Baduizm
Artist: Erykah Badu
Community Score: 8.25

Two years after D'Angelo brought the organic sound and emotional passion of R&B to the hip-hop world with 1995's Brown Sugar, Erykah Badu's debut performed a similar feat. While D'Angelo looked back to the peak of smooth '70s soul, though, Badu sang with a grit and bluesiness reminiscent of her heroes, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. "On & On"... Read More

Keep the Faith
Artist: Faith Evans
Community Score: 8.57

Faith Evans' second album Keep the Faith was met with quite a bit of anticipation. The album was released three years after her acclaimed, soulful, and raw debut Faith, and in that time she had witnessed the murder of her husband the Notorious B.I.G., which led to the biggest hit of her career (and one of the biggest of the 1990s), the tribute... Read More

The Tour
Artist: Mary J. Blige
Community Score: 5.00
Soul of a Woman
Artist: Kelly Price
Community Score: 6.08

Kelly Price first made her mark as a vocalist on Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money, Mo Problems" and Mase's "Feels So Good," which may give the casual observer the impression that she's a straight-up gangsta. Not so. Price is an urban crooner, much like a streetwise Mariah Carey or a domesticated Mary J. Blige. She has a sweet, smooth voice that's a... Read More

The Best of Teddy Pendergrass - RIGHT STUFF
Artist: Teddy Pendergrass
Community Score: 7.50

The Right Stuff's The Best of Teddy Pendergrass is a definitive 18-track collection, containing all of his big hits from 1977's "I Don't Love You Anymore" to 1991's "It Should've Been You." In between those two songs, such romantic smooth soul classics as "Can't We Try," "You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration," "Close the Door," "Turn off... Read More

One Heart, One Love
Artist: Phil Perry

"I've worked hard all day," the fifth song opines, "I just wanna relax/Take my shoes off--kick my feet up/Put on an old Marvin Gaye track…" A unwise antecedent to invoke,,, for over the course of ten pleasantly Peabo'd urban soul slices, Mr. Perry shoots to the vocal stratosphere from his own backyard armed with one neat trick--the women singers... Read More

Greatest Hits
Artist: Eternal

Eternal's Greatest Hits may have arrived a little early -- after all, they had only released three records by the time this collection appeared in the fall of 1997 -- but there's no denying that this compilation gets the job done. Eternal's albums were always quite spotty, with the singles shining admist the filler, so the way to listen to the... Read More

Live
Artist: Erykah Badu

Conventional wisdom dictates that an artist should not release a live album as her second record, especially if it follows the debut by a matter of months. However, Erykah Badu is not a conventional artist and Live is not a conventional live album. While her debut, Baduizm, earned strong reviews and healthy sales, her concerts became equally... Read More

Greatest Hits
Artist: Tony! Toni! Toné!
Community Score: 8.00

Although it's a little early for Tony! Toni! Tone! to have a Greatest Hits, this single-disc compilation is nevertheless an excellent summary of their four albums, containing all of the trio's big hits ("If I Had No Loot," "Little Walter," "Feels Good," "It Never Rains (In Southern California)," "Anniversary," "Baby Doll," "The Blues," "Whatever... Read More

My Way
Artist: Usher
Community Score: 8.57
Out to Get'cha
Artist: The Fascinations

Where to begin? For starters, this is an almost perfect collection of the Fascinations' work, containing all of their released work for Mayfield Records plus a couple of outtakes-the only thing that might've been better would have been to get the rights to the ABC-Paramount sides, as well. As it is, we're presented with the extraordinarily... Read More

All Day, All Night
Artist: Changing Faces
Community Score: 10.00

Changing Faces' second album, All Day, All Night, finds the group working a musical territory similar to their debut, namely smooth urban R&B with light hip-hop influences. Although the group's material is wildly uneven, the production is stylish and their vocals are strong, making the weak moments tolerable and the best songs quite attractive.... Read More

Share My World
Artist: Mary J. Blige
Community Score: 7.98
Greatest Hits - JAPAN
Artist: Eternal

Eternal's Greatest Hits may have arrived a little early -- after all, they had only released three records by the time this collection appeared in the fall of 1997 -- but there's no denying that this compilation gets the job done. Eternal's albums were always quite spotty, with the singles shining admist the filler, so the way to listen to the... Read More