The Temptations – Psychedelic Shack

Bought this on a whim, as it was cheap, and I was curious. It's an excellent album. Not quite as psychedelic as Sly & The Family Stone's fusion of soul and rock, and still unmistakably Motown, but an adventurous effort that rewards repeated listenings. This pressing sounds impressive, with good stereo separation, plenty of bass, and a full-bodied and punchy soundstage. My copy plays nice and clean with faint surface noise audible between songs.

This release sounds fantastic! Great balance with a strong low end. One of the best sounding funk/soul records in my collection.

Can anyone comment on how this sounds? Looking to buy a copy

Album Revolution #3:

After 2 classic albums with "Dennis Edwards" at the helm, "Psychedelic Shack" has "Norman Whitfield" and "The Temptations" growing in a whole different vain....

The 1st Crown Jewel title track is something to behold...It's all over the place, and it is brave and experimental with it's "Screaming Guitars"....

"You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth" (2nd Crown Jewel) follows the pattern of "The Temps" giving you sound advice...."Hum Along And Dance", the 3rd Crown Jewel was genius...Having a get down song with "No Words" by a vocal group, Funny!!!

The 4th Crown Jewel, "Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind" is out of this world!!! If you get past the apparent high, the music itself is beyond belief, no rules were applied here.....

Their original version of "War" has nothing on "Edwin Starr's" version, but because of the intertwine vocals between "Dennis", "Paul" and "Melvin", it really took things to another level...."You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)" and "Friendship Train" (5th Crown Jewel) rivals the "Gladys Knight and The Pips" versions respectively, even though "Train" is much longer and once again the vocal interplay is fantastic...

"It's Summer" seems a little out of place, but that can be overlooked....

One last thing: With this version of "The Temps", especially with this album shows that they seemed to be more of a group trading off each other instead of one person singing and then having background vocals...."Norman Whitfield" more than anybody in their history recognized that, which is why they were so successful together....

This album had them at the height of their success and they deserved it!!!!

Originally purchased this album on STML 11147 and was completely blown away by the awesome creativity and production skills of Norman Whitfield who at the time was only 29 years old .He created a concept album that still sounds current and fresh today.Need I say more.Awesome.!!!!

Back in the late '70s/ very early '80s you could easily score copies of this for a couple of quid. Like Curtis Mayfield and James Brown at the time - nobody wanted them and they were everywhere, super-cheap.

For me this is the best Temps album. Norman Whitfield hit a classic seam of psychedelic funk during this era and virtually everything he penned was pure gold.
The only track that doesn't do it for me is 'It's Summer'. Pedestrian song.

But the rest is pure dynamite with a truckload of exciting upbeat funk tracks with memorable tunes and great lyrics.... along with a slow burner like Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind which ups the drug quotient with the heavy aroma of weed, or possibly acid.
A great, great record. Wish I'd bought all the £2 copies I saw back then.

I've got a similar reissue version with different matrix codes: 3972 - GLPS 947-1 (A) S-52659, and 3972 -GLPS 947 - 1 (B) S-52660. Identical labels. Is this a separate release?

Be careful: There are sealed thin LPs on the market whithout Deep Groove. The weight could be the only finde out. This later "orignal Motown US" pressings weighs completely sealed only ~263g.
Only the vinyl without Deep Groove ~140g.

Psychedelic Shack is the twelfth studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1970, which represents the Temptations' full-blown submergence into psychedelia. Completely written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and produced by Whitfield, Psychedelic Shack almost completely abandoned the "Motown Sound" formula for this LP; hard rock guitars, synthesizer sound effects, multitracked drums, sampling, and stereo-shifting vocals giving most of the album's songs a harder, less traditional feel than the Temptations' previous work.