Album of the Day

Born on this day in 1942, Aretha Franklin earned virtually every superlative you could think of, and a new Atlantic collection shows why. THE GENIUS OF ARETHA FRANKLIN distills the performer's decade on the label down to a single disc that - from 1967's “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” to 1976's “Something He Can Feel” - is one stone-cold classic after another. Most of the 15 tracks were Top 10 hits, including such favorites as “Respect,” “Chain of Fools” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (a song tailor-made for Franklin's gospel-inspired delivery). If the new National Geographic miniseries has piqued your curiosity about the Queen of Soul, there's no better time than now to discover THE GENIUS OF ARETHA FRANKLIN.