Various Artists [Afrodisiac - Forty Original Soulful Classics]This is a wonderful double disc set, featuring mainly Seventies Motown, Disco, and Soul, there's some really great songs on here, plus it brings back memories of when i was a teenager!, this disc appeared in my Blog in 2010 [30th November 2010], and basically the same feelings apply here, what a tremendous era in musical history that was, however i was more into Rock, Glam, and Punk at the time, it was only later that i delved into this stuff.
The visuals for this issue are great, the front cover is a mono black and white [brown and yellow] shot of a girl with a huge afro hairstyle, very Seventies, notice the CND [Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament] necklace!, even the back cover is excellent, black and brown on yellow really stands out, and the brown and black nicely differentiates between song and Artist, all round a great package.
In listening to these discs, i really enjoyed tracks 3, 5, 9, 16-17, 19, 32 & 37-40, and i suppose out of these if i could just mention four, and give a little synopsis of each,
9 The Isley Brothers - [Who's] That Lady, featuring a wailing lead guitar throughout, the intro is quite Reggae-ish, as is common with these guy groups, there's a call and response between the lead singer and the other guys, and every chance the guitarist gets, off he wails with his guitar, at the end he gets to do a long manic guitar solo, which i really enjoyed!.
19 Johnny Bristol - Hang On In There Baby, quite a long slowish introduction, of almost talking, but when the music really get going, it's a lovely moment, the chorus is excellent, lovely background guitar, there's a clever brass interlude in the middle [1:59-2:18], and Bristol really develops an intensity afterwards, 'let it go baby, let it go honey'.
37 Limmie & Family Cookin' - You Can Do Magic, the only track that i highlighted from last time, it's such a strong song, and it's got a clever vibe to it, mainly caused by the cymbal work of the drummer, 'you can do magic!', it's virtually shouted out, with such enthusiasm, makes you want to jump up and down, and a nice little sax solo towards the end [2:11-2:26].
38 Billy Ocean - Love Really Hurts Without You, Ocean has a nice strong voice, a slight warble to it, and such a powerful song to go with it too, the chorus is really infectious.
9 The Isley Brothers - [Who's] That Lady, featuring a wailing lead guitar throughout, the intro is quite Reggae-ish, as is common with these guy groups, there's a call and response between the lead singer and the other guys, and every chance the guitarist gets, off he wails with his guitar, at the end he gets to do a long manic guitar solo, which i really enjoyed!.
19 Johnny Bristol - Hang On In There Baby, quite a long slowish introduction, of almost talking, but when the music really get going, it's a lovely moment, the chorus is excellent, lovely background guitar, there's a clever brass interlude in the middle [1:59-2:18], and Bristol really develops an intensity afterwards, 'let it go baby, let it go honey'.
37 Limmie & Family Cookin' - You Can Do Magic, the only track that i highlighted from last time, it's such a strong song, and it's got a clever vibe to it, mainly caused by the cymbal work of the drummer, 'you can do magic!', it's virtually shouted out, with such enthusiasm, makes you want to jump up and down, and a nice little sax solo towards the end [2:11-2:26].
38 Billy Ocean - Love Really Hurts Without You, Ocean has a nice strong voice, a slight warble to it, and such a powerful song to go with it too, the chorus is really infectious.
