Flashback: Waiting To Exhale Soundtrack

While the movie was good the soundtrack was great. I popped in the soundtrack on Sunday night and I fell in love with it all over again. Even though this is a "woman's" album I give props when they are due and Babyface wrote his ass off on this project. This album flowed very well with the movie. While not every track was stellar it was about 90%brilliant. This is how I rank them:

THE STANDOUT TRACKS

1. Kissing You- Faith Evans
I love this song. I use to play it all the time. I think Faith stretched vocally and sounded amazing. This was the song of the soundtrack for me. It didn't get as much radio play as it should have.. but it was played at a good point in the movie and I LOVED IT.

2. Not Gon Cry- Mary J. Blige
Mary J has never been a "great singer" in my opinion and this song did nothing to change my opinion. What makes this song great is Mary's interpretation and emotion in the song. I think every woman took this on as an anthem and further solidified MJB's place in R&B. She made those lyrics come alive.

3. Let it Flow- Toni Braxton
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent.. clearly she is one of Babyface muses.. he know how to write for her.

4. All Night Long- SWV
Instant Slow jam classic... despite the racy subject matter the song only comes across as tasteful and sweet...it has some of the softest and pretty vocals lead-singer Coko has ever laid down....

5. Exhale- Whitney Houston
"Everyone falls in love sometimes, sometimes its right and sometimes it wrong".. the opening lines from Exhale. Whitney sounds classic on this. While the chorus is just "shoops" all over the place it somehow works and Whitney got herself another #1 hit.

6. Sittin Up in My Room- Brandy
This song represents everything that Brandy was about in 95-96. Safe bubblegum R&B/Pop and she delivered. This was probably the biggest commercial hit from the soundtrack.

THE LEGENDS

7. It Hurts Like Hell- Aretha Franklin
I always enjoyed this number by the Queen of Soul, It was great to hear how fresh and rangy her voice still sounded amongst all those younger gals. Re-Re showed them how its done

8. My Love Sweet Love- Patti Labelle
I like this song because it is decidedly less high-octane than what you'd expect from Patti LaBelle; yet, it still maintains a goodly amount of soul. The climax is also great because it satisfies your need for some "Patti" notes. Babyface was brilliant in reigning her in and giving her a brief "scream" at the end

9. My Funny Valentine- Chaka Khan
I think Chaka made it work. I think she is a legend with a tremendous voice but she just doesn't do it for me. I think this was a good song for her and she delivered.

Other Good Tracks

10. How Could You Call Her Baby- Shanna
I'm not sure if she ever released a solo record or not but she sung her ass off on this track. I think Babyface wrote a scorcher with this and the singer gave it her all.

11. Love Will Be Waiting at Home- 4Real
Their voices were pure magic and they really made this song work. I wish they had stayed around in the music world longer.

LEAST FAVORITE SONGS

12. Count on Me- Whitney & CeCe
I know this song was made for this movie and its ending but this is just too sugary sweet for me. I think Whitney tried to do too much and CeCe didn't do too much. With that said they still sounded good.

13. Why Does It Hurt So Bad- Whitney Houston
I just don't know what the problem was with this song for me... The lyrics were great, Whitney sounded great.....but I wasn't excited about it

14. And I Gave My Love to You- Sonja Marie
I usually skip this track. It wasn't bad either just didn't excite me.

15. Wey U- Chante Moore
Musically the best song on the CD.... but I don't know what the hell this song was suppose to be. It was one I usually skip over. I LOVE Chante Moore but Babyface did her NO favors with this track.

16. This is How It Works- TLC
Clearly the worst song on this AWESOME CD. This song is nothing but filler or a cut that didn't make Crazy Sexy Cool. It just did not fit the mood of this CD. Simply out of place.