Strictly speaking, this album is a misnomer at least some of the time, since some of the tracks, including "Time of the Season" and "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in Her Kiss)," use readily audible instrumentation. The latter, however, is confined to a bass and bongos (with a little organ embellishment), and they don't really intrude on the vocalizing. "Kiss Him Goodbye" was the existing hit, and it's not one of the stronger cuts on this album -- instead, "God Only Knows" comes off like a soul music classic here, and "Time of the Season" might just have passed muster as a disco tune had it been done, say, around 1977. Several of the tracks are from live performances, which mesh well with the studio cuts -- the moods range from the expected reverence given "A Change Is Gonna Come" (with an inventive vamp at the end) to the outgoing, exuberant performance of "One Fine Day" to the slow, lovingly expansive rendition of "Up on the Roof." The studio recordings (especially "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow") have a special elegance and delicacy in the actual recording that is an additional delight to the ear.
The Beatles covers are a mixed bag, with "Lady Madonna" rather bland and "Because" succeeding better, though somehow a bad fit as the final track on the album. ~ Bruce Eder