You Give Good Love - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Steve Peake of About.com, listing the song as the first of "Top 5 Whitney Houston songs of the '80s", praised Houston's vocal ability on the song highly, writing "One of Whitney Houston's signature gifts in the '80s was undoubtedly her ability to blend small amounts of soul into her slick adult contemporary pop ballads, just enough to make sure the music would appeal to urban audiences as well as mainstream pop fans. This song is a great example of this, as Houston delivers a sufficiently soulful, passionate performance that rides in on a modest R&B groove perfect for after-dark encounters with the one you love, or at least somebody you kinda like. Though not a songwriter herself, Houston immediately displayed here an uncanny gift for selecting permanent pop melodies to which to apply her vocal precision." Billboard, in its review of the single, called Houston's vocal on the song as "a voice of exceptional clarity and control." Adam White, a performance reviewer of Billboard, in his writing of Houston's performance to promote her debut album at the Sweetwater's in New York, described the song as "the mellifluous, midtempo item." Other critic of Billboard, Brian Chin commented that "the ecstatic single which may possibly be the classiest make-out song since 'Fire and Desire'." While reviewing Houston's I Look to You album, Rashod D. Ollison from TheGrio.com stated that "You Give Good Love" is "effortlessly sexy."