After the seismic "side one" of the Cloud Nine album, which saw the beginnings of Norman Whitfield-produced "psychedelic soul", this album came along later in the same year. It was another captivating music of socially aware funky soul and classic, emotional Motown soul.
First off I Can't Get Next To You has a super intro in the opening door and "hold on - wait a minute - listen" vocal before it kicks into a magnificent piece of lively, funky, punchy Motown pop. It is simply peerless. Man - those alternating vocals and the energetic, pulsing rhythm. It never lets up for a second. Perfect late sixties Motown.
I'm not often a fan of covers of The Beatles' Hey Jude but this buzzy, guitar driven, funkily soulful one is actually quite quirkily appealing.
Talking of funk, Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down is a thumping slice of psychedelic soul-funk - muscular bass drums, excellent trade-off vocals and those "boom-boom-boom" backing vocals so popular at the time. Check out that totally intoxicating cymbal percussion. The Temptations get the funk superbly on this underrated, bubbling but muscular number. Lyrically, it is an attack on pointless materialism - "keeping up with the Joneses".
The big "message" song on the album is the now iconic Message From A Black Man. "No matter how hard you try you can't stop me now...." and "...yes, your skin is white, does that make you right...." are prime examples of the hard-hitting, ground-breaking nature of this titanic song. The vocal/percussion face-off at the end is so powerful. Great sound to it too.
It's Your Thing is a hot funky burner led by some searing buzzsaw guitar. Written by The Isley Brothers, it demonstrates just how funky The Temptations had now become. Those wonderful, soulful love songs were still here, but there was also some seriously cookin' funk.
Covers were still popping up every now and again, however, too. Roger Miller's Little Green Apples had also been covered by the Four Tops and if it sat somewhat incongruously on their album, it did so even more here, despite Paul Williams' excellent, powerful vocal.
Three classic pieces of melodic, catchy Temptations soul are up next in You Don't Love Me No More with its stunning wah-wah guitar intro, the irresistible Since I've Lost You and the rhythmic Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You). I remember first hearing these three cuts on a seventies "Motown Special" Temptations compilation and loving them, so they have great memories for me.
You Don't Love Me No More has an absolute killer of a funky wah-wah intro, a groovy percussion sound and a super-sweet vocal. Its smooth vibe belies its lyric of failure in love.
Regarding Since I've Lost You, I have loved this romantic heartbreaker of a track since way back in 1977, when I first heard it on this album. It is simply gorgeous, from its opening notes, its overall melody and its beautiful lead vocal and accompanying harmonies. All this makes for a Temptations deep cut of the highest quality that should find its way onto any "best of" playlist, in my opinion. Love it. I can remember trying to sing along with those Eddie Kendricks high notes without any success at all.
Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You) just has so much good going for it - its rhythmic conga intro, its fetching, melodic guitar and its supremely emotive vocal. It is up there with Since Ive Lost You for me. Love it.
That's The Way Love Is is a catchy, soulful mid-paced number and Slave is the final "aware" number, a moving, pulsating piece of funky soul about prison life. It has a great rhythm and owes a bit to Sam Cooke's Chain Gang in its "ooh-ahh" vocal backing. It is full of fuzz-tone and wah-wah too. A powerful end to another mighty album from Motown's finest group, for me.
