‘Exhale’ Album Destined To Be Gold Mine Of Hit Singles

Every top R&B diva in Los Angeles is represented on this hotly tipped soundtrack to the film of the same title, which opens just before Christmas.

All but one of the 16 silky smooth tracks here - we predict nearly all will wind up as hit singles - were composed and produced by Kenny (Babyface) Edmonds with an imaginative feel for his singers.

By matching songs with distinctive performers - for example, the street-smart ballad, “Not Gon’ Cry,” and Mary J. Blige - he brings out the best on both sides.

It’s hard to choose highlights of an album simply packed with them. But immediate winners on “Waiting to Exhale” (Arista) include Sonja Marie’s quietly funky “And I Gave My Love to You,” TLC’s “This Is How It Works,” Toni Braxton’s “Let It Flow” and, of course, the two Whitney Houston smashes, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” and “Why Does It Hurt So Bad.”

Easily the classiest album of ‘95.