The Temptations - Psychedelic Soul (2003)
Audio CD - Motown B0000582-02
Original Release Date: June 24, 2003 (U.S. release)
Track listing:
Disc 1 (total time - 71:30)
1. Cloud Nine
2. Runaway Child, Running Wild
3. Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down
4. I Can't Get Next To You
5. Message From A Black Man
6. Slave
7. Psychedelic Shack
8. You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth
9. Hum Along And Dance
10. Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind
11. War
12. Friendship Train
13. Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)
Disc 2 (total time - 78:10)
1. Smiling Faces Sometimes
2. Ungena Za Ulimengu (Unite The World)
3. Love Can Be Anything (Can't Nothing Be Love But Love)
4. Take A Look Around
5. Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
6. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On
7. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
8. Plastic Man
9. Masterpiece
10. Ain't No Justice
11. 1990
Review from All Music Guide:
(4 1/2 Stars)
Two big changes happened for the Temptations in 1968. First, they parted ways with David Ruffin and brought in former Contour Dennis Edwards as lead vocalist. Edwards brought a rougher-edged soul sound to the group with his raw vocals. Secondly, they decided that the world of music was changing and they were standing still. The group went to producer Norman Whitfield and asked for a song that was more in tune with the volatile and psychedelic times. Whitfield came back with the incredible, layered, dense, and still funky "Cloud Nine," the song was a smash, and a new, more progressive era of the Temptations began. The double-disc Psychedelic Soul chronicles the best moments of the incredible union between Whitfield's forward-looking and innovative writing and production and the Temptations' incredible voices. The record picks up the big hits like "Cloud Nine," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Psychedelic Shack" (here in a previously unreleased extended version), "Ball of Confusion" (also here in a previously unreleased extended version), "Masterpiece," and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." It also fills in the gaps with a lot of album tracks from records the Temptations made between 1968 and 1973. Some of the highlights are the gripping "Slave," the funky "Hum Along and Dance," the very long and dramatic version of the Undisputed Truth's hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes," the hard-rocking "Ungema Za Ulimengu (Unite the World)," and the dubby, freewheeling "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On." By the end of disc two, the group slides toward Philly soul, albeit with an angry, political outlook especially on the heartbroken "Ain't No Justice" or the vitriolic "1990" from 1973. This is a well-selected disc that is a fitting testament to the talents of Whitfield and a stunning example of a band reinventing itself. Of course, it is also great funky dance music -- supercharged, psychedelic funky dance music, some of the best music Motown (or anyone) produced in the late '60s/early '70s.
~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
Once Norman Whitfield caught the reins of Motown's strongest act (and the one closest to Berry Gordy's heart), he recorded hit after hit, stretching from 1968's "Cloud Nine" to 1973's "Masterpiece." But despite some seriously groovy covers, the Temptations' LPs of the era suffered from Motown's unwillingness to ever commit fully to any one direction: 1969's Puzzle People included both the defiant anthem "Message From a Black Man" and a cover of O.C. Smith's "Little Green Apples." Britain's Spectrum remedied the situation with its 2000 compilation Psychedelic Soul, not just a hits collection from the Whitfield years but a nearly definitive look at his best productions for the Temptations. Included are not only all the obvious biggies from the era -- "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," "Psychedelic Shack," "Runaway Child, Running Wild," "Ball of Confusion," "Cloud Nine," and "Masterpiece" -- but a host of great middle-level hits ("Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down," "Message From a Black Man," "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth") and intriguing album tracks like "Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite the World)" and "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On." All of them hang together really well (much better than any of the albums, barring 1973's Masterpiece), and despite the small caveat of an occasionally baffling running order, Psychedelic Soul is the best way to hear some of the grooviest, most ambitious music ever recorded for Motown.
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