VA - 54 - Music From The Miramax Motion Picture Volume 1 & 2 (1998) [CD Rip]

As if the genre didn't have enough stigmas to transcend, countless nostalgic compilations have done disco additional disservice by reducing the canon to a handful of obvious tunes trotted out endlessly. Fortunately, by including lesser-known gems like the Gibson Brothers' "Que Sera Mi Vida" next to classics by Sylvester, Dan Hartman, and Chic, the music supervisors of 54 have assembled irrefutable proof that the late '70s weren't the musical wasteland those idiots who torched their Donna Summer LPs claimed. However, the producers apparently weren't entirely immune to the commercial leanings that undermined disco via overexposure; program your CD player to skip the annoying cut-and-paste medley "Studio 54" and Mary Griffin's updated "Knock on Wood," which pales next to Amii Stewart's chart-topping 1979 reading. --Kurt B. Reighley

The second round of sounds from 54 kicks off with Stars on 54--the powerhouse trio of club canaries Ultra Naté, Amber, and Jocelyn Enriquez--breathing life into a house reinvention of Gordon Lightfoot's tepid "If You Could Read My Mind." What distinguishes the 15 subsequent tracks is a sparkling symbiosis of artist, melody, and musical invention. Could anyone but the towering Grace Jones have growled "I Need a Man" with such ferocity? And the syncopated bridge of Bonnie Pointer's "Heaven Must Have Sent You" oozes more juice than most contemporary R&B hits. Thoughtful sequencing, with an emphasis on the oft-overlooked stylistic breadth disco achieved under the best producers and performers, makes this an even better bet than volume 1. --Kurt B. Reighley