In a sense, the album is no different than any other album Houston recorded. It's not startling enough to justify the phenomenon, but "I Have Nothing," "Queen of the Night," "Run to You," and especially her cover of "I'm Every Woman" are all first-rate urban pop songs that skillfully capture Houston at her best. Then again, nobody really paid attention to anything outside of the first six songs, all of which rank among Houston's best efforts, demonstrating progress from the somewhat stilted I'm Your Baby Tonight. True, The Bodyguard isn't a typical soundtrack in that its first half plays like Houston's sequel to I'm Your Baby Tonight, but its second half is filled with the flotsam and jetsam typical for a big-budget soundtrack - an excerpt from Alan Silverstri's score, some flavorless but pleasant Kenny G instrumentals, dated pop and dance numbers, and a cover ( Curtis Stigers' take on "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," which is notable in some circles as the recording that made the song's author, Nick Lowe, a millionaire).
Like many phenomena of that magnitude, it's hard to see, in retrospect, what triggered such a massive public response. "I Will Always Love You" spent a record-shattering 14 weeks in the top slot, while The Bodyguard spent 20 weeks at number one, eventually selling over 15 million copies and winning the Grammy award for Album of the Year. The Bodyguard followed Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" to the top of the charts, and once they got there, neither the single nor the album budged for weeks. Not that the film itself was a phenomenon - it was a healthy success, due not only to Houston, but to her co-star Kevin Costner's drawing power - but the soundtrack's success was astonishing. Few observers expected that Whitney Houston's first big-screen role in 1992's The Bodyguard would generate a phenomenon.
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