Cloud Nine – THE TEMPTATIONS***

Cloud Nine/I Heard It Through The Grapevine/Run Away Child Running Wild/Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing/Hey Girl/Why Did She Have To Leave Me/I Need Your Lovin’/Don’t Let Him Take Your Love For Me/I Gotta Find A Way(To Get You Back)/Gonna Keep On Tryin’ Till I Win Your Love

On Cloud Nine The Temptations head in a new direction with the introduction of a more funky psychedelic sound. Contains the US No. 6 hit single Run Away Child Running Wild. (US:4 UK:32)

"When this album was released it was a gamble. Could The Temptations, known as smooth melodic crooners of love songs, successfully reinvent themselves as contemporaries of Sly and The Family Stone and The Chambers Brothers, with their psychedelic rock and soul sounds? The answer was yes."

"Apart from the title track and a decent take on I Heard It Through The Grapevine, this album just isn't all that great. Centrepiece and second single Run Away Child Running Wild doesn't really do anything that interesting. In spite of this it was a top ten pop hit. Go figure. This album gets credit for moving Motown in a funkier direction, paving the way for 70s funk/soul, but it's a tentative and transitional step."

"If you've got the miraculous Cloud Nine and Runaway Child on a Temptations compilation there is absolutely no point owning this. Barring a reasonable stab at Grapevine the rest of this album ranges from filler to pure slop."

"Cloud Nine was intended to update The Temptations' sound, augmenting their smooth soul harmonies with elements of funk, rock and even psychedelia. This new direction incorporated effects-heavy guitars, pounding rhythms, rawer vocals, and gritty, socially conscious lyrics. However, in order not to alienate The Tempts' original fans, only the first half of the album features this sound. Side two has the group's standard brand of harmony-heavy soul."

"Cloud Nine is a step into the conscious phase of Motown with some psychedelic touches on side A and a nice haze on the production from Norman Whitfield on the more formulaic but breezy soul on the flip side."

"In Cloud Nine they begin to move away from their basic group harmony style and so suddenly there is a lot of Sly and The Family Stone influences. All this translated into a looser, funkier style." Vox