Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone > Reviews > Stone me, this is good.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Best British soul offering for some time .
Disadvantages:	Not everones taste .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Soul Sessions was Joss Stone's debut album. Released in 2003 when Joss was only just 17 years old. Incredible in itself for such a mature debut at such an early age, what seems even more stunning to me was that this soul inspired album is by a British artiste.

I am having so much fun converting my CD's to itunes, listening to albums that have been neglected.

The artwork both on the cover of the CD case and on the CD itself is pretty retro, in smokey purple, in truth, quite boring.

I could write about the triple platinum sales, or the awards and accolades, but I prefer to write about the songs themselves. Just one quote here, from the respected publication 'Mojo': "The soul sessions is a revelation".

Many of the songs are not her own, being penned in the sixties by artistses such as Betty Wright, who agreed to work with Joss on this CD, another shock to me, American soul legends collaborating with a 16 year old English girl, wow, they must have seen her talent.

Track 1. The Chokin' kind.
What a fantastic opening track. Very slow, full of heart and soul, a little 'bluesy'. The story of a woman 'choked' by someone smothering her and controlling her and her love. We get to see Stone's vocal range, which extends from a huskey, low, croak, to a mid range moan, up to a high pitched plea in parts. The music is almost incidental to her voice, and is a clear late 60's soul backing. The lyrics, the story, the singing, brilliant. 9/10.

Track 2. Super duper love (are you diggin' on me) pt.1.
A complete change of tempo. Upbeat, funky soul, with some great guitar playing, both bass and lead, supporting her soul/gospel voice which tells an uplifting tale of falling in love. A great mix of funk with hints of early soul almost Martha Reeves like. Another stunning track. 9/10.

Track 3. Fell in love with a boy.
Another funky opening, could be a soundtrack to a Starskey and Hutch episode or a Shaft film. Really good mix of funky music and Stone's voice. Not as strong as the two previous tracks, but very, very good none the less. 8/10.

Track 4. Victim of a foolish heart.
Slowing things back down with this offering, reminds me of a cross between Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack. It is undoubtedly an accomplished track that builds into a very soulful, angst ridden song of warning to a young woman not to be a 'victim' of a two timing guy. However, it does not float my boat really. Not a bad song, just not really for me. More of a track that one would play on an evening with friends round, as backing music. 7/10.

Track 5. Dirty man.
This is an interesting song, a real gsopel overtone, with a great story line. It could so easily be sung by Etta James, and I have to say, I love Stone's voice in this, combined with a simple guitar backing. Brilliant song, great story of contrasts, great voice, great soul guitar extending into a blues scale mixed with long gaps allowing Stone's voice to 'play'. For me, the joint best song in the collection. 10/10.

Track 6. Some kind of wonderful.
Martha Reeves meets Herbie Hancock, soul funk, fantastic, lots of bass and laid back riffs, voice that matches well. "He sets my soul on fire.....woooo....when my baby kisses me, he sets my soul on fire". You get it, lyrics that are just 'expected' with this song. Love it. 9/10.

Track 7. I've fallen in love with you.
Strong soul song which is the best song on this album which seems age appropriate. What I mean by this is it kind of shows an innocence and naivety. Great vocals, again, very Detroit 60's, with backing singers; Three Degrees, Martha Reeves, almost Temptations (though female obviously). The title gives the story away. Musically very nice too. More instruments here, not just soulful guitar, but strings, woodwind, brass, strong use of drums. Lovely, dreamy quality. Very, very strong track. 9/10.

Track 8. I had a dream.
Very acapella, clearly a showpiece for her voice, first half is just her voice, with drums, piano and guitar joing in in for a middle stint, then backing off for her voice again. Musically and vocally great. Lyrically quite poor. 5/10.

Track 9. All the kings horses.
Real 60's gospel piano start, with Stone joining the music with a huskey voice....."All the king's horses and all the king's me couldn't put our two hearts together again". Poor lyrically to me. Luckily the song builds into a great soulful song with a great backing to support a higher vocal than we see previously, almost a pleading scream in parts. These vocals 'save' the song from being weak. 6/10.

Track 10. For the love of you. Pts 1 & 2.
A real slow start, dreamy backing to her voice which just seems to float along. I was listening to this as writing and just had to stop writing and lean back and listen. I really find it hard to listen to her voice and know that she was 16/17 singing this. The clarity, control and pitch is perfect, one can just melt into this song. I mentioned Roberta Flack before in this review. This is better. For displaying her vocal talents, this is perfect, just perfect. There is a very laconic organ and guitar just 'picking' at notes that back her voice. This is a track that lasts for 7 minutes and 35 seconds. More or less halfway through we think the song is coming to an end, but it doesn't. It just gets stronger in a restrained yet free way. I know that is a bit of a paradox, but this song is just that. I could listen to this for hours. The ending is almost like Minnie Ripperton, Stone allows here voice to extend much higher than you could imagine given her huskier early singing. Has to be another 10/10.

Overall.
Gosh. I have just listened to this CD through again and realised what a gem it is. I would go so far as to call it a classic. I am not the biggest soul fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love all music, and when someone at such an age can sing songs like this, all be it with some great producing and collaboration, well, one has to take notice. For a couple of quid, add this to your collection, you will not be dissapointed.

Also posted on Dooyoo, same meber name.