Rating:
Genre:
R&B
Release Date: 11/29/1993
This low-end compilation from
Motown focuses on the many covers the
Jackson brothers worked up in their earlier years, presumably as a counterbalance to
the Jackson 5's
Corporation-dominated greatest hits issuings. The emphasis is on the band's first few albums, with only two post-1972 selections, and awkward
disco-funk ones at that -- inadvertently suggesting that the band peaked early creatively and followed fads afterwards. Although it's of uneven quality,
Never Can Say Goodbye is an intriguing purchase for casual
Jackson fans for two reasons: Only two of the 11 tracks were huge hits, presenting an opportunity to dig deeper into the group's large catalog; and most of the tracks spotlight the other brothers' voices as much as
Michael's. This is particularly evident on their slowed-down reading of
"Standing in the Shadows of Love" and a carbon-copy rendition of
"Oh How Happy." The selections on
Never Can Say Goodbye verify that
the Jackson 5 did much more than bubblegum
soul -- but they also verify that bubblegum
soul was what they did best in the 1969-1975 period.
~Joseph McCombs, All Music Guide
;)
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