Whitney The Greatest Hits
2000 Arista

*****

ALBUM REVIEWS
What the Critics Say

USA Today (5/9/00) - **** (Four Stars out of Four) "Top Rating!"

Newsweek (5/29/00) - 4/5 "After all the tabloid stories, here's what counts: that voice. No one of her generation sings with more character and conviction."

New York Daly News (5/16/00) - "She exudes an erotic dynamism that no one else has the power to match. This isn't just an ecstatic piece of party music - it utterly redefines Houston as an artist."

Vibe (8/00) - "...Timeless tunes and remixed classics ....pure pop-soul magic....Houston remains an invincible artist."

Ebony (7/00) - "... reminds listeners of the enormous talent this artist demonstrated on You Give Good Love 15 years ago, how she has grown, and the fact she has a long career road ahead."

Cox News (5/25/00) - "... an incredibly gifted vocalist ... shimmering anthems... masterfully manipulated big pop confections... really soulful R&B tunes and new radio-ready duets."

Toronto Sun (5/23/00) - ... "Just try singing along to that."

E! Online (5/23/00) - "Our grade: A - Our Review: With all the bad press Houston's been getting lately, this 36-track, two-CD retrospective focusing on the glory days of her 15-year solo career couldn't have come at a better time. Flashback to why she's the queen of R&B divas with glass-shattering ballads and hip-hop-flavored hits like "Saving All My Love for You," "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)." Or jump to her forays in clubland, including last summer's drag-queen standard "It's Not Right but It's Okay" and enough previously unreleased remixes to make your groove thang sting. Hard-core fans will cling to newly recorded duets with Deborah Cox, George Michael and Enrique Iglesias; the Grammy winner's hard-to-find '91 Super Bowl "Star-Spangled Banner"; the '88 Olympic theme; and the summer-ready single "Fine" (spiced up by producers Q-Tip, DJ Quik and Raphael Saadiq). Houston, you may be in trouble now, be we have no problems with this smartly arranged compilation.

E-Magazines (6/24/00) - "With all of the speculation on Whitney Houston's personal life, we sometimes forget professional triumph. She is, after all, a singer who combines the creamy tone and pitch-perfect dramatic instincts of a born pop princess with a supple, silvery soulfulness. The two-disc collection of timeless tunes and remixed classics, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, attests to her ability to turn drippy adult contemporary pabulum like " Didn't We Almost Have It All" into showcases for her virtuosity. Given the right vehicle - such as a shimmering ballad like " Saving All My Love For You"- Houston can perform pure pop-soul magic. Whatever her personal foibles, Houston remains an invincible artist. Let's just hope some of that good love she keeps giving us is getting back to her ~ Elysa Gardner.

New Nation (5/00) - "During Every decade in R&B, there's one female artist whose vocal style, mixed with the right material, stands tall. In the 60s there was Aretha, the 70s Diana and then Whitney in the 80s. Seven albums, a staggering 140 million sales and an enormous list of awards later, Whitney brings out her greatest hits.

The 36-track double CD compilation takes you through a musical journey from her days of doggy pop wigs in tracks like I Wanna Dance With Somebody, to her vocal blossoming in I Will Always Love You. New Material like Fine produced by Q-Tip and Raphael Saadiq – take Whitney to even greater heights, changing Whitney's vocals to a much lower tone, with an added hip-hop bassline.

An ideal gift for die-hards and, for those that think she's a bland ballad singer, this album proves why she's still perched on the diva throne.
4/5- Alive and kickin' ass.

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DVD Review
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Instead of rushing a mediocre concert album to DVD, Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits gathers all of her videos -- from "You Give Good Love" to "I Learned From the Best" -- plus a CD single of "I Learned From the Best" and several hard-to-find live performances, including her 1985 debut on The Merv Griffin Show, as well as other special features. Her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from Super Bowl XXV, MTV performances of "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" and "It's Not Right but It's Okay" and "Impossible" from Disney's TV production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella are some of the other highlights of this in-depth collection. Interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and an interactive Whitney that guides you through the disc make Greatest Hits one of the standard-bearers for music DVDs, and a must for Houston's fans. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

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