The Four Tops: Soul Spin - 1969

This was a low-key album release from The Four Tops, in that it contained no hit singles, and was quite "serious" in mood, tapping into the prevalent social consciousness trail-blazed by The Temptations. 

Indeed, the opening track, the ecologically-aware Look Out Your Window is very much like The Temptations in its sound and vocal delivery. Frank Wilson, who also went on the produce The Supremes, was at the controls. He injected a Norman Whitfield-influenced awareness into proceedings. 

Barbara's Boy is more of a Bernadette-style Motown number. However, it touched on the sensitive subject of paternity rights. Lost In A Pool Of Red is another hard-hitting number with a killer bass line and, as always, a towering Levi Stubbs lead vocal. It has a huge, pounding drum sound too. It seemed every Four Tops album had to contain a Beatles cover. Here, it was Got To Get You Into My Life, saved by Stubbs' vocal. Stop The World is more of a Motown stomper, but with a message. The Tops were getting more like The Temptations by the day. Thus far, at least. 

Nothing is a Smokey Robinson song, again with an authentic Motown feel. and that huge bass line again. This is as far as the Motown material went on the album, the same applied to the socially aware stuff. It was "easy listening" covers all the way now - Burt Bacharach's This Guy's In Love With You and The Look Of Love; Bobby Goldsboro's lachrymose Honey; The Doors' Light My Fire and The Mamas And the Papas' California Dreamin'. all immaculately sung, of course, but pretty inessential. They are nowhere near as good, or as credible as the old "side one" of the album. 

The Four Tops had continued the trend of putting out an album of a really solid side one and a side two of cheesy covers. They had "previous" on this. 1966's On Top was guilty of the same thing. As a completist, I have this album for the side one tracks, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than a serious hardcore Motown aficionado.