The Temptations - In a Mellow Mood (2003)

With a couple of exceptions, the showroom- and talk-show-ready Temptations of In a Mellow Mood (1967) are handed the most impersonal, clichéd sort of standards. "Hello Young Lovers," "Try to Remember," and too many others here go through the motions of connecting with listeners but are so haplessly written that the reined-in quintet is hard-pressed to fill them with more than a thimbleful of sweat. "Somewhere" is a foolproof melody that might have made a fine change of pace on a record like With a Lot o' Soul, but this version of "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" has none of the redeeming qualities of Dionne Warwick's. Paradoxically blessed with little of the class the group normally commanded, Mellow Mood stands as an expression of Berry Gordy's worst aesthetic impulses. --Rickey Wright