The O'Jays

After the sound of whips lashing pans across the mix, the dolorous vocal harmonies of The O'Jays finally swoop in on the title track. It's a fitting dynamic for this Gamble and Huff-produced masterpiece that seamlessly mixes pleasure, pain and politics. "For the Love of Money" was the hit, but every song is essential. Epic socio-conscious soul.

With its ominous sound effects of tempestuous oceans and whips cracking in the air, Ship
Ahoy's title track vividly evokes the journey of African slaves to the New World. The
nine-minute epic is the centerpiece of a 1973 album that found the Gamble and
Huff-produced O'Jays ready to take their socially aware R&B workouts to ambitious new
heights. Like many a Seventies R&B masterpiece, Ship Ahoy operates on two level... More >

Every time side two gets rolling my ass tells my brain to go away--"For the Love of Money" is that great, although it's all (gradually) downhill from there. But when I put on side one my brain kicks back in, and my brain is right--not a song I ever want to hear again. (Grade - B)