Album #7


 

Album: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Artist: Aretha Franklin
Released: 1967
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Soul

To the person who hurt Aretha Franklin, I hope you know that she took that pain and transformed it into one of the best albums I've heard all year, if not in my entire life. The lead off "Respect" is a powerhouse that leads you in to a musical odyssey of a woman who has known pain. Are all the songs Aretha originals? No. But she takes them in and makes them her own with that voice that could silence a deafening crowd. 

The song "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" moved me to a point that I had to pull over my car and just cry. The word beautiful doesn't do it justice. The gospel-like singing overdubbed to the organ creates an atmospheric experience that I've yet to see in other albums. 

The entire album just invites you in to share the emotion of Franklin. Her journey. Her pain. Her joy. I have zero notes for this album and I'm sad that I never listened to it prior to this. 

Rating: Five stars.

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