Customer Reviews

Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs

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There are no liner notes provided with this album, so we are not told who wrote these songs, what their total effect should be, or how we should assess what we hear within the context of Aretha's career. This means that the final judgment is upon the listener, so I will choose some standout tracks and tell you how they strike me. For the first one, "(It's Just) Your Love", I picture a dimly lit club, with Aretha on the stage, dressed in white, under a single spotlight. This is also my impression of the whole album in general. These adult contemporary tracks are meant for carefree enjoyment, but even so Aretha cannot hold in the soul feeling that comes naturally to her. "Love Pang" is a joyous remembrance of last night's lovemaking, and Aretha's ecstasy is revealed in a vocal that hits the high register very often. Alas, I had high hopes for the romantic standard "Misty", but this version doesn't work too well for me, mainly because that beautiful song is nearly lost in the maze of Aretha's very affected vocal. But it's not THAT bad, and it does fit into the overall scheme of things. Thankfully, it is followed by the very excellent "Freeway Of Love", and the album is back on track.

"Love Me Right" and "Every Girl (Wants My Guy)" sound like disco-era tracks, and the latter features an interesting one-sided phone conversation. "Unforgettable" has a young Aretha singing amid a waterfall of strings, xylophone, sax and piano. On "Gimme Your Love", the Queen of Soul duets with James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, and the funky result generates a lot of raw heat and humor. "A Rose Is Still A Rose" is the title cut from the comeback album that put Aretha briefly on the hip-hop map in 1998, with a little help from Lauryn Hill. In "Never Leave You Again", Aretha gives us a sample of her talent for scat singing. "Until You Say You Love Me" is a gorgeous pop ballad with a glittering pop arrangement, from Aretha's album "Who's Zoomin' Who".

For those of you who like quantity as well as quality, this album clocks in at over 73 minutes. This adds up to "a whole lotta kisses, and sweet stuff" from this classic, versatile artist.

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