Customer Reviews

Soul Sessions

5 star:		(198)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Those of you who have heard this amazing talent probably know that Joss Stone is a 16-year old blonde hailing from Great Britain and that she allegedly is the real thing, blah, blah, blah..

Guess what? She is more that the real thing. Yes her voice is amazing as is her interpretation of songs that no one in her peer group (or older comporaries for that matter) could touch. No over the top hystrionics to "prove" the she can sing (hello, Mariah, Celine, early Christina, and almost every "American Idol" contestant who manages to carry a tune.

This debut is on fire! Playing up the old-school R&B flavor in her music, Stone was signed by S-Curve Records and brought to the US to work with Betty Wright, best known for her 1972 hit "The Clean Up Woman". Wright recruited key musicians to rekindle the fire of old school soul with an amazing collection of REVAMPED covers that Stone immediately makes her own.

I was very skeptical before buying this CD (which by the way is a bargain almost everywhere selling for half the $ of most current releases) as critics tend to want to find the next best thing and hype a good thing into something that it is not. This is not about hype as Stone has a smoky voice that reeks of a hard-lived life, which only shows that a great interpreter need to not have experienced what she sings about to make you feel it all the way down to your soul.

Stone's record company felt that it was best to drop this release of covers over a formal debut album of original material and I could not agree with their decision any more than if I had made it himself. There are many established artists releasing CDs of standards right now (some are great, most are not), but the magic here is in the ecclectic yet cohesive song selection, a voice from the center of the soul, and a production effort that is second to none. Betty Wright has stripped the music in such a way that it seems effortless.

In a nutshell, but this release now if you love music over tired hystrionics or every neo-soul artist that is heralded as the next best thing. The next best thing is here and I wish her a great career. Also Betty Wright is obviously a producing talent to be reckoned with. No tricks, no veils, just the dance between a singer and music that together make this one, if not the best release of 2003.

I don't think we're not talking record of the year here but The Soul Sessions is a gem.

Once you get past the talk about this CD and go beyond a casual listening it's obvious that Joss is a modern singer. But she reaches back and pulls these songs forward with her interpretation and makes them her own. Eva Cassidy comes to mind and you'll hear her voice more than once, especially when Joss is belting it out in the upper ranges. It is not a perfect effort but she makes me listen to every breath, bend, and silence and can tug at your heart. She has all my attention and I'm looking forward to what comes next, especially with her own material.

The CD is about more than Joss and the story behind it is well worth looking in to. This 350 rpm disk will make a lot of more mature (older) people smile as they handle it and thumb through the book. The musicians are spot on and a joy to hear. The production is spare and actually lets you listen to the musicianship. All the elements here come together--singer, musicians, music, production, packaging, and pricing--to create a perfect storm that shows up everything that is wrong with the music industry today. The Soul Sessions matters in a way that music used to matter and noone should think twice about picking up a copy.

Hello, I'm a 29-year-old black female and I think Joss Stone is the best female vocalist to come along since Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. Right now, Joss is the best. She's looking like a real contender to join the vocal elite.

"The Soul Sessions" is an excellent start for her. It's quite impressive. Hard to believe this big voice is coming from someone who is only 16. Sound familiar??? Every time I listen to Josh Groban, I can't believe he's only 23. These young guns are really raising the bar and it's about time.

I only hope that less emphasis is placed on her being white. Joss' voice is more than good enough to sail this ship. It's not necessary for MTV to run a Miramax-style ad campaign. Sometimes if you push too much, you can turn people away. Joss is the real thing. All of that stuff just becomes a distraction and takes away from what's important, her singing. I even thought MTV was crazy when they mentioned her name in the same sentence as Mariah and Whitney. But they were on target. Although, you really need to hear her entire CD to draw that conclusion. Otherwise, it just sounds like hype. The clips that are provided on Amazon.com aren't worthy of her true talent. BestBuy.com allows you to listen to clips from ALL of her songs and are of a much higher quality. So I would suggest checking the latter.

I've been aware of Joss for at least 6 months, but I didn't buy her CD until yesterday. I've played it straight through 3 times, and can confidently say that this is a definite must have. I hope her record label continues to be patient and support her because she's worth it. Joss is the best, she knows it. So her label better take good care of her. They've got something big. I believe in you, Joss. Your dreams WILL come true!!! It might not be easy, but hang in there.

Favorite Songs: #1 The Chokin' Kind, #2 Super Duper Love, #4 Victim of a Foolish Heart, #7 I've Fallen in Love with You, #9 All The King's Horses.

I've seen lots of reviews comparing Joss Stone to Celine Dion, Mariah Carey or Christina/Britney. She is not really comparable to pop singers because Joss is like a glorious experiment. Can we take a 16 (at the time) year old English teenager and make her sing some obscure soul classics? The White Stripes cover that is the hit is the only modern track to be found. The rest are by soul legends like Aretha Franklin. This isn't really pop, but it's not roots oriented blues either. It lies somewhere inbetween!

The results are a very glossy album that goes down very smoothely. She has this whiskey soaked voice that really lends itself to sounding much like a modern Janis Joplin if comparisons have to be made. If you like soul infused with a rock sensibility this is the CD to get! Every track is well done, and you get Angie Stone and the Roots backing Joss up on almost all the tracks. It's a little bit of a gimmick -- the whole white teenaged girl sings the blues, but Joss has talent and her interpretations of each song is credible.

Great fun! Good for a date where you make-out in the car, a romantic dinner that might be going somewhere, or when you're in the mood to just slowly bob your head to some grooves that sound old school.

I took a look at the "lowest rated" reviews of this album and had to laugh at all the stewing sourpusses on this forum. "Highly marketable white girl with blonde hair . . . the kind of voice that's a dime a dozen on American Idol . . ." None of those nasty quibbles change the fact that this is first-rate, upbeat, funky old-school-style soul music.

I bet if most of these whiners heard her voice, and had no clue she was a 16-year-old British girl, they would believe she was a seasoned vocalist at least twice her age. She's a fantastic singer that sings with real soul. Those who insist they can't detect a world-weariness in her voice like a Nina Simone or a Koko Taylor should still be able to appreciate her voice for what it is or just leave it alone and go listen to something that speaks to them. These people who claim Joss Stone sucks are only exposing their own pettiness. I sincerely doubt that people like Betty Wright or ?uestlove (drummer from The Roots) would bother working with her if they didn't think she had something special.

Every song here is great, but my least favorite is "All the King's Horses," simply because I don't care much for updated nursery rhymes in my music. My favorite is the bluesiest one, the stunning "Dirty Man" with stellar guitar performances by Angelo Morris on electric and Jimmy Farkus on acoustic.

Top notch, gorgeous, soaring, highly enjoyable music and highly recommended!

It is hard to believe this classic selection of soul tracks is her debut. She is so young, so gifted and from England, but with a voice of a mature 45 year old black woman from the deep south. Joss has tone, style, passion and above all an identity I have not heard since Aretha Franklin and Janice Joplin hit the airwaves.

Joss Stone is a one off; she has a voice so pure, so strong, with natural soul rhythm that is illustrated in each and every track of these old covers supported by old time musicians, Little Beaver, Timmy Thomas and Latimore and backed by divas Betty Wright and Angie Stone, wow!

Opening with a passionate rendition of Choking Kind displaying the scale and flexibility of Joss' tone, contrasted by Dirty Man a cool ballad that rasps and sends shivers down your spine, and peaks with Some Kind of Wonderful an upbeat rhythmic rendition that makes you want to hear it all, all over again. Live, Joss is "Some Kind Of Wonderful" with some New Yorkers having already nicknamed her "Janice Joscelyn".

Soul Sessions.....simply sensational.

Just buy it.

What would I have done if I had never accidentally viewed Joss Stone's performance on Craig Kilborn. Hopefully, I would have found out about her anyway. I can already hear the buzz for this accomplished debut cd, The Soul Sessions. First of all, a voice that mature, powerful and soulful should not be coming out of a girl who is only 16 years old and from England. Stone's talent is really being able to surprise people with a "How can that amazing sound come from that girl?" As you can see here, there is a star on the rise. Soul Sessions is an achievement not only for the amazing young soul singer, who stand next to Angie Stone or Aretha Franklin anytime, but it is a great step forward for the music industry. Something must be going right for producers to put out such an amazing talent instead of looking for the next MTV Icon. Favorite songs are The Chokin' Kind, Super Duper Love-an awesome funk soul classic and All The King's Horses. Pretty much every track is amazing to listen to and her voice will keep you finger far away from that skip button. Stone's vocal style, tone, power and maturity is what makes her such an accomplished singer at such a young age and what gives this well produced and put together cd of non-mainstream soul covers. I am waiting anxiously for her next cd. Please go out and buy The Soul Sessions-it's worth the money. It's time listeners start supporting true and raw talent and that is Stone. I wouldn't be surprised if I hear her name up for awards around Grammy time-she is truly that amazing. Joss Stone deserves the status and success of today's pop superstars and with the way her first cd leapt off, I wouldn't be surprised if she hits superstardom soon. A Phenomenal Cd From A Phenomenal Artist! One of the Best of the Year.

The fact that this voice is coming from a 16-year old is mind-boggling enough. Joss Stone obviously has soul and talent. I haven't heard a CD quite like this in a long time, if ever! I've NEVER given a 5-star rating before! I think it's impossible to listen this album and not be moved. Even though all of the songs are covers, she makes them her own in a way and they just seem to jump out, grab you and move into your soul! Wow! What an amazing artist! Since I bought this CD sometime ago, I haven't been able to listen to anything else for very long. I always seem to want to go back this one! It just feels so pure. I HIGHLY recommend this CD to anyone! I look forward to hearing her "other" first album soon! But in the meantime, this is more than enough to keep me happy!!!!!!!!

I was fortunate to witness and hear the very lovely Joss Stone recently at an in-store performance at Borders in Washington, DC. The 16 year old child prodigy was accompanied by Betty Wright "the Clean -up Woman" who also co-produced and wrote songs for this incredible set "Soul Sessions". I was intrigued at how such a young woman could sing so passionately about topics beyond her age of experience. Betty Wright mentioned Joss is like an old soul. Joss even performed a song she wrote herself a few years back entitled "Jetlag" which told a tale of love and woe from the deepest channels of the heart, which will appear on her next cd. This current release is the epitome of the combined words "rythm and blues". It was also very nice to hear a young lady sing about something other than the current fare of Brittney Speare's type booty-shaking "slave to love" type junk. Joss is going to go far and my congratulations to her. She is destined to fly like the angel she is...

Having won a BBC Talent Show called "Star for a Night" as a twelve year old, Joss Stone was only sixteen when this album was released in 2003. She has since performed at the White House, for James Brown and Elton John and even - apparently - fielded calls from Tom Cruise. Even so, some interviews I have seen give the impression she isn't all that comfortable with the idea of fame yet. She does, however, have an incredible voice and puts it to much better use on this album than your average teen star.

Stone's record label had originally meant for her to record an EP, covering a number of 60s R'n'B tracks, and arranged for her to work with Betty Wright. However, Wright was so impressed with Joss' performance that the EP grew into this 10-track album. Each song is a gem, though (to the best of my knowledge) only two were released as singles. "Fell In Love With A Boy" was the song that started people talking - not being a fan of the White Stripes, who originally wrote and recorded the song, I was a little shocked to hear one of their songs sounding so good. "Super Duper Love", is a good deal more up-tempo and overt with its good old-fashioned 70s vibe. The remaining tracks, however, are every bit as good, if not better. "I've Fallen in Love With You" is notable as one of the songs with a 'happier' feel to it. The opening track, "The Chokin' Kind", is a superbly delivered slow number, while no teenager should be able to sing "Dirty Man" like this !!

Joss Stone seems to have affected people in much the same way as Norah Jones has - it seems that she's either loved or hated. Some of the criticims I've heard, however, have been ridiculous : one colleague of mine dismisses her (it appears) because she doesn't sing with a 1970s rock band and doesn't sport a moustache. (Honestly, I'm not kidding). When I first heard of her, admittedly, I was a little dubious - white English teenagers do not have a reputation for singing in the style the pundits were describing. However, once I heard her singing I was hugely impressed. With this set of songs, this voice and this delivery, I honestly can't see any flaws with this album.