Soul is a curious, catch-all term for music which encompasses genres ranging from r’n’b to disco and beyond, but it serves its purpose well enough when it comes to establishing an umbrella title for the selection of music included in this three-disc compilation.

Perhaps because this collection was voted on by the ITV-watching public, the same people who ensure The X Factor remains an annual source of musical exploitation, it’s not exactly offering anything unexpected.

Offerings include Aretha Franklin’s Son of a Preacher Man, Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan, Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) from The Delfonics, and Otis Redding with Try A Little Tenderness. All worthy of inclusion in any music collection.

In fact, there are more staples here than you’d find in your average stationery shop, predictable, well-worn numbers which justly deserve the accolade of “classic”, but which you’ve probably already got on various other albums.

So why should you pick up this latest smorgasbord of soul flavours? After all, in today’s digital download marketplace, couldn’t you put together your own selection with far more originality and aplomb?

Perhaps. But at the end of the day this is a remarkably well-chosen selection of songs, despite the input of ITV viewers, and if you just want to stick a damn fine compilation of music on your creaking old CD player instead of faffing around with iTunes, then this isn’t to disappoint. Originality might not be the name of the game when it comes to offerings like this, but the quality of the music included certainly is.