East L.A. Soul

Mainly upbeat numbers with most being repeats that appeared on the Varese Sarabande 4 disc compilation, The West Coast East Side Sound. The Four Tempos track "I Had A Strange Dream" is a rare gem. It made this CD a must for me.
4 out of 10

Cruising Memories

It's not bad enough this is a reshuffle job but then not to use original recordings on a few tracks without any notice made this less appealing. All repeats therefore a low score for lack of originality.
2 out of 10

Tuff Stuff, Dusty Steppers

A long gone underground release with tracks that span a few decades. Highlights include the tracks by The Delfonics, Little Jimmy Grande, The Monclairs, Little Anthony And The Imperials and The Contours. Sound quality varies, this one I have not spotted in years.
5 out of 10.

The Topics

It took me a while to pick this one up but finally got to it. If you are a big fan of 70's soul this release will not disappoint. Highlights include "Choice Of A Million Girls", "I Can't Help It" and "Sing A Happy Song".
6 out of 10

Soul Twins, The Heartstoppers Meet Susan Phillips

Obscure soul tracks that surprisingly do not appear more often on underground soul compilations. Highlights by The Heartstoppers include "When The Hurt Comes Back", "Miss Lonely Heart" and "A Few Moments Of Pleasure". With Susan Phillips we have "He's Gone", "This I'll Guarantee" and "He Knows My Key (Is Always In The Mailbox). A recommended addition to your soul library.
7 out of 10

Deep Shadows, The Best Of Kent Ballads

Superb ballads in "You Must Leave Her Because You Love Her" by The Paramount Four, "It Can Happen To You" by The Quotations, "Gotta Find A Way" by The Hesitations, "You Didn't Love Me Anyhow" by Act 1, "I've Done It Again" by The Charmels and "I'm A Lonely Man" by Bobby Burn. A solid pick up for your collection.
7 out of 10

The Sidewinders

One solid slow jam here by this Canadian group in "Time For Loving".
2 out of 10

Atlantic Sisters Of Soul

This compilations features some nice female soul tracks that we do not hear too often. highlights include a cover of "A Woman Will Do Wrong" by Dee Dee Sharp, "Who Are You Gonna Love" by Rozetta Johnson, and "Until Then I'll Suffer" by Barbara Lynn.
4 out of 10

Storm Warning

Sweet soul jams by Brenda And The Tabulations, The Ethics, The Temptones, and Harold Melvin And The Blues Notes. Nothing you can't find rather easily now a days.
5 out of 10

America's Most Wanted Volume 2

This is one of the very few exceptions for me as a collector to not pick up a volume to complete a series. I have listened to the first volume and nothing at all caught my attention. Although not many, this volumes does contain some sweet jams by The Freedom Machine, Chad (really nice track but sound quality is not as good as the others) and Richard Caiton.
3 out of 10

The Northern Souljers Meet Hi-Rhythm

A one track pick up on this CD. "Been So Long" by The Lil Soul Brothers is a solid kiddie soul jam. The rest is up beat or raw deep soul that I found myself skipping through.
2 out of 10

Poison

A couple of nice slower numbers in "How I Wish For Yesterday" and "Let Your Fingers Do The Walking" buried in uptempo tracks.
4 out of 10

Lowrider Classics

The price was way too good to pass when I acquired this one. Unfortunately nothing hard to find here, mostly old school tracks.
2 out of 10

The Gap Band

I picked this one up just to have their take on "Going In Circles" as they did a nice job covering this slow jam. The rest is for the old school fan. The rating is low because I seek only ballads. If this blog was dedicated to old school the rating would have been much higher.
3 out of 10

*NEW* Rare Funk & Soul From The Southland Vol. 2

This is the latest soul comp out there. On the soul side it has a few nice jams such as Pee Wee, Shuck and Huey with "I Know We're In Love", Joe Con Los Silvertones with "You Call Me By My Name", Witches And The Warlock with "He Was A Sweet Thing" and The Soul Fantastics with "Just Look At Me". As it comes to be expected with rare soul comps, the sound quality varies. I listened to the funk side but it is just not my thing so I will not rate that portion.
7 out of 10