Spectrum Schallplatten & CDs

Review: As the title makes clear, this three-disc, unmixed collection has one simple aim: to soundtrack kitchen discos, living room dances and long car journeys with a jam-packed selection of disco hits and disco-tinged pop favourites. It does a good job at that, even if some of the selections tend towards the lesser-known end of the commercial disco spectrum, with all three discs showcasing such disco must-haves and part-starting sing-alongs as Dan Hartman's soaring 'Relight My Fire' (famously covered by Take That in the 90s), Diana Ross's 'I'm Coming Out', Chaka Khan's inspired 'Young Hearts Run Free', Grace Jones' punk-funk Roxy Music cover 'Love Is The Drug', McFadden & Whitehead's epic 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' and Cheryl Lynn's peerless 'Got To Be Real'.

Review: Stretched across three discs, this deliberately classics-heavy compilation does a decent job in joining the dots between r&b in the modern sense of the term (I.E smooth and soulful vocal workouts underpinned by hip-hop style beats) with the original American definition (music of black origin). In practice, that means hits by Fugees, Usher, Toni Braxton, Brandi & Monica and En Vogue sitting side by side with Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, the formative house brilliance of Ten City, the UKG-adjacent exploits of Craig David and Blazin' Squad, the pop-tastic songs of Pussycat Dolls, Cleopatra and Britney Spears, the street soul of Soul II Soul, and the tear-jerking reggae brilliance of Dawn Penn.