Unidisc's
Beat the Street: The Very Best of Sharon Redd includes all the key high points of
Sharon Redd's three-album career for the
Prelude label. There's
"Can You Handle It," "Never Give You Up," "Beat the Street," "Love How You Feel," "You Got My Love," three others, and a lengthy Megamix. Despite the fact that the quantity of tracks makes the disc seem a bit lean,
Unidisc made a smart move in avoiding radio edits and instead favoring full-length and extended versions; it's far more preferable to have these songs in their full glory (often mixed to great effect by the great
Francois Kevorkian) than to have them stripped down in order to save space for mediocre album cuts. The only regrettable omission is
"Try My Love on for Size," an overlooked track from
Redd's excellent debut. Maybe there would've been room for it if the Megamix wasn't so lengthy (16 minutes), not to mention redundant. Seek out
Redd's contribution to the
Deep Beats series instead. Not only does it include
"Try My Love on for Size," but it is also Megamix-free. ~ Andy Kellman