Time Has Come: The Best of the Chambers Brothers

At their peak, the Chambers Brothers were a boundary-pushing soul outfit that joined other African-American led acts like Love, Sly & the Family Stone, and Funkadelic in creating an innovative new vision of American music that drew on both white and black musical influences. The 16-track TIME HAS COME: THE BEST OF THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS does an admirable job of capturing this group at the height of their powers. Those looking to hear the Brothers at their most soulful should look to their incendiary cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and a stunning, near-11-minute take on the old spiritual "Wade In The Water" that rivals even the work of seminal gospel outfits like the Soul Stirrers and the Sunset Travelers for sheer emotional intensity. Of course, the collection includes their monster hit, "Time Has Come Today," which remains a masterful fusion of the rock-solid songwriting of classic soul and the feedback-laden aesthetic of the psychedelic era.