Roberta Flack
was blessed with one of the loveliest, most soothing voices in the music industry. In the 1970s, she not only appealed to
pop
and
R&B
audiences, but also fit in with the era's more serious, sensitive
singer/songwriters
. She scored some of the decade's biggest hits with classics such as
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,"
"Killing Me Softly with His Song,"
"Feel Like Making Love,"
as well as her legendary duets with
Donny Hathaway
, all which have gone on to become standards in the
pantheon. This single-disc set attempts to collect her best and most successful recordings from the 1970s to the 1990s, when she enjoyed the success of another Top Ten hit with
Diane Warren
's
"Set the Night to Music"
(with
Maxi Priest
). However, this ambitious collection, even with such stellar material, proves a little frustrating due to the omission of several key tracks from
Flack
's catalog, among those
"Jesse,"
"If I Ever See You Again,"
"You've Got a Friend,"
and several others. It does, however, manage to incorporate other
collectibles, including her soundtrack hit
"Making Love,"
her hit with
Peabo Bryson
,
"Tonight I Celebrate My Love,"
her lovely, breezy, chart-topping 1988
hit
"Oasis,"
and a sleek 1990s
house
track,
"Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)."
This ambitious yet frustrating collection not only highlights
's long, illustrious career, but also brings to attention the fact that a multi-disc retrospective on this legendary singer would be a most welcome addition to her catalog. ~ Jose F. Promis