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The Temptations: Phoenix Rising

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Motown Records
Released: 1998
Time:
 57:17
Category: Jazz / Soul
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.thetemptations.net
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2000.12.30
Price in €: 3,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Here After (Interlude) (Williams/Wright) - 0:44
[2] Stay (Walden) - 4:45
[3] False Faces (Marbury) - 5:30
[4] How He Could Hurt You (Aldridge/Garrett/Kurtis/Rideout) - 4:51
[5] I'm Calling You (Interlude) (Peoples/Williams) - 1:25
[6] This Is My Promise (Peoples) - 7:20
[7] My Love (Alejandro/Brooks/McKinney/Tyson/Walden) - 4:19
[8] Tempt Me (Alejandro/Brooks/McKinney/Walden) - 5:05
[9] If I Give You My Heart (Hilden/Walden) - 4:34
[10] Take Me in Your Arms (Britt/Williams) - 3:57
[11] That's What Friends Are For (Jordan/Marbury/Weeks/Williams) - 5:51
[12] Just Like I Told You (Gamboa) - 4:46
[13] Stay [*] (Fischer/Urguhart/Walden) - 4:03

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


The Temptations are:
Otis Williams - Narrator, Vocals
Ron Tyson - Vocals
Terry Weeks - Vocals
Harry McGilberry Jr. - Vocals
Barrington Scott Henderson - Vocals


Tony Lindsey - Vocal Arrangement
Victor Carstarphen - Keyboards
Greg Dalton - Guitar, Rhythm Arrangements
Ronnie Garrett - Keyboards, Producer, Drum Programming
Greg "Gigi" Gonaway - Cymbals
Donald Hayes - Sax (Alto)
Jerry Hey - Arranger, Conductor
Skyler Jett - Vocal Arrangement
Sonny Lallerstedt - Guitar
Mike Mani - Fender Rhodes, Drum Programming
Arthur Marbury - Arranger, Keyboards, Producer, Drum Programming, Mixing
Narada Michael Walden - Percussion, Arranger, Drums, Tambourine, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Bass Programming
Greg Moore - Guitar
Ralph Morrison - Concert Master
Dennis Nelson - Guitar
Claytoven Richardson - Vocal Arrangement
Rex Rideout - Keyboards, Producer, Drum Programming
Keith Rouster - Bass
Isaias Gamboa - Producer, Drum Programming, Mixing, Rhythm Arrangements
Jimi "The Sweet" Fischer - Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Drums, Keyboards, Programming, Engineer, Synthesizer Strings
Jetro Dasilva - Keyboards
Troy "Buddha" Lampkins - Bass
Darin "Zone" McKinney - Keyboards, Programming
Nils Juptner - Guitar
Theo Peoples - Piano, Keyboards, Vocal Arrangement
Polyester Players - Ensemble
Takuya "Taku" Hirano - Percussion
Rodney "Cortada" Alejandro - Keyboards, Programming
R. David Tucker - Guitar

David Frazer - Engineer, Mixing
Bob Tucker - Engineer, Mixing
Tony Black - Engineer, Mixing
Thom "TK" Kidd - Engineer, Mixing
Marc Reyburn - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
Chris Gehringer - Mastering
John Forté - Remixing
Kevin Lively - Assistant Engineer
Charles Paakkari - Assistant Engineer
Rob Hoffman - Assistant Engineer
Azubike Chima - Assistant Engineer
Markus Ulibarri - Assistant Engineer
Ryan Williams - Assistant Engineer
Barry Keenen - Assistant Engineer

David Irvin - Art Direction, Design
Norman Jean Roy - Photography
Harriet Cole - Stylist
Whitney Kyles - Stylist
Paul Anthony Morris - Clothing/Wardrobe
Paul Smith - Clothing/Wardrobe
Perry Ellis - Clothing/Wardrobe
Ike Behar - Clothing/Wardrobe
Kenneth Cole - Clothing/Wardrobe

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Three years after the brilliant For Lovers Only and two personnel changes, the Temptations dished out Phoenix Rising. Ali Woodson and Theo Peoples were replaced by Harry McGilberry Jr. 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 singles in years. "How Could He Hurt You," is one of those good, questioning ballads that always find a way into your heart. These new Temptations are all right, but none are comparable to the squalling Temptation 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 cloud high falsetto, the backing voices are a thing of beauty as they weave in, out and around Ron's deft delivery and the bass dots in and out placing exclamation points everywhere. "If I Give You My Heart" features a Williams rap and has a pop-ish beat; the tenor tries to cut loose but may have been restrained by producer Narada Walden. When listening to "Take Me in Your Arms" it helps to imagine Ruffin, Edwards or Woodson on lead. The mid-tempo songs, for the most part, outshine the ballads. "That's What Friends Are For" (not the Dionne Warwick song) has a def, stepping beat but changes tempos on the chorus and becomes annoying until it gets back to that "Da, Da, Da" beat. The baritone voice on an occasional lead is sorely missed, Temptations albums used to feature a baritone voice distinct from the tenor not only in register, but in style and phrasing, now the voices are too similar. Still, not a bad silver platter when you take the personnel changes into consideration.

Andrew Hamilton - All Music Guide



Most 30-year-old bands with only one original member are playing supermarket openings and the occasional county fair. Not so The Temptations. True, their last major gig was a football halftime show, but it was last January's Super Bowl. Phoenix Rising puts the Temptations back on the charts with a contemporary sound that's anything but nostalgic. That's not to say that the past isn't acknowledged - a sample from "My Girl" provides the hook for "Stay," the album's first single. Laden with glossy, romantic ballads, the album is a slow jam shrine to love won and lost. "That's What Friends Are For" is strongly rooted in the church. Anchored by a sensuous, descending bass figure, the track's call-and-response vocals are reminiscent of the hard gospel, jubilee style. Lyrically and thematically, "This Is My Promise" could easily have been on an early '70s Temptations album. As it is, it's got the potential to become a wedding reception standard. The song builds from a slow groove to a passionate R&B tour de force. The album's sound is very slick, providing a lush setting for the group's stacked harmonies and sensuous leads. There's not a lot of range in either tempo or dynamics; most songs are mid-tempo and sung with a sense of hushed restraint (that is occasionally broken by a soulful wail). While the harmonies are as strong as ever, the album's overall sound is closer to Levert and (to an extent) BLACKstreet, than the classic Motown production of their early hits. In some ways, Phoenix Rising sounds like a softer variant of New Jack Swing. For a group that topped the charts in the 1960s ("The Way You Do The Things You Do," "(I Know) I'm Losing You") and 1970s ("Happy People"), to hit # 8 on the R&B charts (# 57 Pop) in the 1990s is just this side of miraculous. On Phoenix Rising, the Temptations are doing it the same way they did it the first time around - with soul, harmony and feeling.

by John Knight



Thirty eight years after their inception, THE TEMPTATIONS are still making hits with their 56th career album. The new album, The Temptations Phoenix Rising, debuts this week at No. 10 on Billboard's R&B Album chart while the new song "Stay" hits No. 1 on Billboard Monitor's Urban/AC chart and R&R's Urban/AC chart. "Stay" boldly features a well-placed sample of the Temptations' classic "My Girl."

NEW YORK - ENTERTAINMENT WIRE
Aug. 27, 1998



PHOENIX RISING was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. "Stay" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Hey, it worked for the Isley Brothers, why not for the Temptations? On PHOENIX RISING, the group that virtually defined the Motown sound in the '60s reinvents itself as a contemporary R&B band, complete with subtle drum machine tracks, tight, processed-sounding vocal harmonies and an almost obsessive focus on matters romantic. While David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks passed away long before the recording of this comeback album, the remaining original members, augmented by some talented new faces, keep the flame of soulful, heartfelt R&B alive. There's little evidence of the group's old sound on PHOENIX RISING, but that just means they're not prepared to condemn themselves to the oldies circuit. Think of this not as a continuation of the past, but as a new beginning. Did we mention that it beats the hell out of R. Kelly?
 

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