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The Temptations are from way before my time, but I discovered The Temptations as a great group from Motown. I think The Temptations are (together with the great Marvin Gaye) the best discovery from Motown Records.And this is the best and most complete collection of their songs, including classics suck as 'My Girl', 'Ain't Too Proud to Beg', 'Cloud Nine', 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone', and many more. The first disc is a more R&B cd while the second is more a funk oriented cd. This CD is really a must have for everyone who calls himself/herself a music fan.
It has most of their known best songs and minute by minute, you'll relish the mastery of producers and songwriters like Smokey, Norman, Kenneth.and the soulful voices of the Temptations from the original to the changed lineup/s. A classic.If you love classic R&B, what I call 'Soul' music, this is a must-have for you. This is one of the very best anthologies that have ever been compiled on the Temptations. The songs are very good and this is a classic album to have for your collection. Definitely a collectible album alongside many of the Temptations' albums.
I just recieved this cd last week and I have already copied a tape of it for my car. It has all of the old favorites we know and love, but it also has some that I had not heard, so I was so happy to get this anthology of the Temptations. If you love the Temptations like I do they could sing the ABC's and you would still tremble.
And, except for a few audiophiles who bemoan the fact that it's in mono, it would have been 5 stars across the board.Having said that, you just know this one is a jewel when the vast majority of the reviews posted to date give it the maximum. And this, in my opinion, is not just based upon the outstanding music but also the insert which contains eight pages of comprehensive liner notes by Harry Weinger, numerous photographs, a complete Temptations Family Tree from 1961 to 1995, a full discography of the contents, and a listing of their many albums.Inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1989, they put 55 songs into the Billboard Pop Hot 100 singles charts from 1964 to 1991, and had another three "Bubble Under" to go along with six on the Adult Contemporary charts - and scored no less than 87 times on the R&B charts.This 46-selection, 2-CD set provides 36 of those 55 Hot 100 singles although, being a selfish completist collector of hit singles, I would have preferred to have seen tracks 8, 11, 14, 27 [each album cuts] - 3, 7, 10, 17 [each B-sides] - and 26 [previously unreleased] on Disc One, and track 15 [album cut] on Disc Two - replaced by omitted hits.These could have included the following, some of which remain hard to find in CD format: Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite The World) - # 8 R&B/# 33 Hot 100 1970]; Take A Look Around [# 10 R&B/# 30 Hot 100 1972]; Mother Nature [# 27 R&B/# 92 Hot 100 1972]; The Plastic Man [# 8 R&B/# 40 Hot 100 1973]; Heavenly [# 8 R&B/# 43 Hot 100 1974; Happy People [# 1 R&B/# 40 Hot 100 1975]; Glasshouse [# 9 R&B/# 37 Hot 100 1975]; Keep Holding On [# 3 R&B/# 54 Hot 100 1976]; Aiming At Your Heart [# 36 R&B/# 67 Hot 100 1981]; and Sail Away [# 13 R&B/# 54 Hot 100 1984].Even so, this does not take away from the beauty of the set, part of a series which also includes Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and The Supremes, and dedicated to group member Melvin Franklin who passed away at age 52 on February 23, 1995.
And of course, "Ball Of Confusion". My copy of this CD arrived damaged and so I had to order a slightly different version rather urgently from somewhere else. Check out these lyrics: "People moving out, people moving in (Why)./ Because of the colour of their skin/ Run, run, run but you sure can't hide/ An eye of an eye, a tooth for a tooth/ Vote for me and I'll set you free./ The only person talkin' about love, my brother, is the preacher/ And it seems nobody's interested in learnin' but the teacher."The producers of that show are incredibly smart. They don't make them like this anymore.All the hits are here; tunes like "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", "My Girl", "Get Ready", "Just My Imagination" and "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" (with Diana Ross & The Supremes) among more recent ones like "Treat Her Like A Lady". This is top class stuff. I'm sure any fan of "The Wire" will agree that those few lines capture the current season of the show perfectly, almost as if the song was written for it.
They certainly don't make them like this anymore.This is one of those CDs I put on and find difficult to stop even if I'm late for an appointment somewhere. I'd still like to review it though.I wanted to get this CD after hearing the song "Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)" being used to promote (the then upcoming) Season 4 of HBO's "The Wire". Over 40 songs and not a dud to be found anywhere. Or as if they wrote the show around the song.Of course neither is the case; the use of the song simply came about as the result of good researching, and The Temptations probably don't need any introduction anyway. Alongside other male vocal groups like the O'Jays, The Four Tops, The Jackson 5/The Jacksons, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and even The Commodores, these dudes were the soundtrack to the 60s and 70s, and the soundtrack to my generation's youth. I'm playing it in the car and I get to where I want to go and I don't want to get out, at least, not until the song I'm listening to has finished.
The best Temptations collection around today.Right on, brothers.
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