With a spiritual sounding group name and an incredible ability to blend rock, funk, and soul onto one palette, Blessid Union of Souls have a lot of great music to highlight on their singles collection. The last five years of their career have not been the most pleasant, despite their hit parade, due to continual record label red tape. As the old adage goes, "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger," and Blessid Union of Souls persevered throughout the tough times to produce an album of what every group hopes to accomplish some day.
Blessid Union of Souls have switched from SBK to EMI to Capitol to Push/V2 records since their inception in 1995, but despite the hassle, were still able to touch on the more introspective subjects in life with vigor and enthusiasm, while creating a balance in sound between power ballads and concert favorites.
The Singles features the contrast between the gentle "I Believe," a song about an ideal society, while their last single "Hey Leonardo" lends a fast paced groove to the disc. Both songs appear twice on the project, "I Believe" in both the quiet, original version, and a recently revamped hard rock cover and "Hey Leonardo," in both a studio and live format.
Other standouts include "I Wanna Be There," "Brother My Brother," from the Pokemon movie, and "Storybook Life," the first single off the project. In addition, the catchy new song " . . .And Then She Hit Me" and "Light in Your Eyes," a tender love song from their self-titled disc, make appropriate additions.
After only half a decade in the business, this collection is arguably a bit premature, but nonetheless serves up a high quality dose of tunes that cover a range of emotions and sound combinations.
4.5 tocks
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