Luther Vandross at the top of his game – sitting right at the height of that crossover space in soul he virtually owned back in the mid 80s! The work here is certainly more commercial than Vandross albums of the past, but the soul is no less deep – thanks to Luther's amazing vocal approach, which is as powerful as ever, and set up in lean arrangements that are as slimmed-down as his own image on the cover. Marcus Miller's the co-producer who helps Vandross find his groove on the set – and there's definitely a sound here that reminds us of Miller's own work of the time. Titles include "Give Me The Reason", "So Amazing", "I Gave It Up", "Stop To Love", "See Me", "There's Nothing Better Than Love", "I Really Didn't Mean It", and "Anyone Who Had A Heart". CD

Includes 30 tracks on 2 CDs. CD

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Lean, clean work from Luther Vandross – an album of gentle grooves and warmly romantic tones – offered up as part of Luther's hit run in the 80s! The sound is quite electric at times, but Vandross' vocals provide enough human warmth to offset the beats and keyboards – and given that Marcus Miller's usually guiding the latter, there's still an undercurrent of humanity that goes beyond the usual commercial backing tracks of the time. Titles include "Any Love", "Come Back", "I Know You Want To", "I Wonder", "For You To Love", and "The Second Time Around". CD

The power of love, and the power of Luther – working here with all of his hitmaking talents in place! The album's possibly a bit more commercial and crossover than some of the earlier work from Vandross – but there's no denying Luther's amazing vocal talents, which shine and shimmer beautifully, even amidst some of the more conventional backings on the set. Marcus Miller's at the helm again this time, co-producing the record, and handling some keyboards – and titles include "The Rush", "Sometimes It's Only Love", "Emotional Love", "She Doesn't Mind", "Power Of Love/Love Power", and a version of "I (Who Have Nothing)", done as a duet with Martha Wash. CD

Classic 80s work from Luther Vandross – the kind of record that catapulted him from the soul music shadows into the major mainstream of the time! The style here is a fair bit more electric than some of Luther's music of the 70s, but the sound is still silky, soulful, and sensuous – thanks to Vandross' amazing vocal approach, which is undeniably one of the greatest of his generation. The tunes often have a snaking midtempo rhythm that works perfectly for Luther's groove – and while a few more numbers get a bit more upbeat, they're still never too over the top, nor commercial in nature. Vandross produced, with some help from Marcus Miller – and titles include "Superstar/Until You Come Back To Me", "For The Sweetness Of Your Love", "I Wanted Your Love", "Busy Body", "Make Me A Believer", "I'll Let You Slide", and "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" – a duet with Dionne Warwick. CD

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Titles include "Better Love", "Promise Me", "She Loves Me Back", "Once You Know How", "Bad Boy/Having A Party", and "Since I Lost My Baby". CD

You can never get too much Luther Vandross! Never Too Much is his debut album for Epic, and even here in the early 80s, a time when things were getting a little too glossy in a lot of the major label soul sessions, Luther skips it nice and truly soulful here, and managed to ride that realness to huge mainstream popularity. Luther produced, and his style's changed nicely from uptempo clubby to sophisticated soulful, with plenty of warm touches that still sound good today. Titles include "She's A Super Lady", "Never Too Much", "Don't You Know That?", and "A House Is Not A Home", "You Stopped Loving Me" and title title track. CD

Classic 80s work from Luther Vandross – three albums that catapulted him into the upper echelons of mainstream soul music! CD

Titles include "Til My Baby Comes Home", "Creepin", "Other Side Of The World", "It's Over Now", and "If Only For One Night". CD

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Titles include "Never Too Much", "Here & Now", "Creepin", "Love Won't Let Me Wait", "Superstar", "Glow Of Love", "I'd Rather", and "A House Is Not A Home". CD

Sublime soul from Change – an Italian combo who got some great American help on their early 80s for Warner Brothers! The Change groove is totally great – a stripped-down blend of beats, bass, and keyboards that was head and shoulders above much of the clunkier 80s soul of the time – a lean groove forged from the best Italian club influences of the time, then brought over to this side of the Atlantic for some warmer touches on production and vocals. Luther Vandross sings lead on a few key cuts here, and other tracks have some equally great vocals – plus a nice undercurrent of jazz in the mix, especially on the guitar and keyboards. CD features 14 tracks that include "Hold Tight", "The Very Best In You", "Paradise", "Searching", "The Glow Of Love", "A Lover's Holiday", "This Is Your Time", "You Are My Melody", "Say You Love Me Again", "Don't Wait Another Night", and "Hard Times". CD

Sweet sweet Quincy! Although the Q's probably best remembered round these parts for his funky 70s work or classic 60s soundtracks, we also have to admit that we love him for his mellow grooves – the sly and seductive tunes that often hid out amidst his albums of the 70s and 80s, and which also featured early work by singers that later went onto much greater fame. This excellent set brings together 17 of those wonderful mellow moments – stretching back to some of Quincy's important collaborative A&M efforts of the 70s, and running up to some of his best work of more recent vintage. Titles include "Superwoman" and "Love Me By Name", with Patti Austin; "Body Heat", with Leon Ware; "I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning", with Luther Vandross & Patti Austin; "Velas" and "The Getaway", with Toots Thielemans; "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" and "Baby Come To Me", with Patti Austin & James Ingram; "The Places You Find Love", with Siedah Garrett, Chaka Khan, & Herbie Hancock; "The Secret Garden", with El DeBarge, James Ingram, Al B Sure, & Barry White; "Sax In The Garden", with Barry White & Kirk Whalum; "Turn Out The Lamplight", with George Benson; and "Just Once", with James Ingram. CD

Beautiful duo soul from the all-time great Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway – released right around the time of Donny's tragic passing! The set was co-produced by Eric Mercury and Flack – and it has a lot of great vocals from Roberta, with as masterfully paired with Donny as always – plus guest vocal appearances by Luther Vandross, Gwen Guthrie, and Eleanore Mills, and even Mercury, who sings a bit on one track! Titles include couple of nice Stevie Wonder tunes – "You Are My Heaven" and "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long" – plus "Stay With Me", "God Don't Like Ugly", "Only Heaven Can Wait", and "Disguises". CD

Includes cover versions by All Saints, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Chrissie Hynde, Luther Vandross, Ben Folds Five, Dionne Warwick, Barenaked Ladies, and Wynonna. CD

The classic debut from Change – and the start of an amazing run of groovers in the early 80s! The set's got a tight, jazzy feel throughout – a stripped-down approach to disco modes, with the same focus on the basslines that you'd find in work by Chic – but a style that's almost even more instrumentally focused overall, given the great range of studio players who worked on the set. Yet there's also some key vocal moments, too – work by Luther Vandross that really helps make some of the best tracks sparkle, and which went onto catapult Vandross into a rich solo career on his own. The set's filled with sharp rhythms and sweet jazzy changes – and titles include the classics "The Glow Of Love" and "Searching", both with Luther, plus "Lover's Holiday", "Angel In My Pocket", and "The End". CD

Nothing super-intense, but a great solo moment from Lisa Fischer – a vocalist who'd previously worked with Luther Vandross and The Rolling Stones, and who steps out on her own in this classic early 90s set! The music's got a bouncy approach to soul that reflects Lisa's professional roots – and she gets plenty of help from Luther Vandross on the record, working here in a host of top-shelf studio talent that also includes Narada Michael Walden and Arif Mardin too! Fischer may be making a solo debut on the album, but she comes across with a great sense of class and professional poise throughout – on titles that include "How Can I Ease The Pain", "Wildflower", "Save Me", "Some Girls", "So Tender", "Get Back To Love", "Chain Of Broken Hearts", "Last Goodbye", and "So Intense". CD

A real standout from Aretha Franklin's years on Arista – a set produced by Luther Vandross, with a soaring groove that really opens Aretha up nicely! Luther's more in the mode here of his 70s club productions than his 80s hits – that warm, midtempo vibe that's full of lush moments, but never in ways that are cloyingly commercial. Franklin's vocals light up the tunes in the way that Luther's own might do – really soaring out beautifully in this setting. Titles include "I Got Your Love", "Giving In", "Get It Right", "Pretender", "Every Girl", "I Wish It Would Rain", and "Better Friends Than Lovers". CD

Aretha's grooving sweetly here in the early 80s for Arista – on a record that's produced by none other than Luther Vandross – and it's a damn strong one, too! Aretha wasn't the first, or the last classic soul singer to embrace the 80s, but relatively few outshined their younger peers as brilliantly as Aretha does here! She's great on this one! There's plenty of space in the arrangements for Aretha to do here thing – emoting naturally, improvising some of vocals, and really just knocking it out of the park. Luther's production shows ample love and respect for the previous generation of soul, while still sounding right at home in '82 – with some timeless ballads along with contemporary chart-ready grooves. Titles include "Jump To It", "Love Me Right", "If She Don't Want Your Lovin'", "This Is For Real", "It's Just Your Love", "I Want To Make It Up To You" and "It's Your Thing". CD

Aretha's grooving sweetly here in the early 80s for Arista – on a record that's produced by none other than Luther Vandross – and it's a damn strong one, too! Aretha wasn't the first, or the last classic soul singer to embrace the 80s, but relatively few outshined their younger peers as brilliantly as Aretha does here! She's great on this one! There's plenty of space in the arrangements for Aretha to do here thing – emoting naturally, improvising some of vocals, and really just knocking it out of the park. Luther's production shows ample love and respect for the previous generation of soul, while still sounding right at home in '82 – with some timeless ballads along with contemporary chart-ready grooves. Titles include "Jump To It", "Love Me Right", "If She Son't Want Your Lovin'", "This Is For Real", "It's Just Your Love", "I Want To Make It Up To You" and "It's Just Your Thing". CD

An overlooked gem from Diana Ross' 80s years – a record that's quite different than her Motown music of the 60s and 70s, but in a way that really shows the singer stepping out and trying something new! The album's maybe more soulful than some of Diana's previous albums – thanks to work from producer Tom Dowd – and the material is a surprising mix of songs, from sources as varied as Leonard Cohen, Luther Vandross, and Mick Hucknall! Ross does nice a nice job in reworking older soul classics – like Jackie Ross' "Selfish One" and The Drifters' "There Goes My Baby" – nestled in nicely next to more contemporary tracks that include "Dirty Looks", "Shockwaves", "Tell Me Again", "Shine", "Summertime", and "It's Hard For Me To Say". CD

Features tracks by Luther Vandross, Angela Winbush, DeBarge, Freddie Jackson, Atlantic Starr, Peabo Bryson and more – 24 tracks over 2 discs! CD

Music from Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle, the O Jays, Marvin Gaye, Peaches & Herb, the Delfonics, Jeffrey Osborne, the Commodores, Al Green, Earth, Wind & Fire, Smokey Robinson, LTD, and more. CD