By Galactus (207.144.253.114) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 03:31 pm:

I'm gonna start doing this....and would love for others to do it, too.

Everytime I pick up some new CDs, I'm gonna do a little mini-review of the new discs.....Might help others decide on 'em, and I like doing it, too....'cause I love this stuff so much. Any input from others on these discs or any other discs you all pick up is cool.......I'm no all-knowing music sage or anything.....just like talking about stuff I'm into...

Most of my CD buying is done out of town or through the internet.....because we don't have a lot of good CD outlets (particularly in my favorite genres) around here in the Hilton Head area.....I was out of town last week, and came home a little light in the pocketbook!!

My scale:

***** � A Classic; every track is a dead ringer and required listening for anyone with ears
**** � Terrific stuff; a must for fans of the genre.....some tracks better than others but overall, outstanding.
*** � Not bad at all; probably good to have if you like the artist
** � A couple of good tracks, but overall disappointing
* � Skip it.....waste of money.....pretty empty from start to finish

Disc reviews coming up....

By Galactus (207.144.253.114) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 03:58 pm:

TEMPTIN' TEMPTATIONS - The Temptations (1965) Motown ***** � What can I say? This is just a flawless disc by one of the greatest groups ever....and is a perfect example of soul music at it's best. Every track from start to finish is a bullseye....from the writings of Smokey, Holland Jr., Hunter, Kendricks, Whitfield, etc. to the brilliant phrasing and singing of Williams, Kendricks and of course Ruffin, this is not only one of the best Motown albums ever -- but is one of the greatest r&b albums ever recorded. You get the hits of the day ("Since I Lost My Baby" is my all-time favorite Tempts song) and great album tracks (Williams is just downright moving on "Just Another Lonely Night"...."Born To Love" should've been bigger). Funk brothers and the band are on a roll here, as well. A must-have for any soul fan...

CHOCOLATE CHIP - Isaac Hayes (1975) Stax *** - Pretty good later day stuff from Isaac. Little bit of disco influence infiltrates some of the tracks, but not in a bad way. It's like Hayes is trying to answer Barry White's challenge here. Consistently good.....not great and certainly not up to "Black Moses" or "Hot Buttered Soul", but worth having if you're a big Hayes fan. I liked "That Loving Feeling" a great deal....rest of disc is nice. Interesting note is that there's no female backing vocals on this one. It's all Isaac......

THE EBONYS - The Ebonys (1971) Philadelphia International/Legacy **** - Any fan of Philly soul should definitely get this one. I didn't know much about The Ebonys beyond one or two of their tunes....but I was stunned at the consistency of this album. Even the bonus tracks are worth having. Combo of falsetto and gruff leads really works well, and plays off the excellent MFSB sound very well. "You're the Reason Why" and "Do You Like The Way I Love" are standout tracks, in my opinion. Great job by Gamble, Huff, Martin and Bell....And Sony-Legacy's remastering is top-of-the-line....

THE SOUND OF SEXY SOUL - The Delfonics (1969) Arista/Buddha ***** - Another flawless disc, this sophomore effort by the Delfonics is great.....and any soul collection needs this one. I still need to grab their first album which I haven't been able to track down. The Bell sound is at its best and I'm very impressed with William Hart's writing and contributions...Musicians deserve kudos as well..I really enjoyed "You Can't Be Loving Him" and the last 5 tracks, beginning with a good version of "Going Out of My Head"...Definitely a classic....Can't believe this was out of print for so long...

WAKE UP EVERYBODY - Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1975) Philadelphia International/Legacy ***** - One of the best Philly albums ever recorded, this one will make you sad that Teddy and the group split. Another remastering bullseye from the Legacy series with good info in the liner notes....And another awesome job by the MFSB band...Teddy and even Harold are in fine voice.....nice Paige stuff on "You Know How to Make Me Feel So Good"..This might be, in my opinion, the best Philly International album available on CD, though I realize that's very debatable.....Gotta have this one.

Whew! It might be awhile before I can afford some more discs!!

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 04:55 pm:

Galactus:
I have all three of the Delfonics album reissues on CD - and they all sound fantastic.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Galactus (207.144.253.114) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 05:39 pm:

Yeah...I have the last two and have really been impressed with them....The first one keeps eluding me for some reason......

By Des (217.42.228.232) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 08:09 pm:

Hey,Galactus - great idea ----- no magazine has thought of yr 'grading' before......
Since you started contributing , you've realised yr view that music 'died' from 1984/85 carried great weight in these parts..... yr confidence now reaches the point where you now propogate yr own star-systemn for reviews.....phew,good job.

There's a freakin' shed-load of modern/recent music that deserves recognition and appreciation by contributors to this Site - that gets minimal acknowledgment......yes,I'm drunk and frustrated......
Des

By Rodmann (12.223.170.105) on Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 10:07 am:

Good reviews Galactus. The only one I've heard myself is Isaac Hayes' "Chocolate Chip" and it's fantastic!

I don't have a problem with you reviewing CD's on the forum at all. In a way we ALL write our own reviews on this forum every time we discuss recordings and artists that we personally like. This is nothing new!

I'm also not sure why someone would take offense to your theory that music changed in the mid 80's. It's a fact! Around 1983/1984 beat machines and synthesizers took over. I've never heard anyone say that every single bit of music that has been produced since then has been no good. That's not true. It's just that SOME OF US happen to prefer the organic, orchestral sound and overall musicianship that was lost when music went "electronic". It's just personal preference.

By Grubman, Indursky & Schindler (216.139.153.109) on Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 11:38 am:

If you don't have this CD, I STRONGLY recommend you get it, and that's Kashif's 2003 double-disc "Music From My Mind" The second disc is a re-mastered version of his 1983 Arista debut.

The first disc all new music from Kashif are 15 authentic R&B groove laden tracks. My only peeve is 10 minute instrumental that could've been edited down to 5 minute5. Though the track itself is very nice, I "got it" after 4:59. Other than that, Kashif gives you 72 minutes and change of pure REAL R&B bliss.

Every song, in my opinion, is a winner. KevGo, I definitely think you'll like this record.