Silk - The Best of Silk (2004)

Silk were always a remarkable collection of voices that harmonized so well, and they could preach the gospel of the bedroom like no other. R. Kelly based a career on Silk's greatest moment, "Freak Me," but the band's albums could be patchy. The biggest problem is that Silk's greatest moments were always about lust and sex, so the collection is a bit limited in topic, but if you have candles and essential oils in your bedroom you might as well have this. Best Of adequately covers their Elektra years, which was when things were really happening, so you don't need to go much further. Despite having roots in the dated world of new jack swing, Best Of still sounds fresh and what their singles lacked in grabbing production they made up for with wonderful harmonies. "There's a meeting in my bedroom/So girl please don't be late" is a line few could deliver without sounding silly, but check the way the members interact on "Meeting in My Bedroom," and you'll be a convert. The old remix of "Freak Me" gets tacked on to the end of the disc and makes the collection even more desirable. Unless you're an R&B historian, you won't need another Silk album. ~ David Jeffries