'Worth the thirty-eight bucks...DEFINITELY!

The Jackson Five's Number One hit "ABC" was featured in Eddie Murphy's movie "Daddy Day Care", resuscitating the chart-topper from 1970. Hearing it on the big screen takes the listener back to a time when Michael and his brothers ruled the airwaves with their blend of soulful pop. While there had been a few "boy bands" before them, none had the lasting impact as the quintet from Gary, Indiana.

"Soulsation" not only compiles the group's familiar top ten hits ("I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", "I'll Be There", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Got To Be There", "Dancing Machine", et. al), it also delivers on Michael's early solo smashes: "Rockin' Robin", "Ben", "I Wanna Be Where You Are", and "Sugar Daddy", to cite just four.

Most enjoyable and enlightening are the rare and seldom heard album cuts and unreleased tracks that support Berry Gordy's strategy of having Motown artists cover songs made famous by others. The Jackson Five does such familiar songs as Sly Stewart's "Stand" and "Everybody is a Star", The Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing", "La La (Means I Love You)" and Motown classics "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing along with "I Hear A Symphony". Michael's solo take on "People Make the World Go 'Round" even offers two verses distinctly different than The Stylistic's original version.

Gordy also wanted to diversify his staple of artists by having them try other genres; thus, the Jackson Five performs "Corner of the Sky" from the award-winning Broadway play "Pippin". Also on the disc are their holiday recordings of "Christmas Won't Be the Same This Year" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". The early days of disco can be found on the extended "Forever Came Today", a highlight culled from the group's "Moving Violation" LP.

While only the seven years of Motown are represented here, these are the recordings that most fans fondly remember and are a worthy treasure to an audiophile's library.

GREAT ADDITION FOR J5 FNS

I guess I'm not the biggest J5 fan around. I always thought I was. I think there was a reason why some of the unreleased tracks were never released. They are kind of boring. There are, of course, the exceptions. "I Can't Get Ready for Losing You" is a winner. As is "Let's Have a Party". But "Lulu", "I'm Glad it Rained", and "Coming Home" are a little anti-climatic for me. My copy of this lists a song called "You're All I Need" on the cover but the song is actually "Ooh I'd Love to Be With You" which I already had, I believe on Joyful Jukebox Music. This compilation was noteworthy when it first came out because a lot of the songs were on cd for the first time. The excellent "Moving Vioilation" for one. I could have done without all of the Christmas songs also. Also noteworthy is the inclusion of the Jackie Jackson solo song "Love Don't Want to Leave", which is a really good song. I know everybody has all their fave songs that were not included on here, but if you like "One More Chance" you probably have it already. If you don't it's readily available. I never really noticed before, but the album Maybe Tomorrow is not represented that well on here. Songs like Petals, The Wall, Honey Chile, in my book are classics. But like I said, we all have our faves and this is a minor complaint. All in all a wonderful compilation and great
packaging with an intro from Janet, liner notes from David Ritz with quotes from Bobby Taylor, and track by track listing with chart position and dates.

Ultimate Jackson fan

If you are an ultimate Jackson fan (like I am), than this album is definitely for you. I bought this collection when it first came out, but I bought it as cassettes. I don't have them in CD. But that's okay it's still a wonderful compilation of songs. Even the ones I hadn't heard of before were good.