VA - Invictus Soul Box Set (Remastered) (2006)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks, cue, log) - 1.5 GB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 538 MB
3:52:15 | Soul, Funk, Disco | Label: Castle Music
It's sure hard to call Castle's 2006 triple-disc box a "deluxe" release – it has the drab title of Invictus Soul Box Set and it's just slapped together in a CD-sized cardboard box, containing good liner notes by Peter Doggett but little else in the way of packaging (there are no photos from the label, either of the artists or the singles, anywhere to be found). This stands in contrast to Castle's previous treatment of the Invictus catalog, when they released a bunch of stellar single-artist retrospectives in the early 2000s, but ultimately it doesn't matter: on a sheer musical level, Invictus Soul Box Set is superb. It follows no strict chronological order, jumping from year to year within each disc, but it roughly breaks down to having the biggest hits on the first disc, follow-ups and neglected treasures on the second, with the funkiest stuff reserved for third. This gives the box a flow, but the truth is, this music could be played in random order and it would still be satisfying because each cut was designed to stand on its own merits as a single. Ironically, several of the versions showcased here are album versions – such as Flaming Ember's dynamic "Westbound Number Nine" – instead of singles, but these are subtle differences that do not change the overall effect of this box's addictive onslaught of soul. Holland-Dozier-Holland's skills as writers, producers, and overall talent scouts and shepherds were not diminished at all.