Customer Reviews

Jewels In The Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Aretha Franklin's "Jewels in the Crown" marks her exit from Arista Records. Although it may be argued that this recording is merely a "contractual obligation" two new duets, with Fantasia and John Legend make it of great interest to Aretha's fans. The Queen gets down and has some fun! As well, it's great to have material spanning 1981 to 1999 on one convenient disc. A personal disappointment is that Aretha's televised duet with the late Lou Rawls, "At Last" was omitted.
In a November 4th full page feature in the New York Times Aretha stated "You might as well say it's over" in reference to her tenure at Arista Records. Clive Davis however is of another opinion. "The lawyers say there are cuts owed. I don't know that for a fact, I have not gotten into that. She and I, we've had a long relationship."
One thing is for sure. This recording paves the way for Aretha's upcoming recording "Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love" due in the spring of 2008, which will feature songs she wrote and produced herself rather than the established hit makers assigned her during her contract with Arista. In fact, Aretha is apparently so pumped about her new material that during a recent Christmas promotional appearance in Toronto where she was contracted to perform four songs on an outdoor stage, she thrilled the audience with a preview cut "How Long I've Been Waiting" from her upcoming album. Aretha, resplendid in a full length mink coat, sipped on a cup of tea to keep warm, as she played the piano.
"Jewels In The Crown" is a reminder of the places the Queen has transported us to and serves as a roadmap to where she wants to take us next. Long live the Queen!

Oh the memories! I remember when each and every song hit the airwaves. I love the fact that Clive used some alternate versions of songs like "Never gonna break my faith" with MJB. I also love the alternate mixes of some of the older songs, complete with additional never before released vocal adlibs etc...

I always thought Aretha handled duets with a fresh approach to the material, be it good or bad and made the song work...for her vocal style. I guess this is why she will forever be the queen. The new duets are off the hook too. I have heard some say that the new material is beneath Aretha and she should leave the hip hop r&b to the kids. Well I've got news for you, this is the new r&b of today, and I think what has always made Aretha stand out is her ability to adapt to whatever situation musically she is delt. There is no going back to the 60's cause then folks will say "why don't she sing something current." I guess on this note, Aretha has learned and stopped trying please everyone, cause you just can't! I love the duet with Fantasia because Aretha is doing her, even though the music is current Aretha is still Aretha. I think she is recording what feels good to her at this point.

I would also pose the question...How many other 65 yr old artists do you hear new music from on mainstream radio? Aretha is also nominated for a grammy for the duet with MJB. I wish Aretha the best! Sing for me like Ella did till the end, when they had to wheel her out on stage. God has truly gifted you.

As a HUGE Aretha Franklin Fan, owning just about everything she has released since 1960 through now, including vinyl and CD..I have to say that I am happy to have these duets in once place. Some have been overlooked because the album they appeared on my not have gotten the kind of publicity she and we loyal fans feel they should have (e. g. Through the Storm released in 1989 was a stunned example of duets from the Queen with James Brown, Whitney, The 4 Tops and Elton John). I am beyond happy that Fantasia finally gets to sing with the Queen. The track is cool and I love the "girl talk" between the two mid-song. The song with John Legend has a wonderful retro feel to it and love the 1960-ish Soul/R&B feel to the riffs..I had to play that one at least three times before allowing the disk to continue. Mary J. Blige and Aretha are incredible together and the two examples here are (in my opinion) stellar. "Don't Waste Your Time" is awesome and is one the major examples of my MJB's album "Mary" was a huge. Two heavy hitters on the same song - just incredible. Love Aretha's return to gospel with the track with MJB of "Never Gonna Break my Faith" that one really moved me!

I kind of wish this had been a two disk collection because I can think of a few "Live" duets that deserve some presence here. My only issue with the collection is that I had hoped the entire intro from Chain of Fools with Mariah would have been included...I remember her saying something about "her new girlfriend" and then of course she intros her son Teddy just before the explode into Chain of Fools..would have brought that track full circle much better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Aretha! However, when an Artist of this stature allows an album to be billed as "new" when it has over 90% regurgitated content on it and it's not considered a "Greatest Hits" album, smells fishy to me and seems to be a little deceptive. Even the cover photo is regurgitated from the Rose Is Still A Rose album.

If you're going to do a duets album and call it "new," then I would think the Queen should have gone into the studio and sung some new duets/covers of her old hits over and above the 2 new ones included on this effort.

This seems to be a trend that the executives of the record companies have thought up to make more money. They got a taste of how well a "duets" themed album could do with the 2 albums Frank Sinatra put out back in the 90's... and they saw dollar signs!

The big difference between this album when compared to Sinatra's Duet album is that Sinatra re-recorded his hits with other artists (kinda ironic that both Aretha sang on the first Sinatra duet album.....). Even though Sinatra did not get together with the artists in the same studio for the actual recording, it was still an event in the making and was a great album!

Perhaps record companies think that consumers are so gullible and ravenous for anything new from an Artist like Aretha that they can get away with this... It's just one more example, in my opinion, of how seriously out of touch record companies are with today's music consumers who only want to pay for the songs they like, or either don't have in their collection yet.

I would have loved nothing better than to see Aretha go into the studio and do exactly what Sinatra did for this release. Nothing would have made me happier than to see her get together with Mariah Carey to perform a proper duet. To call her singing with Mariah of "Chain of Fools" from the VH1 Divas Concert a "duet" is a pretty big stretch if you ask me. If this had been done in the studio it probably would have been amazing.

Still, I love the duets on the collection and I guess if you don't own this material through another previous release, then I can see the merit in wanting to purchase it. So for that and that alone, I give it 3 stars.

I guess some of you are wondering why i would rate this collection 5 stars??well because it's the queen of soul.I think if your a true fan you have all of her cd's,I do I just pick it up for the new two tracks with Miss Fantasia nad Mr. Legend he is lovely,just love him and his voice.I can't wait untill spring when her new cd comes out.you go Miss Franklin

I LOVE EVERY SONG ON THIS CD, I THINK ARETHA HAS OUT DONE HER SELF, HER MUSIC IS A SOULFUL AS IT EVERY WAS. I WOULD RECOMMENDED THIS CD AS A MUST HAVE IN YOUR COLLECTION

When it comes to the music industry, and especially in R&B, we've often forgotten about older artists like Patti LaBelle, and Whitney Houston and how much of a influence they've brought to the music industry. Instead, we are often interested in acts like Beyonce' and Jennifer Lopez as the divas of this time. Nevertheless, it is sad we don't hear the unique melodies of greats. that also is why so much of us do overlook Aretha Franklin as a huge influence as well. For her 5 decades of influence as one of the great divas of all, her voice has still been proven past and present that it still shines on like a definite diamond. Although her previous albums haven't scored well, she still can maintain a huge ovation, even with others on this duets collection.

Aretha Franklin's 2007 duets album Jewels In The Crown: Duets With the Queen Of Soul, is a collection of some of Aretha's duets old and new. Some of the tracks are well worth listening too like the classics, and simply because some of them have been out of print for a longtime, as very rare gems which are real treats for die hard Aretha Franklin fans, while other duets could've fit the bill a bit better, especially the new tracks. Nevertheless, the collection does include some great gems like I Knew You Were Waiting For Me with George Michael, Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves with the Eurythmics, and a live recording of Chain Of Fools with Mariah Carey from VH1's 1998 Divas Live benefit concert. Surprisingly though, it is the rare gems that've finally came back to life that actually steal the show on the album like her overlooked collaborations with Elton John on 1989's Through the Storm and with Whitney Houston on It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Ever Gonna Be. Although the classics and the rare cuts work good, the new duets like the one with Fantasia Burrino from American Idol on Put You Up On Game, and John Legend on What Y'All Came To Do don't seem to measure the hype of a great set of new duets, and doesn't add-on well for anyone who is new to Aretha's sound. Instead, the new duets feel like they just are lackluster, and miss out to Aretha's classic sound and soulful, unique voice.

While Jewels In the Crown doesn't do enough to get those who are new to Aretha Franklin's distinctive voice, especially those who'd rather listen to Beyonce' and the disgraced Britney Spears, it is a great buy for die hard fans young and old. It is a good addition to your R&B music library, but doesn't clean itself up as a must buy for anyone who has definitely missed out on Aretha at her best, and seem more into who has to be hot now, and not the merit of the artist within.

Album Cover: B

Songs: C+

Price: B-

Remastering: B 1/2-

Overall: C+

The Queen of Soul is well represented here. Enough said.

PS: Buy the CD, play it on a good system (Like Pioneer, Crown, JBL)

PLAY it loud
Especially on 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 (with Mary J Blige), 9, 10 (featuring LUTHER),
12 (featuring Michael McDonald) The remastering here is a bit on the hot side, but it's fun for a RE-SPIN. Do this before you rate the 59 second samples ) ;-)

This CD just shows why she is titled the "Queen of Soul". All hail the Queen!

One can never go wrong with anything that the Queen of Soul composes. She embraces the talents of the various artists. It shows a totally different side of her. This CD absolutely "blew me away".