After spending over a decade with
Spring Records
,
Millie Jackson
signed with the
Jive
label and
The Very Best of Millie Jackson
collects songs recorded for them in the late '80s and '90s. The set includes her two Top Ten hits,
"Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love"
and
"Love Is a Dangerous Game,"
as well as
"Younger Man, Older Woman,"
which the singer later spun off as a successful
musical
. And while the selections here do represent some of the best songs of the second half of her career,
Jackson
has always thrived as an album artist where she can develop complex themes and moods, including her own running commentary via the spoken
rap
interludes she made famous. Those interludes are missing here, which takes away from the
experience but allows listeners to approach her simply as a singer, revealing her to be a great one at that. ~ Wade Kergan