More than any other Soul performer (or such Jazz-Blues belters as Dinah Washington), Aretha Franklin brought impassioned Gospel singing to American popular music. Never as subdued as the subtler Sam Cooke, Franklin belts out profane R&B songs with enough sacred lung power to send the sound waves all the way up to the heavens. Franklin doesn't go over the top, though, always staying in the realm of good taste and sensitive delivery. As she proved during her greatest period, the late '60 Atlantic Recordings, Franklin blows the roof off your house with so much class that you don't want her to stop until she has reduced your love shack to a pile of splinters. Who else could outdo Otis Redding and turn "Respect" into an eternal anthem of racial and sexual pride that even middle-class white men embrace? Franklin's voice has weathered the decades very well but her arrangements and material are often beneath her. You can't go wrong with any of her recent Gospel recordings and 1998's A Rose is Still A Rose embraced hip-hop production with great success. Aretha Franklin remains a vital part of the modern music scene.

A Rose Is Still a Rose	The Best of Aretha Franklin	The First 12 Sides	Respect: The Very Best of Aretha Franklin
Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington	Aretha & Otis (disc 1)	United Together: Greatest Hits 80's & 90's	Young, Gifted and Black
Soul Sister: The Classic Aretha Franklin	Greatest Hits (1980-1994)	A Rose Is Still a Rose (disc 2)	Tutto Aretha: A Natural Woman
The Queen in Waiting	A Natural Woman / Baby, Baby, Baby	I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You	Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)
Spanish Harlem / Lean on Me	Willing to Forgive / Jump to It	Rare & Unreleased Recordings From the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul	The Very Best of Aretha Franklin: The '60s
Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen	Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs	I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face / One Step Ahead	Aretha's Jazz
The Electrifying Aretha Franklin	The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging	The House That Jack Built / I Say A Little Prayer	Who's Zoomin' Who
Jump to It / (It's Just) Your Love / Get It Right: (feat. 12" Extended Mixes)	Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings	Lady Soul & Aretha Now (Gold Disc)	The Delta Meets Detroit: Aretha's Blues
30 Greatest Hits (disc 1)	Respect (And Other Hits)	Collection (disc 2)	Respect & Other Hits
A Bit of Soul	One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (disc 2)	A Natural Woman	Le Meilleur d'Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul	Aretha Franklin Sings Standards	Jazz to Soul	This Is Jazz 34
The Very Best of Aretha Franklin	The Great Aretha Franklin (disc 3)	Two Classic Albums From Aretha Franklin: The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging / Soft and Beautiful	The Very Best of Aretha - Queen of Soul
19 Grandes Exitos	A Natural Woman and Other Hits	Aretha Queen of Soul (The Very Best Of)	Aretha Franklin's Greatest Hits 1960-65
Aretha's Best	Tracks of My Tears / The Weight	The Very Best of Aretha Franklin: The '70s	1 heure avec Aretha Franklin (Yeah !!! In person with her quartet The first 12 sides)
Aretha (With The Ray Bryant Combo)	The King and Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin (disc 2)	Think (Remixes)	Take A Look: Aretha Franklin on Columbia