Search - Patti Labelle :: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Patti LaBelle (Millennium Collection)

Great overview of her later career

Stuart MacDonnell | Bangkok, Thailand | 11/11/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Initially I didn't bother picking this album up because it didn't have any of Patti's great earlier stuff and I was worried much of her 80s output would be too dated to really enjoy. I need not have worried - this album is a joy. Yes, New Attitude, Stir It Up and Yo Mister do sound dated but they are still great fun and some of the other stuff is just sensational. When You Talk About Love is the real highlight with a great vocal arrangement and Patti's sassy wails over the top. Other great tracks include When You've Been Blessed and Feels Like Another One. Even the Dianne Warren-penned tracks are not that bad - saved mostly by Patti's delicious delivery."

Defnitive, But Not All That Collection

Michael Kerner | Brooklyn, New York U.S.A. | 12/30/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are just so many artists these days that truly set the stages for what Soul music should actually sound like. Particularly, I wish I could say the exact same thing about Greatest Hits collections, largely because they always seem to miss something. For Patti LaBelle, she still is one of the Greatest Voices of our generation today. Sadly, I don't think a lot of people really respect her today, as they did back in the 70's and 80's. No matter what others think, she still has a tone that is absolutely gold. Her voice still continues to be an influence anyway.The 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection, is a series of records that are more for the budget oriented who actually can't afford the greater-priced albums. The flipside is that they really don't carry a whole lot of weight in music. For the Patti LaBelle edition, is does seem to have a few flaws in the boundaries, but has some great songs including On My Own with Michael McDonald, When You Talk About Love, If You Ask Me To, and New Attitude. The downside is that the music really wasn't remastered adequately, and a whole lot of art and music is missing from the collection including Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is), If Only You Knew, Love, Need and Want You, I'm In Love Again, and a whole amount of other great Patti LaBelle tracks. Largely, the record only consists of her perios with her MCA / Universal Years, and not any of her years with The BlueBelles, and with LaBelle.Although this seems like a dissapointment, it does really signify Patti LaBelle's revival by a longshot. I just hope that Universal and other record labels she's appeared on can really release something so outrageous, like a boxed set soon of Patti LaBelle and her music. As for the collection, I only suggest you get it, if you've never heard of her voice before. You might want to pass this one up."

Lady Soul's best

fabio-italy | milan, italy | 01/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I fell in love with Patti's voice way back in highschool when she was duetting with Michael McDonald.
It was 1986 and ON MY OWN just hit the # 1 spot in the US.
The song was soooo good, her voice so powerful and emotional.
I kept an eye on the lady for quite a while since then, and although i must admit she released lots of other nice tunes, her full albums never satisfied me in full, too many fillers.
On the contrary this hits collection is probably the best way to showcase what she accomplished from the '80's on.
It was such a surprise to see this greatest hits compilation being released after such a short span of time from the release of the "official" one.
Well, in my opinion this is so much better.
As well as the above-mentioned tune, it includes also the fraternity hymn OH PEOPLE, the slow-burning jam KISS AWAY THE PAIN, some three soundtrack tunes (the irresistable NEW ATTITUDE and STIR IT UP from Beverly Hills Cop and IF YOU ASKED ME TO -the original version written by Diane Warren and later covereed by Celine Dion- from a James Bond movie).
There is a funky and infectuous song composed by Prince, and a contagious couple of tracks supervised by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis - WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT LOVE is definitely one of those black dancefloor winner..!
You absolutely will be better off buying this..."