notPsychosiz
I started this gangsta sh-
In context, for those unaware, he is a serial killer and has just come from killing several people. After he finishes talking about Whitney Houston for six or so pages he eventually goes and kills some more people.
When he isn't murdering ppl he likes to listen to music and reflect.
In the movie he mentions her in a scene...
But in the book there is an entire chapter dedicated to him discussing Whitney Houston.
The chapter is called Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston burst onto the music scene in 1985 with her selftitled
LP which had four number one hit singles on it, including "The
Greatest Love of All," "You Give Good Love" and "Saving All My
Love for You," plus it won a Grammy Award for best pop vocal
performance by a female and two American Music Awards, one for
best rhythm and blues single and another for best rhythm and blues
video. She was also cited as best new artist of the year by Billboard
and by Rolling Stone magazine. With all this hype one might expect
the album to be an anticlimactic, lackluster affair, but the surprise is
that Whitney Houston (Arista) is one of the warmest, most complex
and altogether satisfying rhythm and blues records of the decade and
Whitney herself has a voice that defies belief. From the elegant,
beautiful photo of her on the cover of the album (in a gown by
Giovanne De Maura) and its fairly sexy counterpart on the back (in a
bathing suit by Norma Kaman) one knows that this isn't going to be
a blandly professional affair; the record is smooth but intense and
Whitney's voice leaps across so many boundaries and is so versatile
(though she's mainly a jazz singer) that it's hard to take in the album
on a first listening. But you won't want to. You'll want to savor it
over many.
It opens with "You Give Good Love" and "Thinking About You,"
both produced and arranged by Kashif, and they emanate warm, lush
jazz arrangements but with a contemporary synthesized beat and
though they're both really good songs, the album doesn't get kicking
until "Someone for Me" which was produced by Jermaine Jackson,
where Whitney sings longingly against a jazz-disco background and
the difference between her longing and the sprightliness of the song
is very moving. The ballad "Saving All My Love for You" is the
sexiest, most romantic song on the record. It also has a killer
saxophone solo by Tom Scott and one can hear the influences of
sixties girl-group pop in it (it was cowritten by Gerry Goffin) but the
sixties girl groups were never this emotional or sexy (or as well
produced) as this song is. "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" is a
glorious duet with Jermaine Jackson (who also produced it) and just
one example of how sophisticated lyrically this album is. The last
thing it suffers from is a paucity of decent lyrics which is what
usually happens when a singer doesn't write her own material and
has to have her producer choose it. But Whitney and company have
picked well here.
The dance single "How Will I Know" (my vote for best dance song
of the 1980s) is a joyous ode to a girl's nervousness about whether
another guy is interested in her. It's got a great keyboard riff and it's
the only track on the album produced by wunderkind producer
Narada Michael Walden. My own personal favorite ballad (aside
from 'The Greatest Love of All" - her crowning achievement) is "All
at Once" which is about how a young woman realizes all at once her
lover is fading away from her and it's accompanied by a gorgeous
string arrangement. Even though nothing on the album sounds like
filler, the only track that might come close is "Take Good Care of
My Heart," another duet with Jermaine Jackson. The problem is that
it strays from the album's jazz roots and seems too in. fluenced by
1980s dance music.
But Whitney's talent is restored with the overwhelming "The
Greatest Love of All," one of the best, most powerful songs ever
written about self-preservation and dignity. From the first line
(Michael Masser and Linda Creed are credited as the writers) to the
last, it's a state-of-the-art ballad about believing in yourself. It's a
powerful statement and one that Whitney sings with a grandeur that
approaches the sublime. Its universal message crosses all boundaries
and instills one with the hope that it's not too late for us to better
ourselves, to act kinder. Since it's impossible in the world we live in
to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves.
It's an important message, crucial really, and it's beautifully stated
on this album.
Her second effort, Whitney (Arista, 1987), had four number one
singles, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "So Emotional," "Didn't
We Almost Have It All?" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" and
was mostly produced by Narada Michael Walden and though it's not
as serious an effort as Whitney Houston it's hardly a victim of
Sophomore Slump. It starts off with the bouncy; danceable "I Wanna
Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" which is in the same vein
as the last album's irrepressible "How Will I Know." This is
followed by the sensuous "Just the Lonely Talking Again" and it
reflects the serious jazz influence that permeated the first album and
one can also sense a newfound artistic maturity in Whitney's voice -
she did all the vocal arrangements on this album - and this is all very
evident on "Love Will Save the Day" which is the most ambitious
song Whitney's yet performed. It was produced by Jellybean Benitez
and it pulsates with an uptempo intensity and like most of the songs
on this album it reflects a grownup's awareness of the world we all
live in. She sings and we believe it. This is quite a change from the
softer, little-girl-lost image that was so appealing on the first album.
She projects an even more adult image on the Michael Masserproduced
"Didn't We Almost Have It All," a song about meeting up
with a long-lost lover and letting him know your feelings about the
past affair, and it's Whitney at her most poetic. And as on most of
the ballads there's a gorgeous string arrangement. "So Emotional" is
in the same vein as "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with
Somebody" but it's even more rock-influenced and, like all the songs
on Whitney, played by a terrific backup studio band with Narada on
drum machine, Wolter Afanasieff on the synthesizer and synth bass,
Corrado Rustici on synth guitar, and someone listed as Bongo Bob
on percussion programming and drum sampling. "Where You Are" is
the only song on the album produced by Kashif and it bears his
indelible imprint of professionalism - it has a smooth, gleaming
sound and sheen to it with a funky sax solo by Vincent Henry. It
sounded like a hit single to me (but then all the songs on the album
do) and I wondered why it wasn't released as one.
"Love Is a Contact Sport" is the album's real surprise - a bigsounding,
bold, sexy number that, in terms of production, is the
album's centerpiece, and it has great lyrics along with a good beat.
It's one of my favorites. On "You're Still My Man" you can hear how
clearly Whitney's voice is like an instrument - a flawless, warm
machine that almost overpowers the sentiment of her music, but the
lyrics and the melodies are too distinctive, too strong to let any
singer, even one of Whitney's caliber, overshadow them. "For the
Love of You" shows off Narada's brilliant drum programming
capabilities and its jazzy modern feel harks back not only to
purveyors of modern jazz like Michael Jackson and Sade but also to
other artists, like Miles Davis, Paul Butterfield and Bobby McFerrin.
"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" is the album's most powerful
emotional statement of innocence lost and trying to regain the safety
of childhood. Her voice is as lovely and controlled as it ever has
been and it leads up to "I Know Him So Well," the most moving
moment on the record because it's first and foremost a duet with her
mother, Cissy. It's a ballad about… who? - a lover shared? a longlost
father? - with a combination of longing, regret, determination
and beauty that ends the album on a graceful, perfect note. We can
expect new things from Whitney (she made a stunning gift to the
1988 Olympics with the ballad "One Moment in Time") but even if
we didn't, she would remain the most exciting and original black
jazz voice of her generation.
When he isn't murdering ppl he likes to listen to music and reflect.
In the movie he mentions her in a scene...
But in the book there is an entire chapter dedicated to him discussing Whitney Houston.
The chapter is called Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston burst onto the music scene in 1985 with her selftitled
LP which had four number one hit singles on it, including "The
Greatest Love of All," "You Give Good Love" and "Saving All My
Love for You," plus it won a Grammy Award for best pop vocal
performance by a female and two American Music Awards, one for
best rhythm and blues single and another for best rhythm and blues
video. She was also cited as best new artist of the year by Billboard
and by Rolling Stone magazine. With all this hype one might expect
the album to be an anticlimactic, lackluster affair, but the surprise is
that Whitney Houston (Arista) is one of the warmest, most complex
and altogether satisfying rhythm and blues records of the decade and
Whitney herself has a voice that defies belief. From the elegant,
beautiful photo of her on the cover of the album (in a gown by
Giovanne De Maura) and its fairly sexy counterpart on the back (in a
bathing suit by Norma Kaman) one knows that this isn't going to be
a blandly professional affair; the record is smooth but intense and
Whitney's voice leaps across so many boundaries and is so versatile
(though she's mainly a jazz singer) that it's hard to take in the album
on a first listening. But you won't want to. You'll want to savor it
over many.
It opens with "You Give Good Love" and "Thinking About You,"
both produced and arranged by Kashif, and they emanate warm, lush
jazz arrangements but with a contemporary synthesized beat and
though they're both really good songs, the album doesn't get kicking
until "Someone for Me" which was produced by Jermaine Jackson,
where Whitney sings longingly against a jazz-disco background and
the difference between her longing and the sprightliness of the song
is very moving. The ballad "Saving All My Love for You" is the
sexiest, most romantic song on the record. It also has a killer
saxophone solo by Tom Scott and one can hear the influences of
sixties girl-group pop in it (it was cowritten by Gerry Goffin) but the
sixties girl groups were never this emotional or sexy (or as well
produced) as this song is. "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" is a
glorious duet with Jermaine Jackson (who also produced it) and just
one example of how sophisticated lyrically this album is. The last
thing it suffers from is a paucity of decent lyrics which is what
usually happens when a singer doesn't write her own material and
has to have her producer choose it. But Whitney and company have
picked well here.
The dance single "How Will I Know" (my vote for best dance song
of the 1980s) is a joyous ode to a girl's nervousness about whether
another guy is interested in her. It's got a great keyboard riff and it's
the only track on the album produced by wunderkind producer
Narada Michael Walden. My own personal favorite ballad (aside
from 'The Greatest Love of All" - her crowning achievement) is "All
at Once" which is about how a young woman realizes all at once her
lover is fading away from her and it's accompanied by a gorgeous
string arrangement. Even though nothing on the album sounds like
filler, the only track that might come close is "Take Good Care of
My Heart," another duet with Jermaine Jackson. The problem is that
it strays from the album's jazz roots and seems too in. fluenced by
1980s dance music.
But Whitney's talent is restored with the overwhelming "The
Greatest Love of All," one of the best, most powerful songs ever
written about self-preservation and dignity. From the first line
(Michael Masser and Linda Creed are credited as the writers) to the
last, it's a state-of-the-art ballad about believing in yourself. It's a
powerful statement and one that Whitney sings with a grandeur that
approaches the sublime. Its universal message crosses all boundaries
and instills one with the hope that it's not too late for us to better
ourselves, to act kinder. Since it's impossible in the world we live in
to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves.
It's an important message, crucial really, and it's beautifully stated
on this album.
Her second effort, Whitney (Arista, 1987), had four number one
singles, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "So Emotional," "Didn't
We Almost Have It All?" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" and
was mostly produced by Narada Michael Walden and though it's not
as serious an effort as Whitney Houston it's hardly a victim of
Sophomore Slump. It starts off with the bouncy; danceable "I Wanna
Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" which is in the same vein
as the last album's irrepressible "How Will I Know." This is
followed by the sensuous "Just the Lonely Talking Again" and it
reflects the serious jazz influence that permeated the first album and
one can also sense a newfound artistic maturity in Whitney's voice -
she did all the vocal arrangements on this album - and this is all very
evident on "Love Will Save the Day" which is the most ambitious
song Whitney's yet performed. It was produced by Jellybean Benitez
and it pulsates with an uptempo intensity and like most of the songs
on this album it reflects a grownup's awareness of the world we all
live in. She sings and we believe it. This is quite a change from the
softer, little-girl-lost image that was so appealing on the first album.
She projects an even more adult image on the Michael Masserproduced
"Didn't We Almost Have It All," a song about meeting up
with a long-lost lover and letting him know your feelings about the
past affair, and it's Whitney at her most poetic. And as on most of
the ballads there's a gorgeous string arrangement. "So Emotional" is
in the same vein as "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with
Somebody" but it's even more rock-influenced and, like all the songs
on Whitney, played by a terrific backup studio band with Narada on
drum machine, Wolter Afanasieff on the synthesizer and synth bass,
Corrado Rustici on synth guitar, and someone listed as Bongo Bob
on percussion programming and drum sampling. "Where You Are" is
the only song on the album produced by Kashif and it bears his
indelible imprint of professionalism - it has a smooth, gleaming
sound and sheen to it with a funky sax solo by Vincent Henry. It
sounded like a hit single to me (but then all the songs on the album
do) and I wondered why it wasn't released as one.
"Love Is a Contact Sport" is the album's real surprise - a bigsounding,
bold, sexy number that, in terms of production, is the
album's centerpiece, and it has great lyrics along with a good beat.
It's one of my favorites. On "You're Still My Man" you can hear how
clearly Whitney's voice is like an instrument - a flawless, warm
machine that almost overpowers the sentiment of her music, but the
lyrics and the melodies are too distinctive, too strong to let any
singer, even one of Whitney's caliber, overshadow them. "For the
Love of You" shows off Narada's brilliant drum programming
capabilities and its jazzy modern feel harks back not only to
purveyors of modern jazz like Michael Jackson and Sade but also to
other artists, like Miles Davis, Paul Butterfield and Bobby McFerrin.
"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" is the album's most powerful
emotional statement of innocence lost and trying to regain the safety
of childhood. Her voice is as lovely and controlled as it ever has
been and it leads up to "I Know Him So Well," the most moving
moment on the record because it's first and foremost a duet with her
mother, Cissy. It's a ballad about… who? - a lover shared? a longlost
father? - with a combination of longing, regret, determination
and beauty that ends the album on a graceful, perfect note. We can
expect new things from Whitney (she made a stunning gift to the
1988 Olympics with the ballad "One Moment in Time") but even if
we didn't, she would remain the most exciting and original black
jazz voice of her generation.
