Search - Whitney Houston :: Learned From the Best

A massive dance hit

hou_music | Houston, TX | 01/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""I Learned From The Best" was the fourth and final single from her "My Love Is Your Love" LP. This track was transformed from a rather uninspiring ballad to big-time club anthem thanks to a series of stunning remixes. My favorite on here in the HQ2 (Hex Hector/Mac Quayle) Club Mix. Of all their amazing remixes, this is one of the best (if not the best) mixes to come from the HQ2 camp. It blew away the dance floors in early 2000 and is now considered a classic among DJs. With Whitney's powerful vocals, tribal drums, and even breathing sounds, the mix just pounds away for 9 minutes with an amazing amount of energy. The production values are top notch, and the break in the middle is one of the best I've ever heard. A close second is the Jr. Vasquez Disco Club Mix which is excatly the way it sounds - retro, disco, campy, over the top. Whitney actually re-sang her vocals in the studio for this mix. They seem more raw and stripped down which fits the mix perfectly. The Disco mix got lots of club play too and stands out as one of the best mixes Jr. Vasquez ever put out. The other club mix (Jr. Vasquez USA Millenium Mix) is also good but just doesn't measure up IMO. The album version is a dull throwaway, but it makes you appreciate just how incredible these remixes really are."I Learned From The Best" spent 3 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Dance/Club Chart and became Whitney's fourth #1 in a row."

Whitney is learning to be a clubland mainstay very well

hou_music | 04/13/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"and whether it's breakin' hearts or breakin' charts, Mrs. Houston is makin' the grade! In this song Houston tells it like it is to the man who broke her heart in chapter 1. In chapter 2, the shoe is on the other foot, and look out because she is fierce! So fierce that the original version of the song could not contain her wrath. Enter HQ2(Hex Hector and Mac Quayle) and Hand-bag-totin' Junior Vasquez. Here Houston's Diva-esque vocal and lyrics come to a full boil. Hector/Quayle turn up the heat with some throbbing beats and dark soundscapes that accentuate the song's retributive nature, giving Mrs. Thang a run for her money. Listen closely and you'll her breathing heavily to the beat. Now while Junior's Millenium Mix is typical of his style, it's his Disco Mix that I really get a bang out of. Everytime I hear the intro to this version I keep thinking it's Donna Summer. Is time travel possible? Or is Vasquez simply showing his age? If I did not know any better I'd be looking for this in the 70's/disco bins at some ol' used record shop. Vasquez is totally on top of his game with this one even incorporating Eiffel 65's "Da Ba De" into his concoction for a reality check for old folks like me:), and Houston,s makes sure she is getting her point across by re-recording some of her vocals for this version. No matter how you slice it this Maxi-Single is a winner."