Double-disc greatest hits and more from the ‘A’ in A&M.
The record that graced a million coffee tables still fascinates.
Proves there was more to Arrington than his UK top 20 successes.
Mature and experimental… Possibly the great lost 90s trip-hop album, in parts.
EWF can keep being sold into houses the length and breadth of the land.
Moonwalking its way into UK hearts, Friends was the soul sound of 1982.
Solomon’s fine, sometimes flawed, farewell to Willie Mitchell.
Though tentative and flawed, this debut hints at how the group would later develop.
A fascinating addition to the clumsy, clattering canon of 80s electronica.
Urban enough to make it the bedroom album for the hip hop generation.
Still cutting-edge of sound, My Life is one of Blige’s most compelling records.
Although dubious of lyric, 12 Play still sounds contemporary and frequently surprising.
Fresh, vibrant and refuses to resort to cliché.
Baroque love music from the last of the original Isleys.
No Heatwave: no Britfunk, and certainly no Thriller.
The music here is incidental once transfixed by Hathaway's intense rapture.
Nothing less than a spiritual soul masterpiece.
A reminder of what the future once sounded like.
We Are Family still sounds alive, zesty and vibrant.
A fusion of jazz-influenced late-night soul delivered with élan.
One of the best live albums made by an occasionally troubled singer.
A vital album of great, unfocussed beauty.
Even her staunchest detractors may be won over by To the Baby.
Marvel once more at their splendid, excessive audacity.
A bright, shining example of what mass-produced, intelligent dance music should be.
The album that granted Isaac Hayes his venerated status.
Rejuvenation is the epitome of groove-laden, hook-rich, in-your-face funk.
Ayers’ mellow grooves infused with human sentiment are frequently irresistible.
Blige remains as relevant as any of her more recent contemporaries.
A fine debut of unpretentious, highly personal soul.
A delightful, esoteric find, and an album you need in your life.
A glossy, disarming fusion of AOR and soul.
The group’s most consistent album, and among Motown’s most uplifting releases.
Baker’s career high is an 80s equivalent of Dusty in Memphis.
One of 2010’s first great examples of accomplished, adult pop.
The US diva album for those who can’t abide US divas.
While they were oddly unloved at Motown, there’s more than mere filler here.
Our first invite to the Womack family party.
Takes you right back to the vibrancy, excitement and possibilities of the time.
Nothing shallow or superficial about this superior Britfunk.
An exhaustive overview… sometimes classic, sometimes confounding.
As revolutionary for soul music as anything by Brown, Stone or Clinton.
The epitome of a mixed bag.
A straight-up split between sassy stomps and ultra-mellow grooves.
Funky Divas still sounds as much fun today as it did in 1992.
An underrated example of orchestrated soul
A rather beautiful and wholly appropriate tribute.
Indestructible grooves and still-valid sentiments.
File under 'quiet triumph'.
Faultless, languid, late-night soul, unmistakably the vision of one person.
