Back with her first new album in seven years after her time in the music wilderness as a consequence of her well-documented drug problems during her ill-fated marriage to bad boy Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston is now clearly out to make up lost ground with ‘I Look To You’(Arista) and attempt to reclaim her position as the ‘numero uno’ female singer.

To help her achieve that goal, little has been left to chance on ‘I Look To You’. Houston is reunited with the man who discovered her and her long-time mentor, legendary music business executive/producer Clive Davis, also on board for the project is songwriter extraordinaire Diane Warren – the woman many an artist has turned to when they want to be guaranteed a surefire hit, Miss Alicia Keys- who has penned the lead-off single ‘Million Dollar Baby’, R Kelly – responsible for the album’s title track and, the ‘hit-machine’ Stargate, who have proved to be enormously successful for Beyonce, Jordin Sparks and a host of others.

Houston’s voice isn’t quite the perfect, silky, honey-toned instrument it was prior to her drug-addled days that have clearly taken a toll on her larynx, it’s now considerably rougher sounding but many might actually prefer the new dimension this has given to her singing as it imbues her voice with that ‘real’, ‘lived-in’ quality.

Of the songs, Warren’s ‘I Didn’t Know My Own Strength’, the enormous powerhouse ballad with its autobiographical tone (“I crashed down and I tumbled but I did not crumble” and…….”I was not built to break”) stands head and shoulders above the other compositions and is the one all with instantly remember.

Elsewhere, R Kelly’s poignant ‘I Look To You’ and ‘Salute’ are custom-made for Houston and suit her well as does Key’s feel-good opener ‘Million Dollar Baby’.

However, Whitney’s voice and talent deserve better than some of the other material on offer here that frankly, falls firmly into the mediocre category.

Although her huge following will ensure that Houston racks up impressive sales figures for the album, that alone might not be enough to see off the fierce female competition she now faces but a successful world tour next year might just do the trick.