Aretha Franklin是公认的灵魂乐女王（好像还有人管她叫教母的），是美国最早的歌坛天后级人物，从60年代一直唱到90年代。她是目前唯一一个获得葛莱美终身成就奖的女歌手，也是第一个入选摇滚名人堂的女歌手。听了她的歌，你会替Mariah Carey和Whitney Houston等人感到庆幸，好在没跟她生在同一个时代，不然恐怕难有出头之日啦。 　　她的歌声张弛有度，音域宽广，变幻多端，这张1967年发行的专辑即使在今天来听也毫无过时之感，在听它之前，我实在很难相信60年代就已经有人可以这样唱歌。 　　这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第83位。 　　While the inclusion of "Respect" -- one of the truly seminal singles in pop history -- is in and of itself sufficient to earn I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You classic status, Aretha Franklin's Atlantic label debut is an indisputable masterpiece from start to finish. Much of the credit is due to producer Jerry Wexler, who finally unleashed the soulful intensity so long kept under wraps during her Columbia tenure; assembling a crack Muscle Shoals backing band along with an abundance of impeccable material, Wexler creates the ideal setting to allow Aretha to ascend to the throne of Queen of Soul, and she responds with the strongest performances of her career. While the brilliant title track remains the album's other best-known song, each cut on I Never Loved a Man is touched by greatness; covers of Ray Charles' "Drown in My Own Tears" and Sam Cooke's "Good Times" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" are on par with the original recordings, while Aretha's own contributions -- "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream," "Baby, Baby, Baby," "Save Me," and "Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)" -- are perfectly at home in such lofty company. A soul landmark.