RADIO DISCO

Critics may contend that Barry White passed his hit-making peak in the late ’70s, but the man with the righteously real, deep-down-in-the-vocal-basement tones shocked all the nonbelievers in 1994. Thanks to “Practice What You Preach,” the major hit single from this collection, White proved that he was far from being down with the count. Written and produced by White with Gerald Levert and his musical partner Tony Nicholas, the song not only found favor with White’s existing audience, it had enough contemporary appeal to win the pop and soul legend some new fans, giving White’s recording career a much-needed jolt. White also used the services of other current musical hit makers for the project: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis cowrote “I Only Want to Be with You” and “Come On,” a pair of strong tunes for the album. However, White is at his bedroom best on “Baby’s Home” and “Whatever We Had, We Had,” most definitely a throwback to his earlier work as a ’70s chartbuster. –David Nathan

User Reviews

By the time this CD was released in 1994, many felt that Barry White was well past his prime as his three previous A&M releases had not scored any major hits despite being well-received by both music critics and fans of romantic Soul. "Practice What You Preach", "It's Over", "Baby's Home" and the simply glorious "Come On" all played key roles in Mr. White's career revival and (in many ways) this CD modernized and updated his music without making it lose its soulful and romantic vibe. A classic. -- An unexpected but well-deserved comeback for a true Soul icon.

I loved this CD. It was truly great music. What I expected and more. -- Great

product was exactly what i was looking for and was shipped promptly and arrived in good condition. -- the icon is love

Anyone who personally knows me knows what Barry White will always mean to me. There was not one song on "The Icon Is Love" that didn't move me. Every single song on this album including his fast hits went beyond doing justice. "Sexy Undercover" will make any two romantics grind with each other on the dance floor, not in an explicit way, but in a sexy love-encouraging way. "Baby's Home" and "There It Is"...no explanation needed. To anyone who hates Barry White, it's your prerogative, your fault, and your loss! I said it, yes I did. -- The Icon Is, Was, and Forever Will Be Barry White

Out of the few '90s albums that Barry White recorded, his The Icon Is Love from 1994 is his best. It recaptures the best of his '70s bedroom ballads with modern '90s sounds that fit with his voice. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Gerald Levert and Edwin Nicholas, Chuckii Booker (who is related to Barry) provided some dynamite numbers on here. Even Barry and his longtime producer produced some songs here too, with the Barry stamp all on them. When Gerald Levert recalls his music to his future grandchildren, he'll definitely tell them about the time he produced the Maestro's Practice What You Preach. The Jam/Lewis numbers are superb, especially the trendy sounds of Come Over, Sexy Undercover and others. Sexy has shades of Janet Jackson-like dance grooves on it. One of my favorite songs is the gorgeous Baby's Home. And this 8:17 ballad even got nominated for a Grammy Award! Proof that the other songs off the album get more respect than the hit single! Another surprise is There it Is and its rollicking groove. I liked the slow closing song, Whatever We Had, We Had, too. Most of the album consists of ballads and lengthy 7-, 8-, and 10-minute songs but the handlers were smart enough to know that this is Barry's album, not theirs. This album's songs still hold up 11 years later, far more than his '80s albums and the next album he made alive, the more contemporary sounding Staying Power. It's best to be played going on a road cutting through the mountains. I did so with hearing this album on an interstate through the mountains of West Virginia in spring 1995. Barry made an album that rivals his best '70s efforts and continues his theme of love songs and his dominance in the bedroom. This is still a classic R&B album in the best sense. -- The best one of his '90s albums