Barry White - The Icon Is Love (1994)

“The Icon Is Love” is the nineteenth album by American R&B singer Barry White, which was released in 1994 on A&M Records. The album represented a major comeback for White both critically and commercially, and went on to become easily his most successful album since his 1970s heyday.
Barry White has been to the top of the charts an admirable number of times, but only one of his hits was a ballad (a studio effort for the Quincy Jones album Back on the Block that included El DeBarge, James Ingram and Al B. Sure!). However, as a solo artist, White has never had a ballad usurp the number one spot on the Billboard charts. “The Icon Is Love's” featured release fills that void. "Practice What You Preach," which unites the maestro with producers Gerald LeVert and Edwin Nicholas, has a simmering arrangement, evocative lyric, and White's brawn delivery. The catchy melody and sensuous female backing vocals enhance this already stellar single. White showcases his seductive, bassy baritone with romantic rap introductions on most of the selections. There is a balance of uptempo and balladic songs. The other two featured releases were "Come On" and "There It Is." The former is reminiscent of his days as the king of disco-swing, and the latter is a contemporary funky ballad. Respectively, they tipped in at 12 and 54.
Production credits were mainly shared by White variously with Gerald Levert, Jack Perry, Tony Nicholas and White's godson Chuckii Booker. “The Icon Is Love” also includes two tracks ("I Only Want to Be with You" and "Come On") produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded at their Flyte Tyme studios in Minnesota, which are the only tracks ever recorded by White on which he does not have at least a co-production credit. The album contains a remix of "Super Lover", from White's 1989 album “The Man Is Back!” as a bonus track.


01.  "Practice What You Preach"  (Barry White, Gerald Levert, Edwin Nicholas)  - 5:59
02.  "There It Is"  (White, Levert, Nicholas)  - 7:03
03.  "I Only Want to Be With You"  (James Harris III, Terry Lewis, White)  - 5:01
04.  "The Time Is Right"  (White, Chuckii Booker)  - 5:46
05.  "Baby's Home"  (Barry Eastmond, Gary Brown, Jolyon Skinner)  - 8:17
06.  "Come On"  (Harris, Lewis, White, James Wright)  - 5:50
07.  "Love Is the Icon"  (White, Jack Perry)  - 4:38
08.  "Sexy Undercover"  (White, Booker)  - 4:51
09.  "Don't You Want to Know?"  (White, Michael Lovesmith)  - 6:51
10.  "Whatever We Had, We Had"  (White, Lovesmith)  - 10:41
11.  "Super Lover (Undercover Mix)"  (White, Perry, William Jones)  - 5:49

Credits
Vocals, Keyboards - Barry White
Backing Vocals – Carrie Harrington, Core Cotton, Crystal Penni, Jimmy Wright, Libby Turner, Mike Blackmon, Patrick C. Balckmon
Drums, Keyboards, Programmed By – Chuckii Booker, Tony Nicholas, Jack Perry
Saxophone – Gerald Albright
Recorded By [Background Vocals] – Joe Schiff
Recorded By [Strings] – Mike Ross
Executive-Producer – Barry White
Conductor [Conducted By], Orchestrated By – John Roberts
Design – Chuck Beeson, Command A Studios, Inc.
Engineer [Assistant] – Jeff Taylor
Executive Producer – Barry White
Mastered By – Dave Collins
Mastered By [Assisted By] – Patricia Sullivan
Mixed By – Craig Burbidge
Mixed By, Recorded By – Steve Hodge
Other [Spiritual Advisor] – Mr. Larry Nunes
Photography By – Randee St. Nicholas
A&R – Sandra "Sandi" Hawthorne
Art Direction – Chuck Beeson

Notes
Recorded 1993-1994; Record One, Sherman Oaks, CaliforniFlyte Tyme Studios, Edina, Minnesota
Distributed By – PolyGram
Genre - R&B, soul
Duration Time - 73:46
© 1994 A&M Records Inc., Los Angeles