Toni Braxton - Secrets [2LP]

Toni Braxton's Secrets returns on double vinyl, the 1996 album that turned the velvet-voiced singer into a worldwide star.

Braxton's 1993 debut had already proved she could sing, but Secrets showed just how far that smoky contralto could travel, from slow-burning R&B to sweeping pop balladry. Released on LaFace, the label founded by L.A. Reid and Babyface, who also produced several of its songs, it remains one of the defining R&B records of the nineties, polished and grown-up and full of quiet heat.

"You're Makin' Me High" glides on a cool, sensual groove, and "Un-Break My Heart" is the kind of torch song that stops a room, all aching strings and a vocal that sounds genuinely shattered. "There's No Me Without You" and "I Love Me Some Him" fill out the record with slow-jam warmth, proof that the deep cuts are every bit as strong as the hits.

Braxton's voice is the star throughout, low and husky one moment and soaring the next, but never showy for the sake of it. She sings like someone confiding in you, which is exactly why these songs still land so hard.

Spread across two discs, the album gets room to breathe, and those rich low notes sound gorgeous through a good pair of speakers.