Barry White - Staying Power 1999

 

Staying Power is the twentieth and final studio album by American R&B singer Barry White, released on July 27, 1999. The album was White's first release for five years, and his only recording for the Private Music label, with whom he had signed following a four-album deal with A&M which had culminated in 1994 with the acclaimed The Icon Is Love, his most successful album since the 1970s.

Staying Power features duets with Chaka Khan and Lisa Stansfield. These are the only White tracks with a shared vocal credit, apart from the 1981 duet album Barry and Glodean. Lead single "Staying Power", although not a significant hit, won White two Grammy Awards in 2000 in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. It also contains covers of War's "Low Rider", and a slowed-down version of Sly and The Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" (similar to the version on Sly's There's A Riot Goin' On).

Staying Power was less successful than The Icon Is Love, peaking at #13 on the R&B chart and #43 on the pop chart. Similarly, its critical reception was more mixed, the overall opinion tending to the view that while there is little to find fault with, the material and production is less distinguished than had been the case with The Icon Is Love. (Allmusic reviewer Stephen Erlewine for example describes Staying Power as "...classy and entertaining, but [it] doesn't add to the legacy".) 

 By the late '90s, Barry White was primarily known as an icon. His music was well-known, but his voice was known better, as it stood for the epitome of sultry, sexy soul. And, befitting his icon status, he could still support a large audience in concerts, which led to new recordings -- recordings that were minor hits upon their release, but never eclipsing his classic hits. Staying Power, his first album since 1994's The Icon Is Love, fits neatly into that category. It certainly is an enjoyable album, since White's voice is aging remarkably well and the production is uniformly appealing, but it's never a memorable one. Like most contemporary albums by veterans, it's littered with cameos that are designed to broaden his audience and increase chances of airplay. With the exception of the Bone Thugs N Harmony duet "Thank You" -- which is the worst track on the album -- they all work pretty well, and the Chaka Khan & Lisa Stansfield showcase "The Longer We Make Love" is very good indeed. However, the record sounds the best when the spotlight is on White. Nevertheless, once the album is completed, it's hard to remember any of it, even if it was enjoyable as it spun. Which means Staying Power is a standard-issue iconic release -- it's classy and entertaining, but doesn't add to the legacy.