117. Aretha Franklin | Aretha: Lady Soul (1968)

---

Wikipedia Entry

---

Tracks

1. Chain Of Fools
2. Money Won't Change You
3. People Get Ready
4. Niki Hoeky
5. (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman
6. (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone
7. Good to Me As I Am to You
8. Come Back Baby
9. Groovin'
10. Ain't No Way

---

Aretha: Lady Soul is an energetic album. The songs are soul, naturally. Aretha Franklin sounds great. The music is great, too. The bass creates nice grooves and is really dynamic at the same time.

For some reason though, great music and great singing don't combine to make a great album. One reason is that most of the songs are too short. Another reason is that the songs, while great individually, don't connect together very well.

I wish I could like this album more, but it just doesn't keep me interested all the way through. The first half of the album is certainly better than the second half. So, I recommend listening to the first half. But, since it's short enough, you might as well listen to the second half as well. The stand out songs are: Chain of Fools, Money Won't Change You, People Get Ready, Niki Hoeky and (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆