Aretha Franklin With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra "A Brand New Me" [[Rhino)

[sansradio]

Mess with Mama's casserole?! DON'T EVEN! But they did, and replaced it with Wonderbread and store-brand mayo.

And no collard greens in sight.

[Bluebrock]

Okay, just finished listening. Here goes:

This set is, as expected, only for the die-hard Arethacologist. Many of the originals already had sublime orchestration; the Phil rarely adds anything fresh. An integral ingredient in the brilliance of the originals is the almighty groove of those Muscle Shoals musicians, particularly Aretha’s low-down churchy piano...what little is left of the funk is stripped away, if present at all. The background vocals by Patti Austin, Ledisi and company are faithful to the original arrangements, save for an ill-considered re-arrangement of “Angel”; the sparse power of Aretha and piano from the original is given a busy accompaniment by the backups, which detracts from the quiet fire of the ‘73 version. [[One surprise was an alternate take of “Angel”’s spoken intro.) This feels like a blatant cash-in for the AARP set. Flashes of brilliance...but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s something akin to adding filigree to the Sistine Chapel.

I appreciate the feedback. I think i will perhaps give it a miss - at least for the moment despite it being very cheap on amazon.

[antceleb12]

I love the set. I thoroughly do. Being a die-hard Aretha fan, I am also of the mindset that you do yourself no favors by keeping a closed mind to reinventions of classics. The set is not 'square' like one immediately imagines of an orchestra. The RPO gets soulful with Aretha and it does not sound out of place. I particularly enjoy the treatment they gave to "Think," "Don't Play That Song," "Border Song," "I Say a Little Prayer," and "Respect."

And I will say it. The RPO gives these songs a fuller, warmer sound than provided with the original orchestrations. There's a richness in the strings and the horns that I thoroughly enjoy. Aretha's voice still dazzles over the RPO, who simply add a little sparkle to the Muscle Shoals sound without reinventing it completely.

[helga]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, antceleb12. For me, I am used to hearing the originals, which come with a special element of organic soul that no one can replicate IMHO. I would feel the same way if anyone tried to do this with The Supremes' recordings. That's just me though.

[Circa 1824]

I heard the Roy Orbison Royal Philharmonic, and I loved it. Aretha’s I find lacking the grit of the originals.