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Whitney vs. Mariah

I was in Provincetown last week, which means that an important question came up: Who is the better artist, Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey?

There's an obvious answer, and it's Whitney Houston.

However, an additional question popped up: How could anyone ever begin to imagine that the answer is Mariah Carey?

And I did some thinking. Here's what I believe. If you were in the Mariah camp, you would point to greater longevity, greater experimentation, greater risk-taking, greater variety.

Fair enough. But the better artist is still Whitney Houston. Even with the tepid material she was frequently handed, she still had that voice. It's correct to point out that Mariah had one early killer album, and then the voice started to fade.

Some crucial Whitney observations: I believe you can observe growth in the trip from "Saving All My Love" to "All the Man That I Need." The early numbers--"Saving All My," "Greatest Love of All," "All at Once"--show obvious virtuosity, and yet there's something slightly unpolished at times. The mid-early career is where Whitney seems basically indomitable to me. I'm talking about "All the Man That I Need" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go." There's a new maturity in those songs. You have the sense the voice could now do (almost) literally anything it wanted to do.

Another important observation. There is an easy way to reach nirvana pretty much anywhere, at any time, in any day. The thing to do is to go to "All the Man That I Need" and fast-forward to the bombastic climax.

Right after the gospel choir enters (because of course a choir is needed), Whitney seems to be tooling around with some new arpeggios. She gives the impression of just sort of inventing riffs as they come along. And she sings: "He gives me LOVE....More more love...more love....more love....mo-oo-oore lo-oo-oove...." And that is actually heaven on Earth. Hitting "more" on the off-beat brings to mind certain Aretha stylings. And then--to go up and down a scale (or a chord?)--on the end phrase, "more love"--? Unnecessary and totally thrilling.

That's the Mona Lisa. That's "Guernica." It's not something Mariah has ever come anywhere near to.
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