Honey Cone - Soulful Sugar: The Complete Hot Wax Recordings (2001)

Honey Cone, the girl group with the sweet name and the bumblebee persona, didn't masquerade as biker babe wannabes like the Angels, come off as fly foxes like the Ikettes, or fight their battles with tears either. They tell it like it is on "While You're out Looking for Sugar (Somebody's Gonna Take Your Honey and Be Gone)," "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show," "Stick Up," "Want Ads," and others written by a consortium of General Johnson, Angelo Bond, and Gregg Perry, with some Edith Wayne/Ronald Dunbar and HDH tracks in the mix. This complete account of Honey Cone's Hotwax recordings features the excellent "Ace in the Hole" twice -- the long album version with the funky, bubbling break and the single edit. Instead of wailing at an imminent breakup, Honey Cone gets philosophical (i.e., "Sitting on a Time Bomb (Waiting on the Hurt to Come)," "The Day I Found Myself," "It's Better to Have Love and Lost," and "Girls It Ain't Easy"). They show vulnerability behind a strong façade on "Take Me With You" and cloying versions of "Ooo Baby Baby" and "Stay in My Corner." With 45 tracks, this gargantuan collection has enough soulful honey to fill a bee hive.