SPECIAL (1989)
The Temptations fully embrace New Jack Swing. The good news is that they don’t go for the loudest forms of New Jack. It’s sanded down, so their voices aren’t lost in the mix. It works best on “Friends”, “All I Want From You” and especially “O.A.O. Lover”. That last song is legitimately good and has that loud slamming 80s percussion done in a good way. I give it a 7/10.
Less successful embracing of New Jack is “She’s Better Than Money” which even has a brief rap. Yep. Moving riiight along…
Predictably the ballads often get too smooth, see “Special”. At least they decided to go for something special (see what I did!) on “Soul To Soul”, which verges on a hymnal. Granted it’s marred at points by the late 80s keyboards, but the vocals are genuinely moving when those damn keyboards get out the way. They shoulda hired a full band just for this one track. I still grant it a 6.5/10.
ALBUM GRADE: C-
MILESTONE (1991)
This was put out to celebrate the Temptations’ 30th anniversary, but it proved a sadder milestone. This was the last LP to feature original member Melvin Franklin and longtime member Richard Street (with the group since 1971). Franklin died in the mid-1990s, while Street I imagine was just worn out from recording lackluster albums.
You’d be fed up too if you had to remake “Get Ready” as a failed house music anthem.
The only song I am the least bit interested in hearing again is “Do It Easy” thanks to Franklin’s bass vocal and the lightest of touches used in production. It’s all your standard 80s/90s clutter, but muted to leave room for Franklin’s bass and the guitar’s bass.
Other than that, one unmemorable song after another.
ALBUM GRADE: F
FOR LOVERS ONLY (1995)
The Temptations try something new! Instead of trying to keep up with the latest trends, they took a break for four years. In that interim, with Franklin’s death and Street’s retirement, Otis Williams found some other dudes to fill their spots. Not gonna lie at this point, I stop trying to keep track of who’s in the group. After Ali-Ollie Woodson left the group after this album’s release, I don’t really consider this stuff Temptations music.
Sorry, that was an aside, back to the music…
After the four-year hiatus, group decided to do an album of standards that utilized contemporary, but not up to the minute production. Since it was the mid-1990s, this meant that cluttery percussion of the 80s was finally gone as was the way too smooth ballads. This album has a generally chill feel mixing urban contemporary and jazz. The songs don’t often stand out too much, but they also don’t offend. A bonus in that the musicl arrangements of these standards often deviate dramatically from the originals.
The definition of easy listening in a good way.
Best song is the album opener, “Some Enchanted Evening” (7.5/10). Or maybe I can only remember it because it is indeed the album opener. Oh well.
In any case, an album that doesn’t offend or leave that much of an impression. Definition of a C.
ALBUM GRADE: C
PHOENIX RISING (1998)
The Temptations make another comeback thanks to the single “Stay” (7/10). Look, it’s not hard to see why this was a decent hit on R&B radio: the song samples the intro to “My Girl” which is one of the catchiest songs ever made.
But an album doesn’t go platinum solely on the strength of one song, right? Well, sometimes. Phoenix Rising isn’t such an album, but barely so. “False Faces” (6/10) has a light go-go beat giving some variety, but in too many places the album just has standard late-90s R&B conventions without any distinction. “How Could He Hurt You” (5/10) exemplifies that.
Do a random shuffle of six songs from this album and you’ll get the general idea. No one needed 13 tracks of the same ole same ole.