Whitney (album)

Production

The album had a more pop feel than the first album. Narada Michael Walden who produced the infectious "How Will I Know," on the first album produced seven of the Whitney album's eleven tracks, three of which became Number 1's on Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in 1987 and 1988. Kashif, the producer of "You Give Good Love" contributed "Where You Are". Michael Masser who was responsible for several hits from Whitney's debut album, contributed number 1 hit single "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and "You're Still My Man." "You're Still My Man" was originally recorded for the first album but was left off because Clive Davis felt it would be too much pop. Finally, Jellybean Benitez contributed "Love Will Save the Day."

Singles

Whitney produced a then-record-equalling four number one singles from one album, making it the first album by a female artist, and overall only the second album by a solo artist, behind Michael Jackson's Bad, yielded five number ones. The album is one of only seven albums in music history to generate at least four number one Hot 100 hits from the same album. This feat, with the three number ones from her debut album, also gave Houston seven consecutive number one songs; a record for the most consecutive number ones by any musical act. The most consecutive #1's title was previously held by both The Beatles and the Bee Gees with six each.

The first single released from the album, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)," made its debut at number 38, her highest debut at the time, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the issue dated May 16, 1987, and reached the top position in six weeks later, becoming her fourth number one hit. It also topped the Hot Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks. The single was a massive success globally, becoming one of her signature songs. In the United Kingdom, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 10 on May 23, 1987 and reached the number one in two weeks later, staying there for two weeks. According to the Official Charts Company, it sold 760,000 copies and became her best-selling single in the country at the point. The single also peaked at number one of the singles charts in Australia for five weeks, Belgium for three weeks, Canada for a week, Germany for five weeks, Italy for one week, the Netherlands for four weeks, New Zealand for four weeks, Norway for seven weeks, Sweden for six weeks, and Switzerland for six weeks. Thanks to its strong sales and airplay across Europe, it went to top position of European Hot 100 Singles chart and remained at the summit for eight weeks. The single was certified Gold^{^} by the RIAA on July 28, 1987, for sales of one million more in the United States―the requirement for a Gold single prior to 1989, and re-certified Platinum for the same sales on February 13, 1989. In addition, it was certified Gold in UK, Canada, and Sweden. At the time, it was her biggest hit single, selling 4.2 million copies worldwide.

The power ballad, "Didn't We Almost Have It All," was released as the album's second single in August 1987. It peaked at number one on the Hot 100 chart on September 26, 1987 and stayed on the top for two weeks. It also topped the Hot Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks, becoming her fifth chart-topper. The single peaked at number two in Canada.

The album's third and fourth singles, "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go," both reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in 1988, becoming her sixth and seventh number one hits, respectively. The former became her second number one hit on Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart and was certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies by the RIAA on December 6, 1995. The latter peaked at number one Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks.

The fifth and final single to be released off the album, "Love Will Save the Day," peaked at number nine on the Hot 100 Singles chart. All five singles were top 5 Hot Black Singles hits, though none of them reached number one. "I Know Him So Well" was released as a single in Australia, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain.

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Critical reception

Upon the album's debut, the critical receptions of Whitney were mixed. Most of critics admitted the commercial value of the album, but were critical of its standard pattern followed the predecessor's winning formula and the materials failed to reveal Houston's individuality. Jon Pareles of The New York Times criticized for something as formulaic on the album, stating that: "Whitney plays everything safe. It uses three of the debut album's producers. [...] There are bouncy, tinkly songs aimed at teen-agers, [...] and slow tunes aimed at sentimental adults, as before. Even the album title fits in with an Arista Records custom of separating female singers—Dionne, Aretha, Carly—from their last names." He was not positive of her vocals on it, commenting "What's more unsettling is that in the two years since Whitney Houston was released, the singer hasn't gotten much more expressive. For too many songs, she takes the patched-together style of the debut album further [...] as if she were singing in a second language." He added that "For all the passionate avowals of the lyrics, Ms. Houston and her producers keep emotion at bay."

Vince Aletti from Rolling Stone also gave an unfavorable review, stating "the formula is more rigorously locked in than before, and the range so tightly circumscribed that Houston's potential seems to have shrunk rather than expanded" and the record is "smug, repressive and ridiculously safe." Also, he made some sarcastic comments about the first single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", calling it "How Will I Know II", spoken at Hollywood's blockbuster sequels. Robert Hilburn, in his review for Los Angeles Times, regarded the album as "another commercial blockbuster", writing that the record is "a series of highly accessible selections that will work on a variety of radio formats." However, he expressed his considerable disappointment that Whitney did precious little to define the singer's vision, adding that she had a sensational voice but didn't assert much vocal character on it. Dolores Barclay of The Associated Press complimented Houston on her vocal ability: "Whitney Houston has a fine instrument and uses it well. Her voice takes us to places we know and to places we might want to forget and to places we dream about." But she, like other critics, was critical of the song material on the record, commenting "There is no depth, and not much excitement. Nor does this talented song stylist and Grammy winner take risks and try something just a little daring." St. Petersburg Times showed a favorable attitude toward her new album at large, stating "[Whitney] is, first and foremost, a product. It has been carefully designed, manufactured and packaged. As such, it's easy to be cynical about. But as products go, this is a pretty good one." They also praised her vocals as follows: "Houston's voice sounds good, real good. [...] She's firmer, more confident."

Commercial performance

With the highly anticipated release of her second album Whitney, Houston became the first female artist to debut at number one in the history of Billboard 200 chart (formerly the "Top Pop Albums" chart). It made her the fourth artist to achieve that feat overall, behind Elton John with Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Rock of the Westies, Stevie Wonder with Songs in the Key of Life and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band with Live/1975–85. On June 27, 1987 the album topped the chart and remained there for eleven consecutive weeks, the longest run among the releases that reached peak position of the year. It also debuted at number fourteen on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart (formerly the "Top Black Albums" chart) and peaked at the number two, staying on the chart for a total of seventy-five weeks. The album was Houston's fastest-selling album in the United States at that time, with four million copies shipped within the first three months of its release. It was certified 11× Platinum for shipping 11 million copies in the United States alone by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 29, 1995. The album has sold over 9,253,000 copies in the US to date since May 14, 2012. The album re-entered the Billboard 200 on week February 12, 2012 the following day after Houston's death at number 87 the album remained in the chart for 11 more weeks making 86 weeks on the Billboard 200 to date. The album has sold nearly 289,000 copies more since its re entry in 2012. Whitney was a smash hit worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on June 13, 1987 and remained there for six weeks. There·through, Whitney became the first album to debut at number one in the U.S. and in the UK both. It was 1987's third best-selling album in the UK, behind Michael Jackson's Bad and U2's The Joshua Tree, and was ranked number six on list of "The Best-Selling Albums of the 1980s in UK". With 1.2 million copies sold there, it would become the biggest selling album by a female artist in the UK, a record that has since been broken. With her debut also selling over a million copies, this would make Houston the first female artist to have two albums sell over a million copies in the UK. With current sales of over 2.2 million, the album was the first album by an African-American woman to sell over 2 million in the UK. In Canada, the album topped the albums chart for eleven weeks, being the third best-selling album in 1987, behind U2's The Joshua Tree and Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet. In addition, it peaked at number one in Germany for eleven weeks, Italy for five weeks, Norway for eleven weeks, Netherlands for six weeks, Switzerland for eleven weeks, Austria for two weeks, Sweden for four weeks, Australia for three weeks, New Zealand for two weeks, Spain, Finland, Taiwan, and so on. As a result of massive popularity across Europe, the album topped the European Hot 100 Albums chart for eight weeks in 1987. In Japan, with sales of 384,000 copies combined of LP, CD and Compact Cassette, the album became the third best-selling international album of 1987, behind Top Gun Soundtrack Album and Michael Jackson's Bad. In 1988, Whitney was certified 6× Platinum^[A]by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and 7× Platinum for shipments of 700,000 copies of the album by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), respectively. It was also certified Platinum in Germany, Netherlands and Finland, respectively, 2× Platinum in Switzerland, Austria and Sweden, respectively. In November 2006, Whitney was ranked number forty-seven for sales of 2.2 million, making it her biggest-selling album in the UK, on list of "100 Best Selling Albums of All Time in the UK" announced by The Official UK Charts Company. The album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

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Billboard Music Awards

The Billboard Music Awards, based on Billboard magazine's year-end charts, was not held before 1990. Nominated categories were those of which were ranked in Top 5 on the year-end charts. This is based on general numbers of nomination at the Billboard Music Awards.

BRAVO Magazine's Bravo Otto Awards

BRAVO is the largest teen magazine within the German-language sphere. Since 1957, the magazine has distributed its "Bravo Otto" awards based on the readers' vote in different categories each year.

Billboard Magazine Year-End Charts

Categories which Houston was ranked No. 1, were excluded. See above awards list if you want to know her #1-ranked-categories.