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The CD Universe Virtual Kiosk Music Store
Established in 1996, CD Universe is a leading Internet retailer specializing in the sale of domestic and imported
music CDs and Imports, movies and video games to customers all over the world. We offer everyday low prices and
a selection of product that is unmatched.
If this is your first time here, give us a try. Here are a few more reasons why we are one of the best
internet retailers in the industry:
The TOP SELLING Soul Music CDs at CD Universe.com
Note: At EvO:R, we don't actually stock or sell the CDs you are looking at.
We simply list each CD by genre and link you to the CD Universe website for the sale.
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See all the Soul Music CD's Here
Element Of Freedom CD
by Alicia Keys
Our Price: $10.99 CD / $10.99 MP3
Usually ships in 1-2 days
Don't mistake the presence of Jay-Z and Beyoncé on Alicia Keys' fourth album as evidence that the singer/songwriter is burrowing into modern R&B -
- take it instead as evidence of the rarefied company Keys keeps, her status as a superstar so solidified that the only cameos possible are R&B/hip-hop
elite.
Superstars are often given leeway to do anything they want, and so it is on The Element of Freedom, where Keys dials back the outward
expansion of As I Am and turns inward, creating a clean, small-scale collection of ballads and Prince-inspired pop. Always apparent
on Alicia's albums, that Prince influence is underscored by how she's swapped the retro-soul instrumentation of her earliest music for
electronics, but she's retained the warmth,
the throwback sensibility and, especially, a sense of reserve, never getting too heated or gauche. This does mean the Prince elements
feel more NPG than Revolution, but Keys trademark always has been an easy elegance. On The Element of Freedom, that elegance is so easy
it borders on the sleepy, with Keys' understatement undercutting livelier numbers -- chief among them the bubbly Beyoncé duet "Put It
in a Love Song" -- so they play as ballads. This isn't a complaint so much as a characteristic: her voice may crack on "Love Is My Disease,"
but Keys never gets gritty, she remains reserved, never letting her singing or arrangements obscure the melodies or the classy veneer of the
entire proceedings.
All this determined detachment keeps The Element of Freedom from packing a primal, passionate punch, but there is charm
in Alicia's enveloping, quiet cool: she may never break a sweat, but she knows how to sustain a sultry, not necessarily sexy, mood,
and she does so here quite fetchingly. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stronger withEach Tear CD
by Mary J. Blige
Our Price: $11.19 CD / $9.99 MP3
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Stronger with Each Tear's first four songs are decorated like NASCAR vehicles, with IDs from the Runners and Akon, Rodney Jerkins,
Ryan Leslie, Stereotypes, and T.I. all heard before the voice of Mary J. Blige. Sound logos and gratuitous self-serving
plugs from producers and guest MCs are nothing new in mainstream R&B, but when an album by Mary J. Blige is dominated by them,
in such an extended succession, a longtime follower's minor irritation has the potential to turn to low-level rage.
While it is also understandable that the appearance of 2009 breakout star Drake on "The One" will help boost sales, the disparity
is glaring; the MC was five years old when What's the 411? was released. Trey Songz, featured on another track, wasn't much older.
Even when factoring these matters, Stronger with Each Tear is a very good Blige album, if not a classic. One of her briefest sets,
it is tremendously (almost studiously) balanced between all the ground she has covered so well before. That's no criticism, though,
since most of the songs are easily memorable and display so much range.
Those who detest "The One" on principle, for its use of
Auto-Tune, need only to forward to the album's final song, a quiet and sparse throwback (to 40-plus years ago) production from
Raphael Saadiq in which Blige professes new love to chilling effect. ~ Andy Kellman
Sex Therapy: The Experience CD
by Robin Thicke
Our Price: $14.64 CD / $12.19 MP3
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Sex Therapy is an evasive maneuver to prevent Robin Thicke from being pigeonholed as a "grown folks" R&B singer. It's evident that hits --
more specifically, appealing to younger listeners -- is the goal. While Thicke's previous album, Something Else,
did well on the album charts, it maintained a classicist sound throughout, produced only one major single, and featured only one
appearance from a guest MC. Sex Therapy, however, enlists Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, the Game, Kid Cudi, and Nicki "Stick shift the ding-a-ling"
Minaj -- not to mention Estelle and Jazmine Sullivan, both of whom contribute excellent background vocals on their respective appearances.
Thicke heightens the brashness downplayed on Something Else, best applied on the title track, where the cunning contrast between his
masculine certitude and feather-light falsetto is in full effect. That he does it while lifting the melody from "It's My Party" -- as
a near-replication of the pulse from the Art of Noise's "Moments in Love" drifts in the background -- makes it all the more daring and remarkable.
Sometimes the results are either dopey (if lighthearted), as on "Meiplé," or humorously awkward, as on "Shakin' It 4 Daddy," where the oft-repeated
hook "She shakin' it for daddy, she shakin' it for me" must make some listeners think of Thicke and his father instead of just Thicke.
The album does not represent a total abandonment of the qualities that have connected with the singer's adult fans. "Mrs. Sexy," based
on Eric B. & Rakim's Al Green-sampling "Mahogany" (to the point where he does not bother to change a line that references his skin tone),
is as buttery and elegant as anything he has recorded. On "Million Dolla Baby," he takes his Marvin Gaye fixation another step forward,
using "Trouble Man" as its backbone; even if it strikes you as corny, you have to admit that it is pretty slick. Above all, he continues
to put one of the best voices in R&B to good use. [Sex Therapy: The Experience contains five additional songs.
One is a brief intro an Entertainment Weekly (p.82) -
"He takes a few more risks on his fourth album, slinging falsetto boasts and come-ons over futuristic assists from rappers
like Jay-Z and The Game." -- Grade: B+
Untitled CD
by R. Kelly
Our Price: $12.95 CD
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After his aborted, Internet-leaked 2008 album, 12 Play: 4th Quarter, R. Kelly busied himself with guest spots for Beyoncé,
T-Pain, and Kanye West, even offering a free download on iTunes, "I Believe," inspired by the election of president Barack
Obama. While such moves ensured that Kelly would never stray far from the R&B throne he's occupied for more than a decade,
his 2009 reboot of 12 Play, Untitled, should provide more than enough reason for fans to keep coming back for more.
From Auto-Tune-laden crowd-pleasers like "Outta the Game" and "Crazy Night" to rousing club-oriented numbers like "Echo,"
Kelly downplays the slower "baby-making" jams this time around for a set of largely uptempo songs, capped by a sultry collaboration
with Keri Hilson ("Number One"). ~ Andy Kellman
Singles, Vol. 8: 1972-1973 CD
by James Brown
Our Price: $23.98 CD
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Best Of The Stylistics CD
by Stylistics
Our Price: $12.39 CD / $9.90 MP3
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Any of their collections are good, but this one features their biggest and best hits, including "I'm Stone in Love with You,"
"Rockin' Roll Baby, " "Betcha by Golly Wow," and "You Make Me Feel Brand New." ~ Cub Koda
The Stylistics include: Russell Thompkins Jr. (vocals); Airrion Love, James Smith, Herbie Murrell, James Dunn.
Producers: Marty Bell, Bill Perry, Hugo, Luigi, Thom Bell.
Epiphany CD
by Chrisette Michele
Our Price: $10.49 CD / $9.99 MP3
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EPIPHANY is the follow up Michele's Grammy winning debut, I AM, and though the title and the production credits,
which list R&B maestro of the moment Ne-Yo as executive producer, might seem to indicate a startling change of direction,
EPIPHANY is like its immediate predecessor, loaded with earnest, reflective slow jams aimed squarely at a more mature audience. Ne-Yo's more youth-oriented contemporary touch is most in evidence on the club-ready "What You Do", but, for the most part, EPIPHANY successfully updates the smoothed-out aesthetic of Ashford & Simpson or late-era Marvin Gaye.
Only Doo-Wop Collection You'll Ever Need CD
by Compilation Disc
Our Price: $17.07 CD
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Don't let the title fool you; after listening to The Only Doo-Wop Collection You'll Ever Need, you'll definitely want more.
This is a good starting point for the curious, since all the basics are here in the original hit versions: "The Great
Pretender," "Earth Angel," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight," and, thrown in for good measure, a
few tracks that even vocal group scholars wouldn't mind hearing again by the Marvelows, the Duprees, the Jive Five, and the Earls.
While this is an excellent primer, the best representation of vocal group harmonies of the era remains the lavish (and pricey)
101-track Doo Wop Box on Rhino. ~ Al Campbell
2cds-Del Vikings/Platters/Dion & Belmonts/Five Satins/Spaniel
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