For all intents and purposes, Whitney Houston retired from being a full-fledged recording artist after her third album, 1990s I'm Your Baby Tonight, choosing to be a Streisand-like celebrity who cultivated a career through movies, soundtrack contributions, and social appearances. She may have been content to continue in that direction for many years if Arista president Clive Davis didn't push her into recording My Love Is Your Love, her first album in eight years, which easily ranks among her best. Never before has Houston tried so many different sounds or tried so hard to be hip. It's one thing to work with Babyface, the standard-bearer of smooth soul in the '90s, but it's quite another to hire Wyclef Jean, Lauren Hill, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, and Q-Tip -- all cutting-edge artists (albeit on the accessible side of the cutting edge), the kind who never would have been associated with Houston in the late '80s. The gambit works. There is still a fair share of David Foster-produced adult contemporary ballads, but the true news is on the up-tempo and mid-tempo dance numbers. In fact, the songs that feel the stiffest are the big production numbers; tellingly, they're the songs that are the most reminiscent of old-school Houston. That's not to say she can no longer belt out ballads convincingly -- in fact, the best ballads are where she restrains herself, delivering them with considerable nuance. Houston has never been quite so subtle before, nor has she ever shown this desire to branch out musically. That alone would be reason enough to rank My Love Is Your Love among her more interesting albums, but the fact that it works more often than not pushes it into the top rank of her recorded work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released in 1998 (see 1998 in music). The album was comprised of mid-tempo R&B, hip hop, ballads, urban-dance, reggae, and torch songs. The first single to be released from the album was a ballad, a duet with Mariah Carey entitled "When You Believe", which peaked at #15 in the U.S. and top 10 in several European countries. The second single was Heartbreak Hotel", which peaked at #2. The third single, the urban-dance "It's Not Right but It's Okay", earned Houston her sixth Grammy Award and peaked at #4 on the charts. The fourth release was the title track, "My Love Is Your Love", which peaked at #4 on the US Hot 100, and became Houston's third best selling single ever, after "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". The fifth and final single was the moderate hit "I Learned from the Best", which peaked at #27 on the Hot 100. The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and went on to be certified 4× platinum in the U.S. and has sold an estimated 10 million copies worldwide to date.[2]A concert tour in support of the album was also successful.
Producers: Babyface, Kelvin Bradshaw, Jerry Duplessis, Missy Elliott, David Foster, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Rodney Jerkins, Karlin, Soulshock, Lloyd Turner
Engineers: Paul Boutin, Tim Boyle, Dana Jon Chappelle, Commissioner Gordon, Felipe Elgueta, Paul J. Falcone, Paul Falcone, Humberto Gatica, Brad Gilderman, Jean-Marie Horvat, Reggie Jackson, Manny Marroquin, Don Murray, Kevin Parker, Rick St. Hillaire, Jon Smeltz, Kendal Stubbs, Tommy Vicari
Assistant engineers: Chuck Bailey, Luis Castillo, Ray Cervenka, Greg Dennon, Mark Eshelman, Jonas G., Brian Garten, Jason Groucott, Victor McCoy, Sue McLean, Susat Mclean, Wes Naprstek, John Nelson, Wes Neprstek, Jamie Siegel, John Sorenson, Tom Sweeney, Pascal Volberg, Michael White
Mixing: Tom Bender, Commissioner Gordon, E'lyk, Paul Falcone, Jon Gass, Brad Gilderman, Mick Guzauski, Jean-Marie Horvat, Manny Marroquin, Rick St. Hillaire, Soulshock