Spirit In The Dark - ARETHA FRANKLIN****

Don't Play That Song/The Thrill Is Gone/Pullin'/You & Me/Honest I Do/Spirit In The Dark/When The Battle Is Over/One Way Ticket/Try Matty's/That's All I Want From You/Oh No Not My Baby/Why I Sing The Blues

Spirit In The Dark sees Aretha Franklin returning to her soul roots after some experimentation. Includes the Grammy winning single Don't Play That Song, a top twenty hit in both the US and UK. (US:25)

"After the jazz-edged Soul '69 and the pop soul oriented This Girl's In Love With You, Aretha unleashed her earthiest soulful testament in quite a while with the brooding Spirit In The Dark."

"It's her most earthiest set of songs and certainly more versatile than her previous records. Lavished with the most glorious gospel backings and Aretha's own piano - which by the way took me completely by surprise, seeing just how rhythmic and enthusiast a pianist she is. And the songs are just great, the band sound awesome and it contains her most serious songwriting efforts with four penned by herself. Her choice of covers is still as eclectic as ever, even a touch of blues here and there, but her voice soars and tears through them all."

"It lives up to its name as her performance and treatment of each song is nothing short of spirited. The music is bluesy and the songs have fantastic arrangements making everything come together perfectly. I actually had no idea that Aretha played the piano on this until recently and wow is she skilled."

"This is definitely an overlooked Aretha Franklin album. While it's not the best of her Atlantic albums, it still holds it's own and is very consistent. Some really inspired cover song choices, the best being her version of Oh No Not My Baby. She sounds refreshed and overall it's an enjoyable album start to finish."

"The first Aretha Franklin album I ever bought, and still one of my favourites, because she plays great piano on it, because of the gospel atmosphere. Today Aretha has been a caricature of herself for a quarter of century, but this album is enough to justify her reputation."

"It's undeniably good stuff and perhaps all around, Aretha at her most refined. After failed exercises in the covering pop, rock, and jazz with a splash of her customary soul on her prior two albums to this one, Aretha picks up where she left off on Aretha Now sticking what she does best - southern soul, blues, and gospel. I say it's her most refined because the production hardly has any missteps."