criticism.
What is the sentimental value to me of the album? 13.6 points
Part of the sentimentality here is the movie that it was intended to accompany. The movie is great.
What was the artists involvement of the production of the album - songwriting, instrumentals, vocals, uniqueness? 12 points
Whitney wasn’t a big songwriter, but her vocals more than make up for that fact. And - like the other Queen of Pop, just knows how to pick’em.
Overall Rating out of 100 points = 85.8 points
Name another song from a movie that is more famous than I Will Always Love You. I’ll wait. And I’ll be waiting along time. Even the great Dolly Parton hails to the queen on this one. There are so many superlatives attached to Whitney. Best National Anthem at a Super Bowl? Whitney. Best Singer turned Actress (ok, till recently I may actually give this to Gaga now). Best overall voice in my lifetime? Whitney. Let’s also add that this (not Prince’s Purple Rain) is the best selling Movie Soundtrack of all time, and is the only one on my list. Is there any other artist who could have released I Will Always Love You with 40 seconds of acapella to start a radio single and have it be a massive hit? No. I’m Every Woman is another banger cover - most have all but forgotten is an OG of Chaka Khan. On Run to You, I can’t resist humming those “oooo-oooos” in the chorus. And. My, oh my. Her version of Jesus Loves Me. May she Rest in Peaceful Power.
