Shirley Brown - The Soul of a Woman (1997)

Shirley Brown sings about meaty stuff here. Broken hearts, revenge, empowerment, and sexual fulfillment all get their due from Brown, whose rafter-rattling pipes could likely convert the devil himself. This is southern soul for the 1990s, steamy and frank.... "Female Player" swaggers with a bass-heavy tinge of hip-hop and a brief rap.... Her strident satisfaction on "I Caught You with Your Pants Down" proves a mite hard to stomach. But Brown's vocals are comparable to Aretha Franklin's soaring flights.... -- Living Blues