Barry White - The Icon Is Love 1994

 The Icon Is Love is the nineteenth studio album by American R&B singer Barry White, which was released on October 4, 1994, on A&M Records. The album represented a major comeback for White both critically and commercially, and went on to become easily his most successful album since his 1970s heyday. 

 Production credits on the album were mainly shared by White variously with Gerald Levert, Jack Perry, Tony Nicholas and White's godson Chuckii Booker. The Icon Is Love also includes two tracks ("I Only Want to Be with You" and "Come On") produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded at their Flyte Tyme studios in Minnesota, which are the only tracks ever recorded by White on which he does not have at least a co-production credit. The album contains a remix of "Super Lover", from White's 1989 album The Man Is Back! as a bonus track. 

 The Icon Is Love was White's seventh album to top the US R&B chart, and its peak of #20 on the pop chart his highest placing there since 1977. It was also the first White album in 16 years to reach the UK top 50. Likewise, lead single "Practice What You Preach" was White's biggest since 1977's "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" on both the R&B and pop charts. 

 Barry White has been to the top of the charts an admirable number of times, but only one of his hits was a ballad (a studio effort for the Quincy Jones album Back on the Block that included El DeBarge, James Ingram and Al B. Sure!). However, as a solo artist, White has never had a ballad usurp the number one spot on the Billboard charts. The Icon Is Love's featured release fills that void. "Practice What You Preach," which unites the maestro with producers Gerald LeVert and Edwin Nicholas, has a simmering arrangement, evocative lyric, and White's brawn delivery. The catchy melody and sensuous female backing vocals enhance this already stellar single. It stayed on the Billboard R&B charts for 30 weeks and had a consecutive three-week run at number one. White showcases his seductive, bassy baritone with romantic rap introductions on most of the selections. There is a balance of uptempo and balladic songs. The other two featured releases were "Come On" and "There It Is." The former is reminiscent of his days as the king of disco-swing, and the latter is a contemporary funky ballad. Respectively, they tipped in at 12 and 54. White, who is credited as producer and writer on every selection, embraces the savvy writing talents of industry veterans Barry Eastmond and Michael Lovesmith, and the keen production skills of Chuckii Booker (his godson), Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Jack Perry.