Read more

The Temptations prospered by their gifts and their very name, which stood for the best of so much of what the soul-group tradition had to offer--standout lead vocalists, killer harmonies, and steps and suits that mortal men could only envy. By the '90s, though, the words "The Temptations" were as much a branding device as a guarantee of excellence. Fortunately, the five-CD Emperors of Soul spends most of its time winding through the act's various changes of style and personnel; this is the group, after all, that confidently leapt from romance classics such as "My Girl" to the ultrafunky "I Can't Get Next to You" and the downright scary "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." Like all royalty, they're a fallible institution, but if it's a big, big box of Tempts you want, Emperors is the one. --Rickey Wright