Clive Davis signed
Aretha Franklin to
Arista in 1980 and helped pull the queen of soul out of a commercial slump. Through timely collaborations with the likes of
Arif Mardin,
Luther Vandross, and
Narada Michael Walden,
Aretha scored six consecutive Top Ten R&B albums, all as part of
Davis' roster.
Davis left
Arista in 2000.
Aretha followed shortly thereafter, released a Christmas album, and had difficulty finding a distributor for her self-released
A Woman Falling Out of Love, most likely her least popular studio album. In 2014,
Aretha and
Davis reunited for this all-covers affair. The latter once again rolled out the red carpet.
Babyface and
Antonio Dixon produced most of the songs, while the list of background vocalists and instrumentalists, including
Cissy Houston,
Tawatha Agee,
Fonzi Thornton, and
Greg Phillinganes, is bound to excite old heads.
Aretha sounds like she had a ball. The energy she put into these versions helps make up for the vocal shortcomings and audible use of Auto-Tune. She could have played it simple and straight, yet she clearly enjoyed the recording process, from melismatic accents to an abundance of personalized touches, such as the "raggedy hooptie" added to "Midnight Train to Georgia," and the "ham hocks and greens" thrown into a swinging
Andre 3000-produced "Nothing Compares 2 U." Highlighted by a reggae makeover of
Alicia Keys' "No One," this is high on star power and exuberance. ~ Andy Kellman
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