Voice: The Best of Beverley Knight

Album Review

Beverley Knight was responsible for some classy soulful singles throughout the late '90s and into the new century but she had never managed however to attain much in the way of album sales, her best effort to date being the number seven Who I Am from 2002. So the climate was ripe for a greatest-hits collection which EMI hoped would place her in a more adult-oriented market. Voice was very representative of her body of work, containing 15 tracks in total and three bonus tracks, including a version of Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing," and a live cover of Robbie Williams' career-defining hit "Angels," recorded for Radio 2 with a simple piano background and a gospel-style vocal. Of the 12 remaining tracks, every one had been a hit single from her debut back in 1995: "Flavour of the Old School," complete with its formulaic rap break, through to her then-most recent hits "Keep This Fire Burning," and a brave attempt at an R&B version of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart." Her music ranged from the ultra smooth ballads "Gold" and "Who's Gonna Save Your Soul" to the Chic-"Good Times" sampled "Made It Back," and the '70s disco influenced "Greatest Day." Although she had been hitting the charts quite regularly since 1995, albeit not that close to the top, it was with the dance track "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" in 2002 that she finally broke through to the Top Ten and the album opens with this hit. In fact, the first four tracks were her two biggest singles, including 2004's "Come as You Are," and the two most recent hits: the Joplin track and "Keep This Fire Burning."