"It is easier to define Dionne Warwick by what she isn't rather than what she is. Although she grew up singing in church, she is not a gospel singer. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, but she is not a jazz singer. R&B is also part of her background, but she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin is. Sophisticated is a word often used to describe her musical approach and the music she sings. She hooked up with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, songwriters and producers who wrote their unusually complicated songs for her aching yet detached alto voice. Warwick is inescapably associated with those songs, even though she managed to build a career after leaving Bacharach and David - one that drew upon their style for other memorable recordings - and she remains a unique figure in popular music." (Allmusic)
"Warwick's voice is somewhat weathered, but she is still a warm, expressive vocalist. She's Back gets off to a slow start, with four ballads in a row, three of them duets (with Musiq Soulchild, Kenny Lattimore, and Kevon Edmonds). While these songs might not be bad on their own, they slow the initial momentum of the album considerably. She's Back begins to pick up steam with the fifth track, a revamped version of Warwick's 1979 hit, "Déjà vu" that features rapper Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. While the obligatory rap guest verse on pop and R&B albums has become a bit of a cliché, this new "Déjà vu" is actually kind of fun. (...) With some thoughtful editing, from 15 songs down to 10 or at most 12, She's Back would pack more of a punch. But in any event, it's good to have Warwick back. It's also worth noting that She's Back includes a bonus disc, Dionne Sings Dionne, an entertaining 1998 album in which Warwick revisits a set of songs from throughout her career." (www.popmatters.com)
CD1 bevat 26 songs uit haar gouden periode, de jaren zestig, met uitsluitend materiaal van Burt Bacharach en Hal David: 'Walk On By', 'I'll Say A Little Prayer'... CD2 belicht haar comeback in de jaren '80, met o.a. werk van Barry Gibb.
"Privé liep het niet altijd voorspoedig voor Dionne Warwick. In 2012 overleed nichtje Whitney Houston. En vorig jaar zag de zangeres, midden in haar vijftigjarige artiestenjubileum, zich gedwongen een faillissement aan te vragen als gevolg van een oude belastingschuld. Maar nu is er gelukkig beter nieuws van het Warwick-front. Want met deze lekker in het gehoor liggende duettenplaat toont Warwick op haar 73ste aan nog altijd over een elegant stemgeluid te beschikken, dat pakken ze haar niet af natuurlijk. Ze zingt hoofdzakelijk nieuwe versies van oude succesnummers, zoals uit de Burt Bacharach-Hal David-catalogus. Als duetpartners fungeren onder meer Gladys Knight, Ne-Yo, Billy Ray Cirus, Cyndi Lauper en kleindochter Cheyenne Elliott. Dit resulteert in een warme, smaakvolle en zeker ook afwisselende productie met beurtelings popsoul, r&b, easy listening en popballads. Een van de sterkste troeven is de heerlijk lome zondagmiddag-r&b op "Déjà Vu" met Jamie Foxx." (Willem Jaap van Essen, Platomania; cijfer: 8)
"Although she gained fame singing a cool, anodyne version of pop-soul, Dionne Warwick's roots -- like many soul singers -- were in gospel. (Much of her family, including her mother, performed in the Drinkard Singers and Dionne herself formed the Gospelaires with sister Dee Dee to accompany them.) This, her first gospel album in nearly 40 years, obviously benefits from that experience, but also from her many contacts and family members. Produced in part by her talented son Damon Elliott (Destiny's Child, P!nk) and including a song by another son, David Elliott, the album also features involvement from BeBe Winans and the New Hope Baptist Church Choir. As on her last secular album, Warwick's voice may be weaker than in the '60s and '70s, but the productions and guest features are solid. Ironically, even in this gospel medium, where a strong voice is arguably more important than anything else, Warwick succeeds, perhaps by the force of her convictions." (John Bush, Allmusic)
De zangeres, vooral bekend om haar Bacharach-repertoire, zingt op dit album musicalliedjes uit vooral de eerste helft van de 20ste eeuw van Cole Porter, o.a. 'I've Got You Under My Skin'. De van origine voor bigband gearrangeerde nummers hebben nu een jaren '90-middle of the road-pop-jas met mainstreamjazz-input.
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