Aretha Franklin - The Atlantic Albums Collection

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Incomplete but still fantastic

This box contains Aretha Franklin's greatest early work – and therefore her greatest work, in my view.  The woman is a phenomenon and is rightly loved and respected by millions (including me) as a genuine giant of music.  This box contains some of the best and some of the most important and influential soul music ever recorded and further comment from me on the music itself would be irrelevant and probably an impertinence.

What you may like to know is that the box is not a complete collection of Aretha's Atlantic recordings.  For clarity I have listed the contents at the end of this review.  Five post-1974 albums are missing: With Everything I Feel In Me, You, Sweet Passion, Almighty Fire and La Diva.  It's debatable how much of a loss this is, but it does seem like a missed opportunity to issue a definitive, complete collection of Aretha's entire Atlantic output.

Nevertheless, this remains a magnificent collection.  (And it comes as a welcome reminder after last year's frankly dismal Great Diva Classics album.)  The sound quality seems fine to me, so if like me you want CD versions of your old vinyl albums and you want to fill in some gaps in your collection, or if you just want a box of superb music by one of the true Greats of the last 50 years, I can warmly recommend this.

The albums:

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Arrives

Aretha Now

Lady Soul

Aretha in Paris

Soul ’69

This Girl’s in Love with You

Spirit in the Dark

Live at Fillmore West [Deluxe]

Young, Gifted and Black

Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings

Let Me in Your Life

Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of The Sky)

Sparkle

Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul

Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live in Philly, 1972