The Temptations, Anthology

Impressions: These guys had me from the bright opening chords of the first song “The Way You Do The Things You Do.” It sounds like straight-up sunshine. When everything is all in place (the honey soaked R&B harmonies, classic Motown pop songwriting and absolute perfect arrangements), it really doesn’t get much better than this. Sure, a few tunes get a little samey sounding (like with their female counterparts, The Supremes,) but when the formula is so good why argue? Most of disc one is made up of this brand of pristine machine tooled, pop-gospel-inflected R&B Motown bliss. These guys could sing the phone book and make it beautiful, compelling to listen to. Seymour 2 is probably the best bass singer of all time. “Ain’t To Proud To Beg” almost got ruined by being on the Big Chill soundtrack, but it’s still a stomping number with an exciting ascending chord structure. Disc 2 is their more serious, later stuff. “Cloud 9” is funkier and a real change up from their early stuff. The music is great and I like that they tried different stuff, but I find the slightly awkward preachiness undercuts their message a bit…wait they claim this songs is not about drugs but a “State of Mind?” huh? “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”… just heaven if not a little stalker-y. Some of these later songs are pretty great arrangements but ham-handed “statement” songs like “Joneses,” or  “Ball of Confusion.” But then, “Just My Imagination” floats in and makes me forget about whatever complaints I was just typing up. Despite being a message-tune “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” is a stone classic and benefits from a more narrative approach. The tail end of disc 2 charts their slide from Funk into proto-disco to ’80s cheeseball R&B. Again, I’m glad they changed things up but some of their attempts missed the mark. “Power”… singing about Nukes? Brrr. Trying to keep up with the times, they sort of ended up sounding like a not-so-bad copy of Earth, Wind and Fire or less freaky Parliament. Ah, well…

Starred Songs: “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” “My Girl,” “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)”
Sneaky Tracks: “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep,” “What Love Has Joined Together,” “Since I Lost My Baby,” “Don’t Look Back”

Should this be on the list: Yes, of course. But this anthology thing on this list is starting to piss me off.
Replace With: Maybe a tighter compliation that omits their later crap
Will You Listen To This Album Again: This collection? Ehh…but the songs, yeah!