Whitney Houston -- My Love Is Your Love

If you're trying to remember what it is that made Whitney Houston great, then the My Love Is Your Love album should restore your memory. The quintessential Rhythm and Blues CD, this effort covers love, loss, and revenge. Houston alternates between girl power and angst, and blows the roof off with soaring vocals, anguished refrains, and cold hard smackdowns.

"Heartbreak Hotel" is what got me to buy this album in the first place. The intertwining vocals of Houston, Faith Evans, and Kelly Price are intoxicating and the emotion behind the lyrics is potent. Houston also gets some hip hop flavor from Missy Elliot on "In My Business." While the "When You Believe" movie soundtrack duet with Mariah Carey is a bet syrupy, there's no denying the power of their two voices together and it makes for abeautiful song.

The whole album is worth listening to. It's a bit weaker after track 7 with a few of the more overwrought ballads, but it heats up again with the bold "I Bow Out. It captures the strength and clarity of Houston's voice while still being a great rhythmic piece. The added track "I Was Made To Love Him" goes back to the hip hop feeling and is just a great, lively jam of a single.

Houston is most known for her early pop tunes and incredible skill at ballads, but My Love Is Your Love really added a richer, R&B note to her career. It's a great CD and the songs will be stuck in your head for days, insisting you listen to the album again and again.