Whitney (album)

(Redirected from So Emotional)

Whitney is the second studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released on June 2, 1987 by Arista Records as the follow-up to her self-titled debut album, Whitney Houston.[1]

Whitney
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 2, 1987
Recorded1986-1987
Genre
Length52:48
LabelArista
Producer
Whitney Houston chronology
Whitney Dancin' Special
(1986)
Whitney
(1987)
I'm Your Baby Tonight
(1990)
Singles from Whitney
  1. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
    Released: May 2, 1987
  2. "Didn't We Almost Have It All"
    Released: August 13, 1987
  3. "So Emotional"
    Released: October 12, 1987
  4. "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"
    Released: February 25, 1988
  5. "Love Will Save the Day"
    Released: July 5, 1988
  6. "I Know Him So Well"
    Released: November 30, 1988 (Germany)

The album features five top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, which also became international hits. The album's first four singles—"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"—all hit number one on the US Hot 100, making her the first female singer to get four number one hits from one album. Along with three straight to number one singles from Houston's previous album, this gave the singer a seven consecutive number one hits, surpassing popular boy bands the Beatles and the Bee Gees, who each had six number one consecutive hits.[2][3][4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Associated Press(mixed)
AllMusic     [5]
Robert ChristgauC+[6]
Los Angeles Times(mixed)[7]
The New York Times(negative)[8]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[9]
The San Diego Union-Tribune(favorable)[10]
St. Petersburg Times(favorable)
Q     [11]

When the album was released, the critical reviews of Whitney were mixed. Some liked the material released from the album and compared it to her 1985 self-titled debut album, whereas some felt that Houston was not able to show her individuality as a singer.[8][9][7]

Track listing

No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"  Narada Michael Walden 4:51
2. "Just the Lonely Talking Again"  Narada Michael Walden 5:32
3. "Love Will Save the Day"  Jellybean 5:21
4. "Didn't We Almost Have It All"  Michael Masser 5:05
5. "So Emotional"  Narada Michael Walden 4:36
6. "Where You Are"  Kashif 4:10
7. "Love Is a Contact Sport"  Narada Michael Walden 4:19
8. "You're Still My Man"  Michael Masser 4:16
9. "For the Love of You"  Narada Michael Walden 5:31
10. "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"  Narada Michael Walden 4:37
11. "I Know Him So Well" (duet with Cissy Houston)Narada Michael Walden 4:30

Personnel

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"1

"Just the Lonely Talking Again"1

  • Narada Michael Walden – "Brushes on the Kit of Life"
  • Frank Martin – DX7 Vibes, synthesizers
  • Corrado Rustici – guitar synth
  • Kenny Gtenor sax
  • Jim Gilstrap - background vocals
  • Kitty Beethoven - background vocals
  • Niki Haris - background vocals
  • Jennifer Hall - background vocals
  • Michael Gibbs - string arrangements, conducting

"Love Will Save the Day"2

"Didn't We Almost Have It All"3

"So Emotional"1

  • Narada Michael Walden – drums
  • Walter Afanasieff – keyboards, synth bass
  • Corrado Rustici – guitar synth
  • Bongo Bob – percussion programming, drum sampling
  • Whitney Houston - background vocals

"Where You Are"4

"Love Is a Contact Sport"1

"You're Still My Man"3

"For the Love of You"1

  • Narada Michael Walden – drum programming
  • Randy Jackson – Moog synthesizer
  • Paul Rekow – congas
  • Preston Glass – Linn, Roland 808
  • Frank Martin – DX7, Oberheim Matrix-12, birds
  • Kenny G – alto sax lyricon
  • Raul Rekou – congas
  • Whitney Houston - background vocals

"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"1

  • Narada Michael Walden – drum programming
  • Frank Martin – piano, synths
  • Preston Glass – synth programming, bells
  • Randy Jackson – bass synth
  • Corrado Rustici – guitar synth
  • Gigi Gonaway – Simmons
  • Michael Gibbs – string arrangements, conductor
  • Jim Gilstrap - background vocals
  • Kitty Beethoven - background vocals
  • Niki Haris - background vocals
  • Jennifer Hall - background vocals

"I Know Him So Well"1

  • Narada Michael Walden – acoustic drums
  • Walter Afanasieff – Kurzweil, DX7, Super Jupiter
  • Preston Glass – DX7
  • Cory Lerios – synth
  • Randy Jackson – electric bass
  • Corrado Rustici – guitar synth
  • Michael Gibbs - string arrangements, conducting

1 Narada Michael Walden - producer, arranger

  • David Frazer - recording, mixing
  • Dana Jon Chappelle - assistant engineer
  • Lincoln Clapp - engineer
  • Gordon Lyon - engineer
  • Jay Rifkin - engineer
  • Ken Kessie - engineer
  • Maureen Droney - engineer
  • Additional assistant engineers – Gordon Lyon - assistant engineer
  • Stuart Hirotsu - assistant engineer
  • Paul "Goatee" Hamingson - assistant engineer
  • Noah Baron - assistant engineer
  • Bill "Sweet William" Miranda - assistant engineer
  • Ross Williams - assistant engineer
  • Rob Beaton - assistant engineer

2 Jellybean Benitez - producer

  • Jack Waldman - arranger
  • Toni C. - arranger
  • Michael Hutchinson - engineer
  • Doc Dougherty - engineer
  • Dennis McKay - engineer
  • Nick Delre - assistant engineer
  • Toni Greene - assistant engineer
  • Jay Healy - assistant engineer
  • Fernando Kral - assistant engineer
  • Tony Maserati - assistant engineer
  • Paul Pesce - assistant engineer
  • Don Peterkofsky - assistant engineer
  • Tim Reppert - assistant engineer
  • Mark Roule - assistant engineer
  • Craig Vogel - assistant engineer
  • Michael Hutchinson – mix engineer

3 Michael Masser - producer

  • Engineers – Michael DeLugg - engineer
  • Dean Burt - engineer
  • Jim Boyer - engineer
  • Mike Mancini - engineer
  • Russ Terrano - engineer
  • Fred Law - engineer
  • Fernando Kral - assistant engineer
  • Tony Maserati - assistant engineer
  • Russ Torrano - mixing engineer
  • Alicia Winfield - production coordinator

Design

  • Richard Avedon - front cover and inner sleeve photography
  • Mark Larson - design
  • Bernard Maisner - hand lettering
  • Milton Sincoff - art production

4 Kashif - producer

  • Darroll Gustamachio - engineer
  • Russ Terrana, Calvin Harris
  • Larry Smith - assistant engineer
  • Dennis Mitchell - assistant engineer
  • Bob Loftus - assistant engineer
  • Steve MacMillan - assistant engineer
  • Mike Ross - assistant engineer
  • Mike Dotson - assistant engineer
  • Amy Ziffer - assistant engineer
  • Milton Chan - assistant engineer
  • John Drankchak - assistant engineer
  • Darroll Gustamachio - mix engineer
  • Russell Sidelsky - production coordinator
  • George Marino - mastering
  • Whitney Houston - vocal arrangements
  • Clive Davis - executive producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart(s) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 1
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[13] 1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 1
French Albums (SNEP)[15] 6
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[16] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[18] 1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[21] 4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[24] 1
US Billboard 200[25] 1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[26] 2
Chart (2012) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 87

Year-end charts

Chart (1987) Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[27] 9
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 6
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 4
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[30] 13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 5
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 3
US Billboard 200[33] 23
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[34] 20
Chart (1988) Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[35] 26
US Billboard 200[36] 12
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[37] 5

Decade-end charts

Chart (1980–1989) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[38] 22
UK Albums Chart 6

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[39] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[40] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[41] 7× Platinum 700,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[42] Platinum Expression error: Missing operand for *. 
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[43] Platinum 59,053[43]
France (SNEP)[44] Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[45] Platinum 500,000^
Greece (IFPI Greece)[46] Gold 50,000^
Italy (FIMI)[47] Gold 100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[48] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RIANZ)[49] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[46] Platinum 100,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[50] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Sweden (GLF)[51] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[52] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[54] 7× Platinum 2,237,603[53]
United States (RIAA)[55] Diamond 10,000,000 
Summaries
Worldwide 20,000,000 

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. "Whitney Houston - Whitney (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  2. Whitney Breaks Record for Consecutive No.1 Tunes. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. May 2, 1988. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  3. Whitney Houston Talks About Her Long Awaited Album, 'I'm Your Baby Tonight'. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. November 5, 1990. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  4. Stephen Holden (April 20, 1988). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/20/arts/the-pop-life-347088.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved June 22, 2010. 
  5. Ron Wynn. Whitney at AllMusic
  6. Robert Christgau. "Whitney, Robert Christgau Review". Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Robert Hilburn (June 1, 1987). Album Review, Houston: Commercial Sparkle, Artistic Fizz. http://articles.latimes.com/1987-06-01/entertainment/ca-5509_1. Retrieved June 20, 2010. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Jon Pareles (June 7, 1987). "Whitney Houston: She's Singing by Formula". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/07/arts/whitney-houston-she-s-singing-by-formula.html?scp=11&sq=whitney%20houston&st=cse&pagewanted=1. Retrieved June 20, 2010. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Vince Aletti (August 13, 1987). "Whitney". Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitney-19870813. Retrieved February 13, 2012. 
  10. Divina Infusino (June 2, 1987). "Houston's new LP almost has it all". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  11. "Whitney, Q Magazine Review". Q. December 1999. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – Whitney Houston – Whitney" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  13. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0868". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  14. "Whitney Houston: Whitney" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  15. "Lescharts.com – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  16. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: {{{date}}}" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  17. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  18. "Italiancharts.com – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  19. "Charts.nz – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  20. "Norwegiancharts.com – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  21. "Spanishcharts.com – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  22. "Swedishcharts.com – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  23. "Swisscharts.com – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  24. "Whitney Houston | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  25. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  26. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  27. List of Top 25 albums for 1987 in Australia
  28. "Austriancharts.at – Jahreshitparade 1987". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  29. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 1986" (in Deutsch). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  30. "Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1987" (in 日本語). Oricon. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  31. "Hitparade.ch – Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1987". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  32. "Top Albums of 1987". everyhit.com. The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on June 14, 2002. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  33. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 1987". Billboard. January 2, 2013. https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/top-billboard-200-albums. Retrieved September 3, 2018. 
  34. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Year-End 1987". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums. Retrieved September 3, 2018. 
  35. "Austriancharts.at – Jahreshitparade 1988". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  36. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 1988". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1988/top-billboard-200-albums. Retrieved September 3, 2018. 
  37. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Year-End 1988". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1988/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums. Retrieved September 3, 2018. 
  38. "Austriancharts.at – Besstenlisten – 80er Album". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  39. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). Sydney: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 978-0-646-11917-5.
  40. "Austrian album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney" (in German). IFPI Austria.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) Enter Whitney Houston in the field Interpret. Enter Whitney in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  41. "Canadian album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Music Canada.
  42. "Danish album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney". IFPI Denmark.
  43. 43.0 43.1 "Finnish album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  44. "Les Certifications depuis 1973: Albums". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved April 15, 2020. (select "Whitney Houston" from drop-down list)
  45. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Whitney Houston; 'Whitney')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  46. 46.0 46.1 "European Gold & Platinum Awards 1987". Music & Media: 44. December 26, 1987. https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M&M-1987-12-26.pdf. Retrieved February 9, 2021. 
  47. "A Platinum Debut" (PDF). Music & Media. July 4, 1987. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  48. "Dutch album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  49. "New Zealand album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
  50. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. p. 926. ISBN 978-84-8048-639-2.
  51. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  52. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Whitney Houston; 'Whitney')". Hung Medien.
  53. Harris, Bill (November 17, 2006). "Queen rules – in album sales". Jam! Showbiz (Canoe Inc.). http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/Q/Queen/2006/11/17/2391437.html. Retrieved February 9, 2021. 
  54. "British album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Whitney in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  55. "American album certifications – Whitney Houston – Whitney". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH