Soul Ballads [Boxsets] [Box] (CD - 2000)

Soul Ballads on Boxsets looks like a good collection of soul classics from the likes of Percy Sledge, Ben E. King, the Drifters, Sam & Dave, and Dobie Gray. The only catch is that almost all the songs included here are not the original performances but are remakes from much farther down the line in the artists' careers. The musical backing is tinny and canned sounding, and the singers for the most part show their age. A few like Dobie Gray ("Drift Away") and Aaron Neville ("Tell It Like It Is") still sound okay, but who wants to hear remakes when the originals are so good? Who would buy a disc made up of nothing but remakes and fakes? Hopefully nobody. [This exact collection was also released by St. Clair as Forever Gold: Soul Ballads and by Excelsior as Soul Ballads, Vols. 1 & 2.] ~ Tim Sendra minimize