Since
Diane Warren was the most successful songwriter of the '90s, it is surprising that nobody devoted an entire album to her songs until
Johnny Mathis did in 1998. Of course,
Warren's renown was slow to build, since she achieved her success the old-fashioned way, by writing and pitching her songs, but not actually recording them herself. Still, by 1996, when
Warren's songs occupied the top of the charts for ten weeks (six weeks with
Celine Dion's recording of "Because You Loved Me" and the first four weeks of an 11-week run by
Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart"), even casual pop music fans could tell you who she was. She is the queen of the contemporary romantic ballad, whether performed by pop, rock, country, or R&B performers (indeed, her songs have proven readily adaptable to all genres). They are characterized by slow or loping tempos, strong hooks, and nakedly emotional lyrics, pop songwriting craftsmanship at its best (or, depending on your point of view, its most contrived). Could any material be better suited to
Johnny Mathis, a singer who has devoted his career to love songs, feelingly rendering them in his immediately identifiable tremulous tenor? Not surprisingly,
Mathis showed tremendous affinity for
Warren's songs, choosing ten of them from among the songwriter's many hits, from 1989's "All I Want Is Forever" (originally taken into the R&B Top Ten by
James "J.T." Taylor and
Regina Belle) to "Un-Break My Heart." Since
Warren has managed to place her songs well with exceptional singers who did them justice,
Mathis didn't really improve on any of the original recordings. Rather, in the manner of the old days of non-writing singers and non-singing songwriters, he rendered the songs in his familiar style for his fans. Of course, we now live in a time when songs tend to be identified with specific recordings by specific singers, which diminishes the impact of
Mathis' achievement. Though the album works as a songbook, one wonders why
Mathis didn't commission ten new songs from
Warren, giving him the chance of scoring a hit. Still, this is a distinguished step on
Diane Warren's path to full recognition of her talents, and a typically high-quality effort from
Mathis as well. ~ William Ruhlmann