An extra star added for sound and presentation!

The J5's third and fourth albums are, of course, melodic, funky, and fun. The real treat here, though, is the care lavished on these recordings. If you've heard the old US-released Motown 2-on-1 CD's of the 1980's, you may recall how flat and claustrophobic they sounded. Not these UK reissues. The remastered sound is spacious, dynamic, and ultra-clean. Add to that the classy cardboard slipcovers over the slimline jewel cases containing full reproductions of the front and back LP cover artwork of both LPs and you'll wonder what's up with US Motown that the British are doing a better job with American soul music. Anyway, these two albums (one one CD) are out of print in the US, so you'll be doubly glad to spring for this reasonably-priced import.

Good stuff

THIRD ALBUM and MAYBE TOMORROW contain some of the J5's best non-singles from their early Motown years. They also represent a nice variety of music; on THIRD ALBUM, the big hits include "I'll Be There" and "Mama's Pearl." Some interesting covers are "The Love I Saw in You was Just a Mirage," "Oh How Happy," and a Jermaine lead, "Bridge Over Troubled Water." One of my favorites is "Can I See You in the Morning," which has the group sounding a little edgier. MAYBE TOMORROW features two beautiful hit singles, "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Never can say Goodbye." It also has a nice cover of "Sixteen Candles" with Jermaine singing the lead. Songs like "The Wall," "Petals," and "(We've got) Blue Skies" are all very catchy and have some decent lyrics. All in all, the material on these two albums is pretty ear-friendly. Songs such as "I'll Be There," "Ready or not (Here I Come)," "Maybe Tomorrow," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and "It's Great to be Here" have all been covered by other artists and/or sampled in hits by other artists, which shows the influence of not only the J5 but of these albums. Anyone who likes catchy melodies should look into these albums!