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ALBUM REVIEWS
Q Magazine (2/93, p.77) - 3 Stars - Good - "...the six songs with which
Whitney Houston kicks off this compilation leave the competition gasping
at her immaculate vocal dexterity and ability to personalise songs..."
Entertainment Weekly (12/4/92, p.64) - "...artistically satisfying
and uncharacteristically hip..." - Rating: B
All Music Guide (1/96)
- Few observers expected that Whitney Houston's first big-screen role in 1992's
The Bodyguard would generate a phenomenon. Not that the film itself was a
phenomenon -- it was a healthy success, due not only to Houston but to her
co-star Kevin Costner's drawing power -- but
the soundtrack's success was astonishing. The Bodyguard followed Houston's cover
of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" to the top
of the charts and once they got there, neither the single nor
the album budged for weeks. "I Will Always
Love You" spent a record-shattering 15 weeks in the top slot,
while The Bodyguard spent 20 weeks
at number one, eventually selling over 15 million copies and winning
the Grammy award for Album of the Year.
Like many phenomena of that magnitude, it's hard to see, in retrospect,
what triggered such a massive public response. True, The Bodyguard isn't a
typical soundtrack in that its first half plays like Houston's sequel to
I'm Your Baby Tonight, but its second half is filled
with the flotsam and jetsam typical to a big-budget soundtrack -- an
excerpt from Alan Silverstri's score, some flavorless but pleasant Kenny G
instrumentals, dated pop and dance numbers,
and a cover (Curtis Stigers' take on "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,"
which is notable in some circles as the recording that made the song's author, Nick Lowe,
a millionaire).
Then again, nobody really paid attention to anything outside of the first
six songs, all of which rank among Houston's best efforts, demonstrating progress from
the somewhat stilted I'm Your Baby Tonight. It's not startling enough to justify the
phenomenon, but "I Have Nothing," "Queen of the Night," "Run to You" and especially
her cover of "I'm Every Woman" are all first-rate urban-pop songs that skillfully capture
Houston at her best. In a sense, the album is no different than any other album Houston
recorded. It may seem odd that a soundtrack is Houston's biggest-selling album to date,
but consider this -- even her best records had five or six great songs surrounded by
well-constructed filler; the same is true here, only the filler is recorded by
other artists. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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BODYGUARD soundtrack Release Date: Nov 10, 1992
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