Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 24/10/05
Label: Columbia Records

And so the booty-shaking brilliance is no more. Eight years, six members, three line-ups, 60 million records sold, 12 Number Ones, a fair few hairstyles and a wealth of wonderfully sequined outfits have made Beyoncé, Kelly and co one of the most supreme R&B outfits since, well, The Supremes.

Ultimately though, DC did the right thing in hanging up their harmonies - last album "Destiny Fulfilled" was inexcusably inept - sludgy songwriting, unbearable ballads and the sudden and strange transformation from super-sassy "Sex And The City"-soaked sisterhood songwriters to desperate housewives who couldn't fetch the slippers quick enough for him indoors. The sparkle dissipated around the same time Ms Knowles departed for solo shores, it would seem.

Far better then to concentrate on the precedent-setting sonic successes - namely their second and third studio albums, which this new greatest hits does. Arriving in new-fangled dual-disc format - CD on one side, DVD on the other - you not only get a bag full of bangers, there's also new songs, various videos and a trailer for a forthcoming live DVD.

The only duds are taken from the aforementioned last album, alongside the three new tracks, which were clearly created in "Fulfilled" frame of mind. In fact, it's these inclusions that let this otherwise cracking compilation down; stuffed full of lazy lyricisms and sloppily sentimentality, "Cater 2 U", "Stand Up For Love" and "Girl" are utterly vomitous.

Skip instead straight to track 2 and the shimmering brilliance of "Independent Women Part 1". The soundtrack to many a dumpees night out, this was the song to really put DC on the map. Followed swiftly by the stupendous "Survivor", the Beyoncé-penned track did more for Girl Power than all five of the Spice Girls put together. These two tunes alone spun R&B into an altogether different direction, where the girls were as bull-busting as the boys and the beats as big as any hip hop track.

Similarly, "Say My Name" was, is, still a monster of massive proportions thanks to Rodney Jerkins' driving drums and the utterly infectious triple-time hook. "Bug-A-Boo", "Bills, Bills, Bills" and the eponymous "Bootylicious" are a trio of speaker-shaking anthems, set to a backdrop of blistering bass lines and snappy songwriting. Even the super-schmaltzy "Emotion" is worth more than one rewind, thanks to Knowles jaw-dropping if not somewhat over-the-top vocal.

"#1's" is a masterclass in what happens when a great band comes together. And what happens when it starts to fall apart. Despite the low-points, this is a Destiny's Child must have collection of classics from one of R&B's most significant talents.

    by Hattie Collins