Whitney Houston

by **feralamb** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:44 pm

Often referred to as "The Voice" and almost peerless as a Vocalist and singer save Carey, Ms Houston is one legend who cannot be ignored.As time will tell,real raw talent like Houston will be remembered forever in music.
THE pioneer of BIG vocals which were given a further push by Ms Carey.
The Two of them are the only ones who could rival Franklin's voice.

An artist of THIS size needed a new thread

by **TheRealest** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 8:46 pm

I love her! Sure she has had some ups and downs but she will always be know for the beautiful voice she had.

Does anyone know if she's working on a new album?

by **NothingFails** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:16 pm

She was great, but it's a sad her lifestyle took such a toll on her voice. She had no peers as a vocalist in her day.

by **Wayne** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:21 pm

She was once the voice, now she isn't. Overshadowed in the nineties by Dion and Carey, who had better material, she never did get back what she had in the eighties, not even close,

Nowadays, her voice is shot. Still, her eighties , early nineties is what she will be remembered for, and for good reason, she had an amazing voice

by **NothingFails** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:29 pm

04wayne wrote:She was once the voice, now she isn't. Overshadowed in the nineties by Dion and Carey, who had better material, she never did get back what she had in the eighties, not even close,

Nowadays, her voice is shot. Still, her eighties , early nineties is what she will be remembered for, and for good reason, she had an amazing voice

I don't think Whitney ever quite "fell" until the early 2000's. She was just as big in the 90's with The Bodyguard as she was in the 80's, and then in the late 90's was pretty huge with the dance remixes. I think 2000-2001 was when she really started to fade out (she had three US top 5's in 1999 yet hasn't had a US top 40 since 2000's "I Learned From The Best") and then that Diane Sawyer interview in 2002 practically did her in.

by **Loverboy** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:57 pm

She's amazing. Now both Celine and Mariah are much better singers than her, but in her glorious days, Whitney had no rivals. Her voice was one of the most beautiful instruments I've ever seen in a human being. Her redemption of "Star Spangled Banner" is actually my favorite and not even my beloved Mariah with her high-pitched notes could do as strong as Houston did.

Her future could be so much brighter if she had a more consistent musical career. Whitney could have sold a lot more records than she did.

by **jio** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:09 pm

NothingFails wrote:
04wayne wrote:She was once the voice, now she isn't. Overshadowed in the nineties by Dion and Carey, who had better material, she never did get back what she had in the eighties, not even close,

Nowadays, her voice is shot. Still, her eighties , early nineties is what she will be remembered for, and for good reason, she had an amazing voice
I don't think Whitney ever quite "fell" until the early 2000's. She was just as big in the 90's with The Bodyguard as she was in the 80's, and then in the late 90's was pretty huge with the dance remixes. I think 2000-2001 was when she really started to fade out (she had three US top 5's in 1999 yet hasn't had a US top 40 since 2000's "I Learned From The Best") and then that Diane Sawyer interview in 2002 practically did her in.

Well I think Whitney's voice was the most spectacular voice we heard the past half-century or so, probably it didn't reach as many octaves as Carey's but it was oh so powerful. Was she overshadowed in the 90s by Carey and Dion? I don't think so. Sure both of those ladies were far more successful than Whitney in the '90s but Whitney had the biggest hit of the decade (on a worldwide scale talking), a pretty respectable career as an actress and everytime she was coming up with an album or a soundtrack it was an event (bar Preacher's Wife). I think in the '90s she had successfully reinvented herself as a sort of immaculate star a-la Barbra Streisand. Unfortunately the drugs did her in and she lost the '00s completely but perhaps that saved her from releasing sub-standard material which all the '80s/'90s divas did in the '00s to some extent. The fact that after 10 years in the wilderness she wasn't forgotten and her comeback album sold more than any 2009 pre-2000 diva releases besides Madonna's just proves what a star she is and that she has trully reserved a place among all-times greatest performers no matter what her voice sounds like now

by **NothingFails** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:26 pm

I agree with both Jio and Loverboy on this. Whitney was one of the biggest and brightest stars of her day and she was such a natural. She was a major player on MTV back when Michael and Prince were pretty much the only black stars on the network (Janet's Control was still a little while off), and while Prince and Michael made more rock-oriented crossover music in the day, she was getting it with soulful AC ballads... that showed just how wide a range she reached. She was massive in the 80's and early 90's and I think a lot of younger people can't grasp the level she reached back then. You couldn't go anywhere for nearly six months in 92-93 without hearing "I Will Always Love You", that song was all over pop culture at that moment.

Although her voice is lost (and I think her voice is one of the biggest cases one could use against drug addiction), I thought "I Look To You" had some really good tracks on it and gives me hope for some more decent music in the future, although her days of belting out great power ballads are finished.

by **Wayne** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:00 am

What did madonna release that sold more than I Look To You, in 2009?

Also, before you write off everything I wrote, read my entire post; I said 80s and early 90s. Whitney was indeed a massive force during the 90s, shifting well over 60m albums, however I say overshadowed because i feel the other divas had a more successful decade, even not factoring record sales

I'm also not doubting her place in history - she is a pioneer, and set the way for the likes of Mariah and Celine, who have in turn set the way for females that have followed. Whitney is a massive legend

by **jio** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:03 am

04wayne wrote:What did madonna release that sold more than I Look To You, in 2009?

I believe Celebration sold more than "I Look To You" internationally... if I am wrong I am sorry though. And I didn't write off everything you wrote. I just expressed a different opinion.

by **Wayne** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:12 am

Well that wasn't directed at you, it was directed at the lovely John

who i hope won't take it the wrong way, as thats never how I meant it.

And i believe Celebration shipped about as much as I Look To You, about 2.5m

by **jio** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:20 am

who is John? lol

by **Wayne** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:23 am

Oh sorry lol. NothingFails

by **NothingFails** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:33 am

well I apologize for failing to see the "Early 90's" part on your post. You are right that in the late 90's she was largely eclipsed by Mariah and Celine, and I think part of the reason her remixes went over so well was because it was something new and different from her. The "It's Not Right But It's Okay" remix was legendary IMO and her popularity with the gay community exploded as a result, she even played a few pride shows that summer.

by **feralamb** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:52 am

there was a point of time..around when IWALY was released and the movie and the album became HUGE,when Whitney Houston was the biggest star on earth.
In their prime,when WH and Madonna had started out,I remember reading madonna making a comment like ,"I was taking my vocal lessons and i remember whitney had an album coming out..."(:lol: :lol:

well I'm sure she didn't mean she could match Houston's vocals anyway)

That was the time when Madonna and everyone else was actually intimidated by her.

Unlike Carey,who had a dense,heavy tone which then thinned down in the late 90s,Houston had a steely,heavy tone throughout till the drug abuse which made her sound 'more powerful' than her peer.She had the loudness but she also had the 'power'(technical) to pull off amazing belts while others only did have the loudness(most notably celine).
Eventhough she might have not been able to do intricate acrobatics like Carey,her invincible sound made her equally awesome.
Whitney and Carey are the only vocalists who could do most songs off each other's catalogue.

by **pat200** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:08 pm

Chimier, is that you?

by **jio** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:17 pm

feralamb wrote:there was a point of time..around when IWALY was released and the movie and the album became HUGE,when Whitney Houston was the biggest star on earth.
In their prime,when WH and Madonna had started out,I remember reading madonna making a comment like ,"I was taking my vocal lessons and i remember whitney had an album coming out..."(:lol: well I'm sure she didn't mean she could match Houston's vocals anyway)

That was the time when Madonna and everyone else was actually intimidated by her.

Unlike Carey,who had a dense,heavy tone which then thinned down in the late 90s,Houston had a steely,heavy tone throughout till the drug abuse which made her sound 'more powerful' than her peer.She had the loudness but she also had the 'power'(technical) to pull off amazing belts while others only did have the loudness(most notably celine).
Eventhough she might have not been able to do intricate acrobatics like Carey,her invincible sound made her equally awesome.
Whitney and Carey are the only vocalists who could do most songs off each other's catalogue.

No the comment was that she dreamed going to her vocal couch and him humming the Whitney song. That dream was kind of prophetic since she also dreamed that Whitney's song went to #1 while hers didn't and since it was late 1995 that exactly what happened. Whitney's "Exhale" did go to #1 whereas Madonna's "You'll See" didn't

by **feralamb** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:44 pm

pat200 wrote:Chimier, is that you?

lol,no.But I do know whom you speak of and although he is VERY hot headed,I've not seen a more knowledgeable person(about vocalising/singing etc).

by **Wayne** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:00 pm

pat200 wrote:Chimier, is that you?

by **PosziMC2** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:02 pm

I love Whitney!
She's amazing. OK not now with her tour but she still diva :oops:

by **feralamb** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:52 pm

04wayne wrote:
pat200 wrote:Chimier, is that you?

I think he takes hating celine dion/Aguilera a tad too seriously...The way he describes their voices..it's like he's talking about kesha or something :lol:

ok,I won't talk anymore about him.

by **stevyy** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:47 pm

I became a Whitney fan in 1992, when I first heard I will always love you on the radio. I spent hours listening to radio trying to record the song on MC! IWALY was later replaced by Without You as my alltime favourite song. I think a big part of my musical developement is connected to Whitney Houston! Now I own all her albums and 1 single, one which I think was career defining: My Love is your Love! No one can imagine how much I loved When you Believe when practically the two most important female artists (at that time) of my life cooperated on one song.

Even during the 90's (when I already was in my Mariah phase) Whitney stayed a major force in my musical life, because I loved so many songs she released in that period, like the whole preacher's wife soundtrack, which I think is one of the most underrated works of an artist ever!

If I remember correctly, Whitney won a total of 7 Grammys in her career. I can't understand why Whitney, Mariah, basically also Madonna and Celine have all won so few of these, when they were the best of the best in many categories over the majority of their careers.

I love Whitney, I'm sad that her voice is in such a bad shape, but this won't stop me from admiring her forever.

by **TheRealest** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:15 pm

It's a total joke when talent like Whitney, Celine and Mariah don't have that many Grammy's but Beyonce' has 16. WTF?

I hope her voice can recover some more. She basically has NO range left.

by **MCC4Life** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:59 pm

A TRUE LEGEND!

Her voice and Mariah's are the two greatest voices to ever grace the microphone. The former for its astonishing power the latter for its amazing range.

My top 5 Whitney songs are:

1. The Greatest Love Of All
2. Saving All My Love For You
3. All The Man That I Need
4. I Have Nothing
5. So Emotional

One of the most beautiful aspects of her performances is the fact that she delivers with real soul her songs, which is quite helpful currently considering her voice is not in the best shape.

My favorite Whitney album is "Whitney" and favorite video "The Greatest Love Of All", where she looks radiant.

by **jio** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 2:06 pm

stevyy wrote:If I remember correctly, Whitney won a total of 7 Grammys in her career. I can't understand why Whitney, Mariah, basically also Madonna and Celine have all won so few of these, when they were the best of the best in many categories over the majority of their careers.

That's because back then the grammys were rewarding artistic value rather than popularity... and although all of those stars had artistic value of course, they could always find some less popular act which was really setting trends and award it. Which is what the grammys should be all about really.

Nowadays the grammys are just a joke, they just award the most popular acts.