Back
Studio album by
Ohio Players
Released1988
GenreFunk
LabelTrack Record Company
ProducerOhio Players
Ohio Players chronology
Graduation
(1984)		 Back
(1988)		 The Best of the Westbound Years
(1991)

Back is the final studio album by the American band Ohio Players, released in 1988.[1][2] The first single was "Sweat".[3] It was Ohio Players' only album for Track Record Company.[4]

The band supported the album by headlining a SOS Racisme show during the New Music Seminar and with a North American tour.[5][6] "Sweat" and "From Now On (Let's Play)" were minor chart successes.[7]

Production

The album was produced by Ohio Players; the band was made up of five members for the reunion.[8] Some of the tracks incorporated hip hop-influenced sounds.[9] Herbie Hancock contributed to the album, after Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner had guested on Perfect Machine.[10][11] "I'm Madd!" is about the dangers of drunk driving.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]

The Los Angeles Times wrote that "the OPs attempt to reconcile their greazy, yowl 'n' growl attack with the stacks of microchips that go into creating le funk moderne."[14] Spin determined that the band "sound as good as ever, sweet and nasty funk played just right."[10] The Christian Science Monitor called the album "a continuation and expansion of the jazzy powerhouse funk style that popularized the Ohio Players in the mid-1970s."[12] The New York Daily News praised the "live, groove-oriented sound."[15] The Washington Post deemed the sound "hypnotic rhythms geared to maximum danceability, fueled by the dual guitars of Chet Willis and Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner."[16]

AllMusic concluded that, "while the Players deserve credit for trying something different and attempting to be relevant to the hip-hop/urban contemporary scene of the late 1980s, Back simply wasn't strong enough."[13]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Get 2 the Good Part" 
2."Sweat" 
3."From Now On (Let's Play)" 
4."Show Off" 
5."Just to Show My Love" 
6."I'm Madd!" 
7."Vibe Alive" 
8."Rock the House" 
9."Just a Minute" 
10."Reputation" 
11."Try" 

References

  1. ↑ Bream, Jon (6 May 1988). "Quick Spins". Star Tribune. p. 25E.
  2. ↑ "Ohio Players Biography by Jason Ankeny". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  3. ↑ Gliatto, Tom (19 Apr 1988). "And funk-popsters...". USA Today. p. 1D.
  4. ↑ Goldmine Record Album Price Guide. Penguin Publishing Group. 2019. p. 483.
  5. ↑ Watrous, Peter (21 July 1988). "Sexy Soul and Gold Lame". The New York Times. p. C26.
  6. ↑ Nager, Larry (21 Jul 1988). "Re-Souled". The Cincinnati Post. p. 4B.
  7. ↑ "Ohio Players". Dayton Daily News. 11 May 1989. p. 6C.
  8. ↑ Holman, Rhonda (4 Nov 1988). "Ohio Players Back on Charts, Tour with 'Back'". The Wichita Eagle. p. 1B.
  9. ↑ Thompson, Dave (2001). Funk. Backbeat Books. p. 174.
  10. 1 2 Cullman, Brian (Aug 1988). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 4, no. 5. p. 76.
  11. ↑ "Ohio Players Stage Unlikely Comeback". St. Joseph News-Press. Los Angeles Daily News. 2 Sep 1988. p. 3D.
  12. 1 2 Duncan, Amy (15 Aug 1988). "Slimmed-down Ohio Players jazz/funk group is back - on Track". Arts. The Christian Science Monitor.
  13. 1 2 "Back Review by Alex Henderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  14. 1 2 Waller, Don (19 June 1988). "If they weren't exactly innovators on the '70s funk scene...". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 60.
  15. ↑ Farber, Jim (29 May 1988). "Back from Obscurity". City Lights. Daily News. p. 24.
  16. ↑ Himes, Geoffrey (September 9, 1988). "Ohio Players: They're 'Back' ... in the Groove". The Washington Post.
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