Before I get started, I need to get something out of my chest: I find both "Celine Dion" and "Mariah Carey" to be extremely annoying. It's one thing to have a great voice, and another to be a great singer. Having the former does not warrant that you will get the latter by default. Bob Dylan has a horrible voice, but the man can sing. Janis Joplin did not have a memorable voice, but by God, she could sing her lungs out. And we also have the wild card, Bette Midler. She has a beautiful voice, and she can sing.

"Mariah Carey" screams. "Celine Dion" has the voice, but she tries too hard. Now that I have this off my chest, I can talk straight about "VH1 Divas Live." This CD rocks. Plain and simple. It does not matter how much I dislike "Mariah Carey" and "Celine Dion." It still rocks. This is one of the finest concert recordings that I have had the pleasure of listening to in a very long time. I've followed "Gloria Estefan" for a long time, since her days in the "Miami Sound Machine," and she sounds as good as ever, although a bit tired. Newcomer "Shania Twain," the new queen of VH1, does great. And Celine sings that horrible "Titanic" song.

Still, the secret of this CD is Aretha. "Aretha Franklin" delivers a performance of a lifetime, and oh boy, she's so good! I can imagine Mariah feeling almost out of her league when she has to sing "Chain of Fools" with Aretha. Which suits me fine. Everyone deserves a little dose of humility from time to time.

"Carole King" also did just fine, thank you. Great singing. The final two tracks, "A Natural Woman" and "Testimony" are great pieces to show off the combined range of all the "Divas" singing together. "Testimony" is by far the best piece from the whole CD, with Aretha taking the lead on a wonderful gospel piece. It was a fitting way to finish a great concert.

"VH1 Divas Live" is a must buy, no matter what your musical tastes are. If you are like me, you will surely skip through the "Titanic" song and enjoy the rest.