This Girl's In Love With You - ARETHA FRANKLIN***

Son Of A Preacher Man/Share Your Love With Me/The Dark End Of The Street/Let It Be/Eleanor Rigby/This Girl's In Love With You/It Ain't Fair/The Weight/Call Me/Sit Down & Cry

Renowned soul singer Aretha Franklin entered the seventies at the top of her game following the release of a string of strong albums. In the new decade she appeared to lose direction, embracing some unsuitable musical styles a few of which are found on This Girl's In Love With You. (US:17)

"Stepping away from the jazz moves of her prior studio release, the collection offered up a mixture of popular pop and soul covers, most given a distinctive Franklin reading. Much of the collection has a kind of dark and disturbed vibe (It Ain't Fair, Dark End Of The Street and Sit Down And Cry), but then, those are the kind of circumstances that have always made for some of Franklin's best work."

"Though clearly better than her last, there's simply hardly anything here of real note. Just a bunch of weak and rushed songs, many of which disappoint, leaving the listener wanting more from these renditions. There's some enjoyment to be found in Call Me (an Aretha original), regardless of how simplistic and gushy it is."

"There is an argument that after Lady Soul Franklin went into decline: the evidence here is that she made a patchy, uneven album, one that seemed to be attempting to reach new audiences while being a little uncertain, but one that includes a number of remarkable performances. For me, Dark End Of The Street and Sit Down & Cry could be included on any compilation of Aretha Franklin’s greatest performances. Despite its unevenness this album still shows that Aretha Franklin was a great soul singer."

"Back in the day, when Aretha Franklin covered another artist's record, they had to run for cover. Franklin was never an imitator. When she re-did another artist's song, she transformed it from the ordinary to extraordinary and from good to great."

"An interesting album that strikes a chord of heartache, sorrow and misery. I really wish that she would play the piano more and accompany herself. When this happens the magic that only Aretha can do makes the hair on your arms fizzle."

"Instead of triumph, though, we get rushed, stop-and-go phrasing with weak rhythms and a glaring absence of horns. Some of the ballads are evocative in the right places, but Franklin's not meant to have a backing sound this forgettable."