Customer Reviews

Soulsville Sings Hitsville

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The idea seems fun enough: Singers from the Stax label put their flavour of soul to the Detroit soul of Motown by singing some of Motown hits. And most of the results are okayish. Like they had thrown a Motown song into their set at some club gig, but the energy of their own hits, nor the energy of Motown is truly apparent in this collection.

Motown completists will want this because of its novelty factor. Soul junkies will like the groove well enough as it is listenable, but this isn't a must have.

I was pretty excited to hear this CD when it arrived, so what happened next may be partly my fault. I may be guilty of high expectations, or I may have been high to think this was a good idea to begin with. Some of the songs were okay, but most weren't. Without exception, I prefer the originals. These songs were stripped of their driving Motown punchy beat, yet lacked the funky deep soul that defined the Memphis Stax sound. It just didn't work for me. It really lacked the essence of each of the two great eras it attempted to merge.