Soul UK [CD+DVD]

I have followed Beverley Knight for years. Her albums - I feel - never really portrayed the soul and emotion of her live performances. I was lucky to see her on Jools many many years ago singing an old Sam Cooke track and I cried throughout. I loved her Motown album and, if you don't own it, rectify that now. It's not just about her - the whole crew of musicians.. Same here on this soul covers album. But, jeees, does Beverley give this 120%!! I have played this album so many times and still, in my car on the way home tonight, I cried. Cuddly Toy: streaming tears. She puts so much feeling and meaning into every track. You feel the words hit your chest. She wants you to feel how good this music is, and she wants to tell you - yes, you - that she is singing to you. So much passion in her voice. And unbelievable vocal control. Someone in the accompanying DVD says that about her - her amazing vocal control. This album is such a steal because, not only do you get a fantastic album you will play till the grooves run dry, you get a live concert of the album played to an audience that includes the original artists. Beverley is in flames in that concert. Scorching. I cried through most of it because it was so uplifting, outstanding and beautiful to listen to and watch. That rising note in Fairplay: if it doesn't make every hair on your body stand to attention, you don't get it. This lady is an outstanding performer inside and outside the studio. And looks stunning too. As a fellow woman, I slightly resent that(!):). But I know she has worked damn hard for her craft. I think I probably sound rather evangelical about this album, but it really is that good. When music makes you cry, you know you are connected with the world in a good way. Beverley makes me cry because her passion for the music is pure. She is celebrating her British musical roots in this album and is thanking the people who provided such class tracks to the world. If you are still thinking 'shall I buy?', just do it. The new price of the album is a pittance of what it's worth and, even if you have no original interest in British soul music, you will be blown away by Ms Knight and the musicians whom accompany her. Spread the word.

Beverley Knight is a National Treasure. 'Soul UK' is a covers album
but this need not trouble us. Ms Knight has a helluva voice and
the kind of secure yet relaxed performance style which carries the
project through with convincing, energetic and charismatic elan.

Remember Freez? Listen to her take on their 1981 hit 'Southern Freez'
if you need convincing. The spirit of the original is wholly intact but
Ms Knight's affectionate reinvention gives it new blood and a joyous pulse.
No less so her rendition of Junior's 'Mamma Used To Say', propelled
along by some hot backing vocals and even hotter horns. Pure magic.

For soul look no further than the slick arrangement of Stock, Aitken
and Waterman's (for Princess) 'Say I'm Your Number One' (one of SAW's
very finest creations). Ms Knight is incandescent! The song is too!

Rod Temperton's gorgeous 'Always and Forever' (Heatwave - 1977) is another of
the album's solid gold highlights. Ms Knight's measured vibrato and glorious
vocal arabesques are truly magnificent. She makes it sound easy. It isn't!

Final track 'One More Try' (George Michael - 1988) is simply sublime.

A consummate musician; a great singer; a very fine recording. One of her best.

Highly Recommended.

Celebrating the best of Soul in the UK, the front woman of Soul this side of the Atlantic Beverley Knight has compiled a record dedicated to the UK Soul movement.
With other genres of music getting high praise over the course of 40 years like Rock, Techno, Hip Hop and now Dubstep getting the attention of the pop charts, Beverley wants to address the importance of Soul music and how it has affected the likes of British artists.
Spanning across the late 70s until the early 90s, the songs touch a certain generation as sentimental, the rest of us get to here some classics again from yesteryear that were perhaps forgotten.
Some powerful ballads show off her voice but her capabilities don't stop there.
Tracks like "Mama Used To Say" originally by Junior in 1982 and "Apparently Nothin'" (featuring Glen Scott & Roots Manuva) by Young Disciples make sure this record isn't just one style of Soul but it covers the whole spectrum of the genre.
There are some interesting choices of material on "Soul UK" in which some people might not link to two artists together.
For instance, the last song on the album called "One More Try" is a track by none other than George Michael. A great artist but you might not necessarily put Beverley in the same breath. Though with a little change in instruments and a different vibe in place, Beverley creates a great re-mastered version of the George Michael classic and deserves its place on the record for sure.
Though you are treated to a hit upon hit collection, some fans might feel cheated that there are no original songs by the singer/songwriter.
After her previous record "100%" was released in 2009, her fans might have thought Beverley wanted to contribute the same way in her future projects rather than just stating the point for one record.
We know Beverly is a talented musician and can conjure up a song by little walks in life and it would have been nice to see it expressed yet again.
However, the message is clear throughout the record on what Beverley wants to accomplish, to remind people about the strong history the country has with Soul music and it's not just the Americans who know how to create good Soul music.
With this in mind, you would have to say that the album will stretch the knowledge of the UK public to discover new British Soul that they may or may not have heard of before.
Artists such as Freeez, Princess, Loose Ends, Rod Temperton, Jaki Graham, Andrew Roachford and Lewis Taylor have essentially been given a new life. Dean Woodhouse