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List Price: $15.93 | | Label: Arista
Salesrank: 112456
Released: December 10, 2002 |
| Our Price: $6.74 |
| Used Price: $4.71 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Deluxe 2-Disc Set including a special DVD featuring the rare "Whatchulookinat" and "Mega Mix" videos and behind-the-scenes footage.
Description of Just Whitney (Special Edition) (CD & Dvd):
Whitney Houston recaptures some former glory on her first studio album, thanks to her undiminished vocal prowess and a cadre of impressive producers that includes Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Babyface, Teddy Bishop, and Troy Taylor. Houston's pipes shine in the big break-up ballad "On My Own," which is cut from the same mold as 1993's massive "I Will Always Love You." But while her vocal chords are intact, some of the material here leaves much to be desired, including a flat version of Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Light" and the Missy Elliot-penned and -produced "Things You Say." On the plus side, the feisty "Tell Her No" finds Houston on defense, but she's much more interesting with her back against the wall as she huffs: "I can't wait for the day I can rub things in your face." The embattled diva doesn't attempt to gloss over her foibles, as evidenced by "Unashamed" ("Listen here and listen good/ I'm unashamed of the life that I lead, unashamed of the strength of my need"), "Love That Man," and "Whatchulookinat," a body slam at the tabloids that have documented Houston and hubby Bobby Brown's very public falls from grace. Houston may not have recovered her hegemony of the charts, but this album proves she's once again pointed in the right direction. This deluxe package includes a DVD featuring the "Whatchulookinat" and "Mega Mix" videos along with behind-the-scenes footage. --Jaan Uhelszki
Just Whitney (Special Edition) (CD & Dvd) Reviews:
You go Whitney! 
2007-02-15 - I thought the songs on "Just Whitney" were for the most part well written. I admire Whitney's vocal range on "Try it on my Own"- just over two octaves, and have listened to her music since I was little. I also hope that Whitney is able to learn from her past experiences and get herself back on track.
Just average material...Just a Great Voice 
2006-10-27 - Ok, it's been a while since i reviewed stuff on here.
i was previously reviewing as fabio-italy, not sure if it's gonna turn out the same.
This is the first item i wanna review for various reasons, including the followings: a proper NEW STUDIO album by whitney, a cd i had time to listen to carefully and the chance to throw my 2 cents in on a work that's been thoroughly underviewed imo.
First things first: this is another clear example that L.A. Reid should have been kept writing and producing songs with Face. The man has no skills to run a major label and had been taking all the wrong decisions.
When it comes to JUSTY WHITNEY, it had started with choosing the wrong single (how could any one in their right minds think that tune WHATCHALOOKINAT is catchy even before it's lyrically embrassing?). Whitney should have realeased TELL ME NO as first single, having LOVE THAT MAN and TRY IT ON MY OWN as next singles.
And LA Reid should have pushed Whitney for a better promotion
Even MY LOVE - cheesy as hell but with bobby performing not so bad vocals - would have been a preferable choice over ONE OF THOSE DAYS... old school r'n'b? Yeah, right...think again...passable at its best.
THINGS YOU SAY is neo-soul? I call that a Missy left over.
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE is the worst choice when it comes to a remake..she could have picked amongst million love songs..but this is by no means a torch song for Whitney vocals..
UNASHAMED is as cool as DEAR JOHN LETTER is useless....
Just as usless as the DVD: a good rip off true fans.., go for the regular version. No interview, just LITERAL behind the scenes footage of the first video and a megamix that no dj would play even if high on acid...
And nevertheless I think with the right promotion, with a good choice of singles and media exposure this album could have sold at least three times its actual current sales.
Because miss houston's voice is still there..fighting underneath the scandals and throat damages..but still ready to shine pure...
Hopefully people will take a listen to it carefully..to her voice i mean..and still understand and believe its potential.
On Her Own
2006-05-27 - There are often times where so many of fans, indefinitely forget about artists from the past, largely because of what seems to be hot on radio today, or for because of personal issues and problems that somebody might have. That has been that case with Whitney Houston. Although she has recorded some of the best songs on radio and on television, many people would rather use her as a punching bag because of her personal problems, whether it is somebody from the National Enquirer, or sketch performer Debra Wilson from MAD TV. Nevertheless, it still remains a sad situation. Her last record though still shows that she is still standing and her voice will always remain a gem for so many.
Just Whitney, Whitney Houston's 2002 record, is a bit shorther than her '98 record My Love Is Your Love, but the feeling of voice on this record remains as strong as ever. The album revolves around what was going on through Whitney's eyes at the time from her personal vices, to a public family feud involving her and her late father, John Houston. The songs here still sound great and down to Earth such as the somber Try It On My Own, which Whitney performed on the FOX televsion show Boston Public, the upbeat One Of Those Days, and a elequent cover of Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life to name a few. This edition also includes a DVD of two music videos including Whatchulookinat', a song Whitney recorded, slamming the negativity she received over the past several years, and another video as well.
Despite the pain she has gone through, I would still rather listen to Whitney Houston, over a overexposed, manufactured artist like Jennifer Lopez or Kelly Clarkson from American Idol anyday. I absolutely still enjoy this record, and if you're still a die hard Whitney fan than you'll enjoy it to.
Album Cover: A-
Songs: A
Price: B 1/2+
Mastering: A-
Bonus DVD: B
Overall: B+
AWESOME &.VERSATILE VOCALS...BRAVO WHITNEY!!! 
2006-03-30 - Media can do so much damage to wonderous talents and I have witnessed this since my teens in the sixties when Judy Garland was labeled a has-been in 1965 yet when I witnessed her tremendous performance opening night at The Greek Theatre on 9/13/65 this was to be the greatest concert experience ever for this now forty-plus year concert goer yet strangely the next day neither major newspaper reported on this...I learned at a young age to judge for yourself! Forget about all of the negative press and enjoy "Just Whitney" in her finest hour...this two-disc set is worth it's weight in gold with the DVD being a wonderous musical fantasy while the CD is richly varied and filled with great performances...who could ask for anything more?
"One Of Those Days" starts the groove right with Whitney in superb form on a wonderfully flowing song that is infectious and should have been a huge blockbuster hit...a riveting "Tell Me No" is a great Whitney athem with an edgy tremendous vocal that is one of her all-time finest and guaranteed to wear out the repeat mode! "Things You Say" is wildly romantic and engrossing while the great self-penned Bobby Brown duet "My Love" is quite winning and has a nice flow to it.
A funky romantic jam "Love That Man" is a cooker that has a hit sound to it while "Try It On My Own" is one of Whitney's greatest ever athem performances...this is a solid classic and thrilling to experience both vocally and emotionally and defines what this magnificent singer is all about. A great funky jam "Dear John Letter" flows like honey while the hypnotic "Unashamed" is dark and exotic and this great yet sadly overlooked collection should have been a huge blockbuster...shame on the music industry for not giving support to this collection of versatile and wonderous performances...should have had multiple Grammy Awards and sold more than just a few million...a perfect example of why the music industy is in the pit!
Many have recorded "You Light Up My Life" but never has anyone gone to the core of this song until this beautifully moving version...a performance filled with so much feeling and emotion that it can easily bring one to tears...Bravo to Whitney Houston for this wonderous and incredibly great performance...you are something else!!!
Closing this masterpiece is the engaging hit "Whatchulookinat" which is a wild rhythm cooker that should have gone to #1 but with so much bad press this great song was only top 10...listen to these lyrics! Stop taking apart this legendary talent and just enjoy...thank you Whitney Houston for sharing your great gift and please keep it coming and we do love and miss you alot and look forward to more great music delivered in a way that only you can!!!!
When bad things happen to great singers 
2005-07-13 - This album is a typical example of bad things happening to a great singer. For the better part of the last decade, Whitney Houston apparently decided that she was a contemporary R&B singer and not a pop artist, turning her back on the musical stylings that attracted legions of fans to her enormous vocal talents in the mid-80s. Audiences have repeatedly refused to buy that scheme, which resulted in decreasing album sales and radio airplay. Unfortunately, neither Whitney nor her team seem to have gotten the message yet, since this last album falls into the same trap.
Not that "Just Whitney" is a total disaster - the production is professional and slick, it's short and to-the-point, and it has a couple of okay songs. The main problem is that "Just Whitney" is a very boring album loaded with third-rate material that sounds like leftovers from a Mary J Blige recording session (and given the poor quality of Ms Blige's material, that's saying a lot) as performed by a singer who has become a shadow of her former self. Whitney manages to get the right attitude on the first two songs and then falls asleep on the job for the rest of the album - just like the listener. She desperately attempts to recapture some of her magic with heavy ballads like "Try it on my own" and "You light up my life"; however this singer is not the gifted powerhouse that lit up such otherwise generic songs as "Didn't we almost have it all", "You're still my man", "You give good love" or "All at once", and the results are not as convincing.
On an even more problematic level, Whitney's vocals sound out of breath, she can no longer hit those long powerful notes, and just refuses to follow a melody, belting each note and twisting it in endless melisma to cover her unability to hit a note on the head. It's hard not to allude to Houston's private misdemeanors, but since it's not of our business either, let's just say that years of abuse have apparently ruined a genuine raw vocal talent.
By falling short of its diluted R&B pretentions, and by failing at its few attempts to pander to her former audience's tastes, "Just Whitney" is a double failure. The die-hard fans will likely pick it up or already have; as for the casual Whitney admirators, there really is no valuable reason to put your hard-earned money on this album. Live on your memories and avoid this turkey at all costs.
