I Look To You by Whitney Houston

Customer Reviews

If you're looking for the old Whitney when you get this CD, then you'll be disappointed. The range and caliber of her voice has inarguably deteriorated (I'm not going to speculate into all the debatable reasons why, but I'm sure a part of it has to do with age, vocal nodules, etc). As a result, the songs on this album seemed to have been chosen to fit with Whitney's new, much more limited voice. You won't find an I Will Always Love You or All the Man I Need song on this album. That's just not happening. At first listen, I was a little disappointed with many of the songs. But that was because I was comparing 40something Whitney to 20something Whitney, and I was expecting more ballads, even though few people nowadays even sing them. But on second listen, taking the album for what it was, not comparing her to who she was, but simply listening to the music, I realized this is an excellent album. So from this point in the review, I'll be talking about the songs on the album itself, not how Whitney of today compares with Whitney of yesteryear.

Of the two slow, ballad-like songs on the album only I Look To You is worth listening to. Though I love the message in I Didn't Know My Own Strength, it's a pretty mundane ballad and Whitney's voice is nearly monotonous throughout the entire song. No "wow" moments in there. It was great for getting her messge out, but I doubt you'll be putting it on repeat. On the other hand, her vocals in I Look To You are delivered much more soothingly, with much more impassioned vocals. It's also a very well-written song, R Kelly did a wonderful job on both lyrics and composition.

Most of the other songs pretty much fit with the trend of today's music: dance/club songs. Million Dllar Bill straddles the line between good and great. It may take some getting used to due to the 70s disco beat at the beginning, but when you get into the song it'll definitely have you "going left, right, up, down, got you spinning 'round and 'round."

"Nothing But love" has a great beat to it, and her vocals are excellent. You'll definitely be bumping this in the car. It's motivational, and the lyrics attack all the haters that we know have attacked Whitney. Definiely one of the best songs. Also at the top of the list: A Song For You. If only for the note she holds at the end. The song is one of the few that showcase her vocals. Maybe Whit decided to go all out because she's been singing it for so long. Who knows? But she's hitting some clear, high notes and holding some long vibrato notes. It's also got a great, fast, disco-type beat about a minute into it. And seriously, you gotta hear that note she holds at the end. It's like 20 seconds long. That's Whit for you.

My favorite song on the album is Call You Tonight. It's mid-tempo, she seems to do her best work on mid-tempo songs. It has a smooth beat that'll have you swaying back and forth, trying to sing along with Whitney, but failing of course. It's also cross-generational. Not with the message of the lyrics, but with the flow of it. I'm 25 and played this for my married 51-year-old mother who listens to gospel music all the time and she loved it.

My mother did not, however, like some of the lyrics in Salute, which I really enjoyed. In particular, she had a problem with the line "you think your s*** don't stink, but it do." I'm not sure if it was the incorrect grammar, or the fact that Whitney said it but my mother replied upon hearing it, quote, "that doesn't sound right." I love it though. I think some of the lyrics are lazy(R.Kelly wrote it) but "Queen of the Night" Whitney sings it and you can tell she's feeling it. It sounds like a response to both her ex and the media.

There are other gems on this album, including Like I Never Left. But I heard that when it leaked last year, so it's pretty old to me now. But if you haven't heard it, it'll definitely be one of your favs. I could do without Akon singing on it though.

Worth It and For the Lovers are good, not great. For the Lovers sounds like a club dance song and will have you swinging yor hands, so maybe you shouldn't drive and listen to this one, might have an accident. Worth It is about, well...as Whitney sings "somebody's gonna make love to this song tonight." Great vocals in here too, and you can hear her easily shift from chest voice to head voice, a trait which she's known for.

I don't know how I feel about I Got You. It's got a smooth Jamaican-type vibe to it. It's not bad, but she's not really singing in it...just kinda talking and doing a hollow, calling out type thing. You may sway to it, but I'm glad it's at the end of the CD. I just wish it wasn't before Salute.

Overall, Whitney and Clive did a great job picking songs for this album. Only a few songs are lacking (as can be expected with any album), but all the great ones make up for it. The songs also mesh well with Whitney's voice, and brings her into the music industry of today without sacrificing her class.

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The Blueprint 3 [Explicit]

Customer Reviews

The long awaited Blueprint 3 is finally here and it is everything but dissappointing. The album features some of the best artists in the music industry, including Jay-Z, and features some of the most promising upcoming artists, such as Drake, Kid Cudi, and J-Cole. Prior to the album's release, Jay-Z has released 3 promo singles, 1 street single, and 1 official. Jay-Z kills the auto-tune fad with his street single D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune) and tops the Billboard Hot 100 with his official single Run This Town also featuring Rihanna and Kanye West, which has peaked at #3 and is currently at #4. Overall, The Blueprint 3 is an album that won't be going stale for a long time. Favorite Tracks: Run This Town, Empire State of Mind, Real as It Gets, and Off That.

I think this collection will open up Jay-Z to additional audiences. I've seen the other reviews here saying it's not really Hip Hop. Well, Hip Hop should be about progression of expression. Why should he continue to rap about the streets? There's more to life than running the streets, hustling in the streets, etc... His life has evolved and naturally his lyrics should reflect that. The true sell outs are 1) those making all this money for the record companies and still being involved in illicit activities 2)those making all this money and perpetuating a stereotype they do not even live (if they ever have). You can apply a "street" mentality no matter where your life takes you. If "street" equals keeping it real, hustling for a cause and keeping it harcore, then Jay-Z is all of that and more. His tastes have become more refined and discretionary. Last time I checked Street Life is not the American Dream.

from start to finish, the blueprint trae piece delivers, its far from what i tought it was gonna be from the timbaland produced tracks to the kanye tracks, jay kills it with clever lyrics, different approaches. this album has it all from the old school sampled tracks that u fell in love with on the original blueprint, to more futuristic beats, i.e off that, hate, and venus vs. mars, u can go through this album without skipping a track, those are grounds for a classic album..... ROC NATION

I naively was expecting an album that hit home as quickly and with the impact of the original Blueprint. That album defined that year of music for me, an album I could listen to from beginning to end over and over again with it getting better each time. This album, although fun to listen to, lacks that "it" factor that former Jay-Z albums had. It lacks the emotional punch seen in nearly every track on the Blueprint, and more recent songs like Lost Ones. The inherent problem with this album is Jay's life is just too good. Yeah he had millions when the Blueprint came out, but he wasn't the leader of the pack, he had things to prove, his past was still in recent memory, and he didn't have B by his side. Now, as the undisputed King of Hip-hop with his hustling past a distant memory, B by his side, and hanging with Deniro and other royalty, he is just out of touch with anything resembling struggle. The greatest hip-hop albums of all time all used emotions as a vehicle for greatness, this album lacks emotionality, and merely highlights his status as an amazing rapper, with an amazing life, reppin an amazing city. It's not Jay's fault; without an ounce of struggle, what's there to rap about?

Death to all the B.S. out here. Beat, lyrics, substance what more can you ask for. Those who are not feeling this are detached from what hip-hop is. This is a instant classic, Jay spread is wings wide with this one. Every song has substance and he kills it lyrically. He brought the A.I take out the crates with "practice, we talkin bout practice", what we talkin bout.

Visits to The Blueprint 3 [Explicit]

Apple iPod nano 8 GB Black (4th Generation) LATEST MODEL

With eight amazing colors, a new curved design, and great new features, iPod nano rocks like never before. The Genius Playlist feature finds the songs in your music library that go great together and makes a playlist for you. With its built-in accelerometer, iPod nano is made to move. Give it a shake, and it shuffles to a different song in your library. Turn it on its side to flip through your album art in Cover Flow. And tilt, move, and play accelerometer-inspired games (games available separately). Watching movies, TV shows, and video is even more fun on the sharp 2-inch screen. And your photos (up to 7,000 of them) look great in portrait or landscape view. Available in 8 GB and 16 GB models, the 8 GB iPod nano puts up to 2,000 songs or 8 hours of video in your pocket.

I bought this product for my mom, who is not tech savvy at all. She wanted something that would play music, audiobooks, videos, picture slides, and the radio. I was going to buy her an iRiver clix2 for the radio functionality, but decided against it because of its non-intuitive syncing and use format (I have one).

I was worried that she'd get confused and frustrated with the product and never use it. It turns out that the podcasts more than make up for no radio functionality. Although syncing anything to the iPod was confusing for mom when she tried it by herself, it took me a few minutes to figure iTunes out (never used it before) and a total of about an hour to teach her how to use iTunes to sync everything she wanted to the iPod. The accelerometer is kind of cool, but not really necessary (I suppose unless you play games, which my mom doesn't) and is a bit of a gimmick. The screen is pretty large and colors are very crisp and clear.

The aluminum, yellow-colored shell is a really pretty, bright and sunny color, but not so bright that it hurts the eyes to look at and the 16GB capacity gives a lot of room for error in syncing what you want versus what you don't want (great for my mom, who still seems to be downloading and syncing random podcasts to see what programs she likes).

The quality and capabilities of this product makes me wish I had joined the iPod crowd instead of the iRiver crowd, but guess it's too late now.

KC and the sunshine band

The Best of KC & the Sunshine Band

Put the CD on, and you'll find your toe tapping in seconds. After listening to this CD for about two weeks, I have to say that Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch are geniuses. If you want songs about politics, religion, or so on, this isn't your music. If you want fun music, and well-written, well-arranged, and unbelievably catchy music, this is for you. Every one of these tracks is a real prize. I was just a little kid when this came out, and today find this music amazingly sophisticated. Lots of poliphony, a very astute understanding of the power of rhythm. But since we're led to believe by the musical snobs that music has to be about something "important" to be important, most people probably brushed off KC and the Sunshine Band long, long ago. Take a second listen today. As you find yourself shaking your bootie or putting on your boogie shoes, you'll be ready to give it up! This music is something. And you'll probably find your eyes watering up when you listen to "Please Don't Go." In all, this album shows that people knew what they were doing when they were buying these songs on 45s 25 years ago.