Search - Chi-Lites :: Chi-Lites - 20 Greatest Hits

Porridge soul.

darragh o'donoghue | 01/15/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Chi-Lites were the Boyz II Men of their day, purveyors of sombre but syrupy soul ballads whose emotion tended to be a backdrop to efficient backing vocals. As such, they are very enjoyable, even if they only produced two or three genuinely classic songs, such as the majestic melancholy of 'Have You Seen Her'; the country-blues-soul of 'Oh Girl'; or the pop bliss of 'Too Good to be Forgotten'. They simply lacked the emotive limpidity of the Temptations or the epic brio of the Four Tops. Tracks like 'For God's Sake Give More Power To the People' suggest they had a reasonable grasp of funk. There is some fun to be had from Freud-defying titles such as 'Let me be the man my daddy was', or embarrassment-defying ones like 'There will never be any peace (until God is at the conference table)'.Their one claim to uniqueness, however, is their production style. This went way beyond Spector Walls of Sound or huge orchestral settings. The treacle-thick stodginess of the arrangements; the often crass sound effects; the colouring from genres not traditionally associated with soul; the indelible use of instruments, especially salon music-style violin: all create a baffling sound that goes further than mere music. 'The Coldest Day of My Life (part 1)' is the test case - either you find its windy atmospherics unbearably moving or cornily pretentious. I find it both, a middle-way best adapted to truly enjoy this collection."

All the big British and American hits

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hailing from Chicago, the Chi-Lites took a while to find success but their efforts eventually proved worthwhile. Eugene Record, a singer-songwriter-producer, dominated the group, which achieved an American breakthrough hit with Give it away in 1969 although they did not enter the British charts until 1971, when they had a minor UK hit with For God's sake give more power to the people - a very different record from the soulful ballads that they are best remembered for.



1972 proved to be a big year for the Chi-Lites, yielding Have you seen her (a top three hit in Britain and America) and Oh girl (a number one American hit, though only a top twenty UK hit). Their last major American hit came with Homely girl but (after a slow start) their success in the UK continued until 1976. Homely girl, It's time for love and You don't have to go all made the UK top five, as did a re-issue of Have you seen her (just over three years after its original chart run).



This compilation contains all the important Chi-Lites hits from both sides of the Atlantic."

FANTASTIC!!!

10/01/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't wait to listen to "LONELY MAN" on CD. This is definitely one the best albums from the early 70's. The Chi-lites were never better. I once had the original cassette which was over used and ultimately destroyed. I've been searching for this album for.....over 20 years. It's been out of print for too long!"