Greatest Hits

The album kicks off with their cover of the Seals & Croft minor hit, "Summer Breeze" - which the Isley's made their own, and gave them one of their biggest post-Motown hits. Apart from Bill Withers' "Lovely Day", The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun", and possibly Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset", "Summer Breeze" has to be the BEST summer song ever recorded.

To only include the first part of "That Lady" is something of a disappointment considering the recorded company had included the long version of "Summer Breeze" before it. Still (and as you'd expect, this is the 'vocal' version, so at least we get to hear the track that's familiar to most fans. Although interesting to hear, I'm surprised at the inclusion of the 'prelude' version of "Harvest For The World", which in all honesty is nothing more than an alternative (and very brief) take. However, the full version of "Harvest..." mixes straight in afterwards.

"Hope You Feel Better Love" is a fantastic foray into 70s funk, whilst "Highways Of My Life" is undoubtedly one the most beautiful songs anyone has ever recorded. "Caravan Of Love" (taken from 1984 when half the band members had departed) was their last, big mentionable hit - and not a bad effort to be remembered by (even if the Housemartins version was far superior). Two more lubricious ballads take the listener back to the 70s with "Between The Sheets" and the James Taylor-penned "Don't Let Me Be Lonely".

Unfortunately, the last six songs on this album are something of a miss. Maybe with the exception of covering Stephen Still's "Love The One Your With", I'm reliably informed by a die-hard fan of the Isley's that there's a lot of other great tracks that deserve to replace the ones found here. (And that MUST include "(At Your Best) You Are Love".

It's an enjoyable CD, but I'm waiting for the true ANTHOLOGY to come out. That when you'll have The Isley Brothers' definitive greatest hits.

Jon.

By the time the seventies dawned, the three brothers of the original group had become five brothers and a cousin (whose surname was Jasper, not Isley) and it was with this line-up that the group had its most successful period in America. Although they scored several top twenty hits in Britain, they weren't as big as their earlier Motown hits (This old heart of mine, Behind a painted smile) which both made the UK top five.

The set opens with Summer breeze, one of the best summer songs of the seventies, and also includes That lady, Harvest for the world and Highway of my life. These four classics are the best tracks here but there are plenty of other tracks worth hearing, most notably It's a disco night and Between the sheets.

In the eighties, the group split up - the three original members continued as the Isley Brothers while the three that joined in 1969 formed Isley Jasper Isley. This latter group, represented here by Caravan of love (later covered by the Housemartins who had a British number one hit with it), had more success than the original trio.

This compilation doesn't really do justice to the Isley Brothers but it does include the classic songs from the period covered - and that will satisfy most people. The committed fan will look for a more ambitious compilation, such as the more recent career-spanning double-CD Essential. If you are new to the music of the Isley Brothers, this is a good place to start but don't forget about their Motown music available elsewhere.