VA - The Shadows of Love: Jon Savage's Intense Tamla 1966-1968 (2006)

Soul collectors need another Motown anthology like they need a hole in the head, but The Shadows of Love: Jon Savage's Intense Tamla 1966-1968 deserves more than a casual dismissal. Compiled by the celebrated British music critic Jon Savage, whose passionate liner notes are alone worth the price of admission, this 20-song set focuses on a monumental three-year span that represents a seismic shift not only in Motown's creative sensibilities but in American culture as a whole. Hits like the Supremes' "Reflections," the Temptations' "I Wish It Would Rain," and the Four Tops' "Standing in the Shadows of Love" capture, with uncommon eloquence, the disillusionment and hopelessness reaching a boil across the black community -- declaring once and for all an end to the puppy-love sentiments of Motown's earlier hits. Savage's thoughtful sequencing doesn't make these familiar songs new again, but their cumulative power still astounds.