Motown / Pgd
1998
Phoenix Rising
About This Album
Three years after the brilliant For Lovers Only and two personnel changes, the Temptations dished out Phoenix Rising. Ali "Ollie" Woodson and Theo Peoples were replaced by Harry McGilberry and Barrington Scott Henderson. The album gets off to an excellent start with "Stay," a lilting, mid-tempo mood setter that samples the opening riffs of "My Girl"; the red-light special became their highest charting single in years. "How Could He Hurt You" is one of those good, questioning ballads that always finds a way into your heart. These new Temptations are all right, but none are comparable to the squalling Temptations' tenors of the past. Voices reaching the magnitude of David Ruffin's, Dennis Edwards', Ali Woodson's and Richard Street's are sorely missed. Otis Williams seems to have found his niche doing interludes between songs; it would be interesting to see if they would incorporate Williams' eloquent love talks into their stage act. Ron Tyson sings effortlessly in a honey-laden falsetto on "Tempt Me," which, other than "Stay," is the most arresting number here. Tyson displays his natural tenor before sliding into a sky-high falsetto, the backing voices are a thing of beauty as they weave in, out, and around Tyson's deft delivery, and the bass dots in and out placing exclamation points everywhere.
Track List (try tracks 2,6,7 and 8)

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