Barry with his smooth as silk voice embraces these lyrics with some smooth, erotically sensuous beats. His words flow like melted butter over your soul. I have been a fan for years and this is some of his best work to date. There is something for everyone on this CD. And if your are looking for some great "put you in the mood music" well, you had better pick this one up, You will be glad you did !!

Having survived his second career as a self-parody (crooning over Arby's sandwiches, saving the snakes of Springfield, etc.), Barry has earned the right to take a moment and reflect on what it all means. The result is this mildly entertaining, oddly Republican record.

The centerpiece is a bizarre little tune called "Get Up" which, contrary to one's expectations, is not an exhortation to phallic prowess but rather ye old-fashioned Protestant Work Ethic - i.e. "Get up off your ass and do something." A worthy sentiment, to be sure, but somewhat distracting when attempting to get close to the very special lady of one's choice.

There are the requisite number of make-out soundtracks (featuring lyrics like "You're so precious and cute / You're very very sensitive / You like flowers...") but they all lack the purple-satin plushness of his classic stuff. Mostly this is due to the brittle crispness of the contemporary production (i.e. the famous Barry White orchestration, always the most important part of his sound, is reduced to occasional, repetitive, thin, and probably synthesized strings). But one must also acknowledge the unstayable hands of Time. (There's some wisdom Barry didn't get around to.) His duet with the great Chaka Khan finds the lady in reasonably good voice but as they pant and moan about "turning out the lights", "making it right", and so on, I can never help thinking, "These people are old to be my parents."

So maybe what F. Scott Fitzgerald meant to say was that there *are* second acts in American lives; they're just never as good as the first.

After five years of waiting for a new Barry White record this one has come as a rather large disappointment. While "The Icon Is Love" could at least provide the sensation of hearing Barry White surviving into the 90s, "Staying Power" just puts you to sleep - it is sooo boring. Don't dare to look for quality here, for energy, for melody, for - life. Barry seems to have transformed into some kind of zombie giving us only the most predictable and empty material. The second star is given only for that slightly more solid title track. Please Barry, don't stay that way.

...in business and in bed seem to be the dominant themes of this great album featuring all the trademarks that made Barry White great in the seventies,and also two duets with Chaka Khan and Lisa Stansfield.More so than 1994's'The Icon is Love',this 1998 effort seems to be a return to form of some kind,sounding very fresh and convincing.

I'm digging on this right here! Mr. White is truly exceptional. All those youngsters have nothing on this man when it comes to spittin' game. I should know, I am a youngster. My father and I listen to the album all day today, (He just puchased today) and we both feel like this is his come back, because even though my father bought the last album and we listened to it but, it wasn't really doig anything for us. He did it this time, and he is still a legend and still here, cause haven't you heard? He got STAYING POWER!