Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Dream Come True [Extended Stereo Mix]
2. I Want a Love I Can See [Extended Stereo Mix]
3. Way You Do the Things You Do
4. My Girl - Smokey Robinson, The Temptations
5. It's Growing
6. Since I Lost My Baby
7. Don't Look Back
8. Get Ready
9. Ain't Too Proud to Beg
10. Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
11. (I Know) I'm Losing You
12. All I Need
13. You're My Everything
14. I Wish It Would Rain
15. I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)
16. Cloud Nine
17. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me - Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Temptations
18. Runaway Child, Running Wild
19. I Can't Get Next to You

Disc 2:

1. Psychedelic Shack
2. Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)
3. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
4. Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are?)
5. Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
6. Masterpiece
7. Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)
8. Let Your Hair Down
9. Shakey Ground
10. Power
11. Standing on the Top, Pt. 1 - Rick James, The Temptations
12. Treat Her Like a Lady
13. Jones' [12" Surgery Mix][#]
14. Some Enchanted Evening [Fiji Island Mix][#]
15. Stay
16. I'm Here [Metro Mix][#]
17. Lady

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49077 in Music
• Released on: 2002-04-16
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
In Motown hierarchies, the Temptations occupied pretty much the same exalted place at the legendary label as the Lincoln division did at Ford; both had a marquee reputation for class and quality that endured time and trend for decades. The group was also a tribute to the glorious possibilities of an erstwhile assembly line: the early hits here (including the signature song that gives this 36-track, double-disc anthology its name) were penned by fellow legend Smokey Robinson, supervised by label founder Berry Gordy, and backed by one of music's greatest house bands. But even as Robinson's role segued into Norman Whitfield's as the 1960s rolled into the '70s, and as David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks left the group for solo careers--echoing the splintering of their superstar label counterparts the Supremes--the Temptations' juggernaut rolled on through a rich series of hits that were by turns traditional ("Just My Imagination"), timely ("Ball of Confusion"), and hard-edged ("Papa Was a Rolling Stone"). But if the hit Motown sound they so long personified became displaced by waves of funk and middle-of-the-road music on the R&B charts, the Tempts adapted remarkably well, scoring hits like the P-Funk collaboration "Shakey Ground," 1984's "Treat Her Like a Lady," and 1998's million-seller "Stay," the last cut nearly 40 years after the band's first Motown session. This collection chronicles their journey across several disparate epochs of soul music history, and includes a concise historical note for each song, as well as track-by-track commentary from founding Temptations member Otis Williams. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Decent Temptations Collection...
...this with the new Psychedelic Soul collection should cover anyone's Temptation's taste....

However, I wish they would have put "Soul to Soul" on it instead of that remix of "Some Enchanted Evening" and somehow could have squeezed in the "1990" Whitfield penned "Zoom"...

But, I can't complain. It's got the hard to find Temps/Supremes version of "Im Gonna Make You Love Me", you can hear how "Masterpiece" and "Poppa Was A Rollin'Stone" are *really* s'pozed to sound like because of the recent remastering (there's a rest in the instrumental of "Poppa", right before Dennis starts that is extremely stunning, made more noticable in the remastering. I know I sound paradoxical, but you'll experience it when you buy this..) and you get insight into many of the tunes by survivor Otis Williams. (It's too bad they couldn't have solicited some of Dennis Edwards' insights, also.) You get tidbits like how Rose Royce was used in recording "Let Your Hair Down" instead of the Motown Bullpen's Funk Brothers and when and where, say, the personnel began to change. All in the liner notes.

Plus you get the Alton "Wookie" Stewart "Jones" remix. Now, tell me, where else are you gonna find that?

Almost Perfect
I'm only a casual fan of Motown music but the Temptations are by far my favorite Motown group. I got this CD to replace my 1985 Command Performances 17 Greatest Hits CD and this collection does not disappoint.

The highlights for me are the cleaner, stronger bass sound on my favorite Temp song - "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." The remastered sound on this alone is worth the price of this CD. Also, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" has never sounded better. All the early songs are in stereo (or semi-stereo) which is great. I also appreciate the liner notes about each song by the remaining original member, Otis Williams.

I have only a few complaints. First, Disk 1 is only 58 minutes and could have used a few more of their early songs. One I wish was on it is "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" (it's on the Command Performances CD). Not my favorite but a good song that should be on this collection. Disk 2 is a healthy 75 minutes - but I am not as excited about the songs recorded after 1973, so the last few songs on this CD seem like filler.

My second complaint is that for someone like me that did not follow this group closely, it would have been nice if the liner notes would have indicated who the lead singer was on each song but they do not.

Third, for most of the songs, the remastered sound is superior to the Command Performances CD. But on some songs, like the fabulous "I Could Never Love Another", the remastered violins (or should I say strings)seem to dominate too much. The Command Performance version of this song has a better blend. I'm not too crazy about the strings that were on most of these old Motown songs anyway. It would be interesting to hear them with the strings removed.

But these are minor complaints and all in all this is a great collection by an incredible group.

Excellent!!
I love this compilation, especially since it has one of my favorite early Temptations songs, I Want A Love I Can See. This is the perfect CD to have if you don't have the 60+ dollars for the Emperors of Soul CD set.