Various Artists Waiting To Exhale-Original Soundtrack Music
by Various Artists

About this Music

Tracks: Whitney Houston - Exhale (Shoop Shoop) 3:24 / Whitney Houston - Why Does It Hurt So Bad 4:37 / Toni Braxton - Let It Flow 4:27 / Aretha Franklin - It Hurts Like Hell 4:19 / Brandy - Sittin' Up In My Room 4:52 / Tlc - This Is How It Works 5:00 / Mary J. Blige - Not Gon' Cry 4:57 / Chaka Khan - My Funny Valentine 4:06 / Sonja Marie - And I Gave My Love To You 4:48 / Swv - All Night Long 4:31 / Chanté Moore - Wey U 4:32 / Patti LaBelle - My Love, Sweet Love 4:21 / Faith Evans - Kissing You 3:23 / For Real - Love Will Be Waiting At Home 5:59 / Shanna - How Could You Call Her Baby 5:09 / Whitney Houston & CeCe Winans - Count On Me 4:26

Waiting to Exhale is the exception that proves the rule about mish-mash '90s soundtrack albums. Even though it features 22 different female voices, the album boasts a rare continuity because Babyface wrote or cowrote 15 of the songs and produced all 16. Moreover, the gifted R&B artist used every song to explore the film's theme of women trying to balance self-respect and romantic desire. Not only has Babyface (nee Kenny Edmonds) created a fascinating song suite, he has produced one of the best middle-of-the-road-pop, adult- contemporary albums of the decade. Mary J. Blige stakes out a claim as the new diva on the block with an astonishing performance on "Not Gon' Cry." Babyface's music and lyrics suggest a woman barely holding back a swelling flood of anger and heartache, and Blige's brilliant vocal captures both the agitation and the restraint. --Geoffrey Himes