Through the Storm

by

Aretha Franklin

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In 1986, following the success of the Grammy-winning "Who's Zoomin' Who", featuring the monstrous "Freeway of Love," Aretha was paired with George Michael, Annie Lennox, Larry Graham, and Keith Richards, on the self-titled "Aretha."

Garnering several hits, Aretha and her respective producers (Narada Michael Walden, Arif Mardin, and Jerry Knight, to name a few) decided to continue the same pattern with 1989's "Through the Fire," but with mixed results.

One would have thought that the matching of "The Godfather of Soul" with "The Queen of Soul" would be eventful but Franklin and Brown on "Gimme Your Love" makes one ponder what the two could have done in their prime. The song, unfortunately, is nothing extraordinary, as are the talents involved.

Pop "princess" Whitney Houston joins Aretha on "It Ain't Never Gonna Be," another idea that deserved a better song. The same results are found on the title cut, a duet with Elton John.

The songs are too "lightweight" for such heavy hitters.

Only on the slower-paced "If Ever a Love There Was," featuring fellow Detroit natives The Four Tops, along with saxophonist Kenny G, does the duet-concept work for Franklin and those involved.

The solo efforts (including "Mercy" and the torchy-like "He's the Boy") fare a bit better, although the rationale for remaking "Think" and the nine-year-old "Come to Me" (taken from Franklin's first Arista release in 1980) is perplexing.

Even the Peter Max cover looks too much like the artwork for the previous two releases.

This album must have been one of those "contractual commitments" that the singer must have been forced to do.

'Cause there definitely isn't very much "soul" in it.