Cloud Nine is the ninth studio album by American musical group The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1969. The album marked a major turning point in the group's career. It is the first full Temptations studio LP to feature Dennis Edwards as the replacement for David Ruffin, who was fired in June 1968. It also marked the beginning of the Temptations' delve into psychedelic soul under the ambitious direction of producer Norman Whitfield. The change in style polarized longtime fans but proved highly successful, with the album rising to number four on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart. It earned the group received their first Grammy Award in 1969.
I loved this album. After a long day at work getting back and putting this on whilst cooking dinner was an absolute winner
The Temptations are a weird group. They were early pioneers in funk but they came out of the motown scene. Most bands who straddle the genre line like this produce songs that sort of smear the line between. Not The Temptations. Oh, no. The songs on this album are very solidly either funk or motown. I love the funk tracks so much. They hit the pocket and just grind. They're great. The motown tracks no so much. They're great examples of motown soul ... I just don't dig the genre.
My vague knowledge of The Temptations remains vague, but now I know for sure that I love them
The A side could be an easy 5, but the back half drags into good but generic motown that brings the record down a bit.
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(Ă lire impĂ©rativement avec la voix de Jacques Chirac) Ăcoutez, je dois dire que j'ai Ă©tĂ© trĂšs déçu par cet album. La pochette laissait prĂ©sager une vĂ©ritable bouffĂ©e d'air soul au milieu de tous ces albums de rock gĂ©nĂ©rĂ©s par Robert. De la soul, oui, mais de la soul psychĂ©dĂ©lique, j'Ă©mets des rĂ©serves.
Obviously, The Temptations Cloud Nine was groundbreaking at the time for its use of funk, but how does it hold up? To modern ears, the earnestness of the lyrics grates a little. Social consciousness is one thing, but these lyrics are pretty on the nose. But how about the music? The playing and arrangements of the first three tracks in the relatively new funk style are impeccable. They groove relentlessly. And sure enough, it's the Temps, so the vocals kick ass. After the initial blast of funk, the rest of the album reverts to the Temptations signature smooth soul. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There's a lot to be said for soulful and varied vocals, competent if conventional arrangements, and the solid songcraft and musicianship from the Motown stable. I've got to be honest. I prefer 70s soul to 60s soul, but Cloud Nine is one of the more solid efforts of the period. There is little of the outright filler, pointless covers of hit material, and outright pandering to crossover audiences that was all too common on Motown releases. I'll subtract half a point for some painful earnestness and out of subjective personal preference. 4 1/2 out of 5
I absolutely love this album. It's got a lot of funk to it, and it has a great groove. The instrumental choices were very nice and characteristic of the era, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Pleasant but unremarkable.
Super 70s production - very wide stereo sound, funky bass lines, crunchy guitar and rhodes riffs, soulful singing - lots of love jams. Good to throw on and just vibe. Favorite song: Love is a Hurtin' Thing
I went on youtube for this shit. Like it was 2011. Maybe that's why I liked it so much. Sitting in a simpler time. Good energy. Ah. The Temptations!
Feel good album. Started very soulful and got heavy 50s-pop toward the end. Not a huge fan of their rendition of "Heard It Through The Grapevine". Otherwise, good stuff.
I feel like thereâs a whole group of people who find the Temptations really, really historically important but no one ever said anything and they just expect us to know? They donât run around trying to insert the Temptations into ever conversation, itâs more like âwhatevz, yer loss.â Strange.
I think people who don't like funk or soul music might just be racist. Favorite track: Hey Girl
The Norman Whitfield years are underwayâepic songs, psychedelic soul. David Ruffin is gone, and Dennis Edwards takes over as lead, but the voices remain the standardâKendricks, Williams, and Franklin take notable solo spots throughout. The cover of the Gladys Knight/Pips version of Grapevine is decent, as are the other b-side cuts, but the title track and Run Away Child, Running Wild set the tone for the Temps to come. Funk Brothers moving at full speed. A perfect encapsulation of the late 60s Motown era.
a good time :) missing that standout track to give it a 4 other than i need your lovin' though
Man, I'm actually on a roll of good, classic albums. I don't even know if I have notes on this. It's just good.
Proof that the Temptations are one of the greatest vocal groups of all time. Just wow.
This album had quite a few surprises from what I was expecting from the temptations. Quite a bit more funky in spots from the My Girl days. The industry back then was also very weird. It all seems to be very label driven and songs were just reused almost annually. "I head it through the Grapevine" had huge success with two different artists in the two years prior to this album, so 3 artists in 3 years all singing the same song. All versions are quite a bit different, and I know there even a couple other covers later on. It's one of those songs that just got everywhere. As a kid from Grapevine who watched the California Raisins I may have paid a little more attention than your average kid to this song. The rest of this album is pretty interesting too. I'm an era of 3 minute tracks there is a 9+ minute epic of Runaway Child, and had it not been for the kid crying midway through it would have been my favorite on the album. All other songs do their best to say what they need to and efficiently move on to the next, and that is appreciated. Favorite track "I gotta find a way to get you back" 5/5
My favorite period of my favorite Motown group began with this album. Norman Whitfield, who had already produced singles for The Temptations, took full control of production. This coincided with David Ruffinâs departure and the arrival of Dennis Edwards. âCloud Nineâ featured the five Temps sharing lead vocals, often trading lines within verses, to an increasingly funky, psychedelic soul sound. The Funk Brothers added wah-wah guitars and intense instrumental vamps to the traditional Motown sound, and the lyrics introduced social commentary to the more familiar love songs. The title track kicks things off and weâre in Sly & the Family Stone territory; the 9-minute âRunaway Child, Running Wildâ, which builds to an organ- and guitar-fuelled crescendo, is stunning and points the way to the even more powerful workouts to come in the early â70s. The ballads were still here but times were getting tougher and, with Whitfieldâs encouragement, so were The TemptationsâŠ
Loved this. Iâve been hitting a wall lately â not wanting to keep up with this. But this album basically reinvigorated me haha.
With the arrival of Dennis Edwards, the Temptations shift into a funkier direction while still keeping their Motown roots. Of its time, but thatâs not a bad thing.
No. 234/1001 Cloud Nine 4/5 I Heard It Through The Grapevine 3/5 Runaway Child, Running Wild 3/5 (3x) Love Is A Hurtin' Thing 4/5 Hey Girl 3/5 Why Did She Have To Leave Me 4/5 I Need Your Lovin' 3/5 Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me 4/5 I Gotta Find A Way 4/5 Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love 4/5 Average: 3,5 Really fun soul album.
not as good as the last temptations album, but still a 4
This was fun. I know this album gets pegged as the Temps' big funk and psychedelic turn, but much of it is not. It's more that they took their signature sound and tweaked it slightly to go with the tone of what was on the charts at the time. It actually works pretty well. The more funk-driven tracks of side 1 are the real deal. The title track is a stone cold classic. I'm just realizing "Runaway Child" clocks in at 9+ minutes. It's pretty awesome as well, and kind of surprising coming from this group. Honestly the only side 1 song that left me a little cold was the cover of "Grapevine," which brought nothing new to the song. Dennis Edwards absolutely deserves credit here for making his mark as a vocalist in the wake of David Ruffin's departure. He was never going to top Ruffin, but he sounds great here, his grit balanced nicely by Eddie Kendricksâ splendid vocal. The album could have been a flat-out failure, and it's actually a really fun listen. I'm actually digging several of the more conventionally Temptations-y romantic songs. They're lovely, classic Motown songs, which are always a delight to hear. Fave Songs: Cloud Nine, Run Away Child Running Wild, I Gotta Find a Way (To Get You Back), Why Did She Have to Leave Me, Love is a Hurtin' Thing
Don't think I've ever sat down and listened to a Temptations record before. Production sounds amazing, crisp and warm, it does the slightly disorienting 60s stereo thing where the drums are hard panned to one channel, so it's not a headphones record. Pretty ballsy putting a 9-minute track third, but it mostly worked here. Sounds like it's straddling the line between classic Motown and 70s soul - I preferred the Motown-style tracks. Really refreshing to hear another version of Grapevine that hasn't been played to death
The funky version of the Temptation works for me. There were times when I thought the mix could have been a bit better. Sometimes the falsetto stands out a bit too much from the rest of the arrangement. The songs, though, are top notch 4/5
An example of a temptation would have been to support Man City in the FA Cup final so that extra EUROPA space was available via the league. I resisted that temptation and kept my soul in place! This album has funk and seems to me a good example of the genre. I got bored as the album went on but resisted the temptation to skip tracks.
This was enjoyable, but Iâve previously docked Creedence Clearwater Revival a point for a Grapevine cover thatâs nowhere near as good as Marvin Gayeâs, so for consistency this is a 3
Pretty good. âRunaway Child, Running Wildâ took me by surprise.
smooth and warm. OK
Grosse erreur de la part des Temptations, qui n'ont pas eu la prĂ©sence d'esprit, a la sortie de leur album, de le rendre disponible sur les plateformes de streaming. Ceci plafonne par consequent directement leur note a 3/5. A l'heure du digital, il est tout bonnement scandaleux de ne proposer un album qu'exclusivement disponible sur Youtube. J'ai d'ailleurs alertĂ© mon bon ami robtouillĂšre de ce petit scandale, qui s'est empressĂ© de le signaler directement Ă Robert Dimery, grĂące Ă sa proximitĂ© extrĂȘme avec ce dernier. Des mesures devraient etre prises trĂšs bientĂŽt, Ă bon entendeur.
It was okayish funky. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it
Meh. I liked the first song. Hated their grapevine cover.
Classic soul.
and i was tempted
Very easy listening. Pretty outstanding album.
funk just rocks
Piola, una onda medio rara mezcla de nirvana con algo mas
Another gem <3 loved it.
It's just so damn good. Seriously they turned in a soul/funk Motown album, and it hits all of those marks so damn well. First off the Temptations are awesome, even their early stuff is good but this is just perfection. Second, They did a version of I Heard It Through the Grapevine that is a wild take and I'm here for it. Third, It's got some classic Temptations sounds on the back side of the album so if you aren't in the more funk from them you are covered as well. Seriously it's great, it feels of it's age but doesn't feel tired. A great album.
It is said this was the Temptationâs first foray into psychedelic soul. I am very happy they did. I loved this album and enjoyed all the music, harmonies, and lyrics. Well worth many more listens!
i really liked this! since iâm catching up iâm not spending too much time reviewing/taking notes on my albums. however, i knew after the opener that this would be a great set of tracks. super groovy and funky. peak for sure. 5/5.
I love oldies like this. Great album, lots of meaning and feelings are in this.
Absolutely fantastic. Surprised I haven't heard it before. A joy the whole way through. Best: Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me Worst: Why Did She Have to Leave Me (Why Did She Have to Go)
Ground-breaking psychedelic soul, joy and darkness combined
The Temptations are one of the pillars of Motown and one of my favorite groups from the that classic Motown era. They put out so many great songs and this album is absolutely stunning. https://open.substack.com/pub/richcain/p/project-1001-cloud-nine-by-the-temptations?r=4ztyq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
absolutely glorious
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Rock solid. Love teetering the line of Funk and Psychodelic. A long way from MoTown(which also rips). Not many groups can venture into such varying genres and crush - but here they are. Under appreciated on many fronts
Interesting album. More popish than their earlier work. But again, you can groove to it
Real problems and real emotions
Psychedelic soul. Still wonderful to listen to.
This album slaps! Also, I heard they have better ones!
Lekker!
Classic but no Jimmy
This is why I am doing this project. I was aware of the Temptations, but had never considered listening to a full album of there's, but now I don't see me listening to anything else but Temptations records for the foreseeable future.
Great album, plenty of beautiful harmony and vocal runs but a real grit to it too. The only thing I really dislike is runaway child, running wild, as it turns into almost a parody of the genre.
Absolutely love the soul/funk sound from this time. The Temptations in any of their classic lineups are, well classic. Put the 2 together and you have just excellent music. If this donât make you just feel good then I feel sorry for you. 5 Star.
The coolest couple you know just invited you to a dinner party
George Russell talking
Great music and quite complicated! But the lyrics are very sad
Puro soul del mĂĄs sabroso. IncreĂble, pone de buenas y hace que parezca que el mundo es un mejor lugar.
Fantastic album. Funk/soul grooves that prepare the way for Papa Was A Rolling Stone a few years later. They still have one foot (each, so 5 feet) in their Motown sound as well, so some of the songs are a blend of the Motown pop over their new funk/soul rhythm section sound. I think I have to go 5 stars on this one.
Funky soul. Was a bit jazzy
I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. Grew up working at the family business That was started by my Grandfather, down near The Packard Plant, and employed 3 of his children, One of those being my Father. 3 of my siblings worked for the same business until my brother passed away, and my cousin who was a co-owner, decided to sell the business upon his retirement. My sister and a cousin stayed with the business until there retirements, and a niece and nephew are still with that company to this day. My mother played for The DSO, and gave private lessons in her music room, to keep herself busy, when she wasn't at rehearsal, or performance. I'll also add that this album came out the year that I graduated high school, and chose to follow my mother's footsteps, and go on to study music, and was still doing work in the industry all over the globe, until health issues made me recently retire. Let's just say that I had a blast singing along to every song on this album. For so many reasons, this album gets a 6 star rating from me.
Heard it through the grapevine.
Solid funk and soul. The album has Norman Whitfieldâs stamp all over it
A fantastic album that I listened to three times in one day (granted it's easy to do when the album is only 35minutes). A heck of a first step in this journey. My favorite track is "Runaway Child, Running Wild" minus the 10 second portion of a child crying. Truely a timeless album.
I waited a day to listen to this album because I wasnât feeling Motown. But boy was I wrong. This album is Motown but itâs more funk, all genius. Enjoyed the hell out of the is album.
Perfect display of Motown..
Didn't expect the Sly Stone/Funkadelic sound. Beauty. Unmistakeable James Jamerson on the bass
Old school r&b. The title track was absolutely fantastic and the rest of the album was very enjoyable as well.
Great album, great version of Grapevine. Drums sound a little thin and hear mostly snare and percussion. Bass Guitar is nice.
You don't have to worry 'cause everything in life starts and ends as fast as the episodes a.k.a songs in this album. So let's groove. Perfect album for time traveling to the '70s.
Wonderful
AMAZING BEAUTIFUL HEAVENLY GORGEOUS
Really liked this album.
Absolute legends.
Weak for the temptations, strong for a group that's not the temptations
Gotta' love this shit. Reminds me of playing dominoes at my step-grandma's house while she chain smoked and let us watch Steven Seagal movies in the background.
Banger
it slaps. the cover of marvin gaye is maybe better than the original for me, which i already like :o
Absolutely classic album from a goated group that is filled with tracks that are either funk or Motown. I was either jamming or grooving depending on which style was playing at the time. Itâs also wild that their cover of âHeard It Through The Grapevineâ is the weakest track on the album. Bravo to this making the list!
This is what this is all about! What a gem. Loved this album and itâs something I would have never listened to before this. So funky! Great singing, great playing. There was a weird crying part that threw Frankie and I off!
this album is a pretty great encapsulation of why i love the temptations. their vocals are great and the production here from norman whitfield was absolutely groundbreaking for soul music of the time. although i would say that the two singles off of this are the most consequential (the title track and 'runaway child (running wild)' because of their great production and catchy, funky beats, the rest of this album is incredibly solid and really highlights the songwriting of barrett strong and norman whitfield. really, for me, the only blemish here is the somewhat pedestrian cover of 'i heard it through the grapevine' which is, unfortunately, sandwiched between two all time great temptations songs for me. but otherwise, i really love this album, and it is one of the temptations' greatest.
W sumie to bardzo dobre. Na pewno do posĆuchania jeszcze raz. 5/5
Really solid album. Canât wait to dive more into the temptations and see how they influenced 60s psychedelia
Really vibed with this album today
Funk, Soul
Funky, soulful, and deep. Yes!
The Temptations are one of those groups that as I grew up kind of perplexed me, because they had so many monster hits in different styles that dominated radio airplay for most of my life. I never really got my head around the career trajectory, having experienced a lot of their hits as one big amalgam of music in no particular order. I could probably entertain myself for months focusing my listening attention on their catalog. Now that Iâve taken a few moments to consider The Temptations and look into that history, Iâm amazed to learn that that these guys continue to perform - having consistently released at least one album every few years since 1964! And in the early years, there were several years packed with multiple album releases. Remarkable! This album must sit near the top of that formidable body of work, although I will admit that I have a woeful lack of exposure to all but one other album from The Temptations. Cloud 9 is a favorite of mine, and getting to experience the incredible Runaway Child, Running Wild was enough to put my finger on the five star rating. I love this album and love The Temptations!
Classic timeless stupendous voices. Will never be surpassed.
You're goddamn right!!!
One of the best of that generation
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Most Excellent!!!
4.5/5 Really fantastic soulful songs. Cloud Nine 4.5/5 I Heard It Through The Grapevine 3.5/5 (LEAST FAV) Runaway Child, Running Wild 5/5 (FAV) Love Is A Hurtin' Thing 5/5 Hey Girl 5/5 Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go) 5/5 I Need Your Lovin' 4/5 Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me 4/5 I Gotta Find A Way (To Get You Back) 3.5/5 Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love 4.5/5
Love old motown music
It's the Temptations. Shut up and listen.