This is the sixth studio album Dayton, Ohio (where else), USA funk band, The Ohio Players. Originally, they were called The Ohio Untouchables when they started in 1959, backing the R&B vocal group, The Falcons. They were led by vocalist Rob Ward, who proved to be an ill-tempered jerk who walked out on sets and eventually got into a fistfight with the bassist in 1964, Marshall “Rock” Jones, after which the group disbanded. The rest of the band went their separate ways with Ward and replaced him with Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner and changed their style to further distance themselves from Ward. In 1965, they renamed the band to the The Ohio Players because they saw themselves as ladies’ men. The group broke up again in 1970, then reformed to find minor success on their Detroit label, Westbound and an interesting style in terms of album covers: scantily clad or naked women. This newfound success grew to seven Top 40 hits in a major record label in Mercury, including Fire from this album of the same name, and Love Rollercoaster off their next album, Honey.
I know the song, Fire mainly because it was the intro music for Hell’s Kitchen, a show that I was an avid watcher of at one point in my life. I liked the show and I thought the song was fun. But beyond that, I never thought of either that much. But then one day, one of my professors put the song on before class as “Warmup Music”, which he would do every class to get us pumped up for the lecture. I felt it was a good tool for music discovery, so I ended up writing the song titles down so I could listen to them again later. This song was the earliest one I could find from my class notes, so I decided to take a dive into the funky world of the Ohio Players.
I was scared that the Ohio Players would be a one-hit wonder “for a reason," meaning the lead single/title track would be the only good song on here, but I was wrong and fairly blown away. Fire is a really fun, funky album to groove and boogie to.
From a production standpoint, it’s a little spotty, especially with the mixing. I really wish melodies were treated a little better. However, I love how the drums sound on this record even if everyone else is a teensy bit meh. Also, effects really have their moments, and they make this album way more interesting, especially with the more driving tracks.
Speaking of driving tracks, composition has this super fun, laid back and, well, funky vibe to it. From the guitars to the bass to the drums to the horns, all of it is fantastic and the solos are even better. As for structure, they play with the meter of the songs too, which is interesting like going from straight to swing. Sometimes it gets out of hand, but it’s still pretty cool. Album structure is simple: fun funk song, R&B ballad, in that order, repeat. That’s a very linear way to balance an album and it works.
Lyrics don’t have a lot to say, but they really grab your attention with the things they do say. The singers are a big help with this as they are super expressive in each track. This really helps that fun vibe. The lyrics are super simple and shallow, but that’s kind of a good thing for this album. Lyrics give the songs a bit more direction without boring listeners without long winded themes and letting the instruments do the work.
This album was a pleasant surprise. While it’s not a hidden masterpiece or anything, I had a lot of fun listening to it! This album lives up to its name for sure!
I’m giving this a Decent 7/10.
FAVOURITE TRACKS: Fire, Together, Runnin’ From The Devil, Smoke, It’s All Over, What The Hell, Together/Feelings
LEAST FAVOURITE TRACK: I Want To Be Free
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