The Temptations - Love Songs (2004)

Among the several romantically themed Motown collections Universal compiled during the early 2000s, the Temptations' Love Songs is certainly one of the standout titles. It's furthermore one of the standout collections amid the Temptations' vast and dizzying catalog. Granted, it's a bit short on quantity (clocking in at only 46 minutes and 14 songs when Universal could have easily multiplied that sum many times over, given the depths of the Temptations' peerless catalog), but it's certainly not short on quality. Every song here is an absolute gem -- every single one. Several of the inclusions are universally known ("My Girl," "The Girl's Alright With Me," "Since I Lost My Baby," and "Just My Imagination [Running Away With Me]," in particular), yet even those songs here that aren't quite as widely recognized nonetheless deserve to be (namely, early-'70s recordings like "Love Woke Me Up This Morning," "Hey Girl [I Like Your Style]," and "Heavenly"). A few of the inclusions appear here in alternate mixes, but chances are you won't notice the alterations -- they're subtle revisions and not really worth going out of your way to hear. In the end, you'll somewhat wish Universal would have filled this disc to the brim (another 30 minutes of music could have been added easily without diluting any of the disc's overall quality or listenability), but that's a very particular complaint. By and large, Love Songs is a wonderful listen from beginning to end, especially for those listeners who aren't fully versed in the Temptations' greater catalog, not to mention those listeners who simply would like a collection of sentimental love songs. Few soul groups to this day have done it better than the Temptations did during their heyday.