--=[ The Time ]=--

The Time - The Time [1981]

The only problem with the Time's first album is that it isn't really the Time. Sure, that's Morris Day singing. Who else could it be? The music, however, is provided by Prince. Back in 1981, Prince was a superstar waiting to happen. So you have Day's swagger and sexual come-ons ("Oh Baby"--actually, every track here!) and Prince making the whole shebang sound like a more psychedelic Ohio Players. No small compliment, that, although soon after this came out, the real Time formed and became the Twin City's all-time best R&B group. Which is why What Time Is It? is really the Time's classic debut.





















The Time - What Time Is It?[1982]

Junking '70s-funk cliches for a stripped-down sound (keyboards and synthesizers replaced the horns) built around a hard-rockin' guitar and a tougher-than-tough rhythm section--all topped off with a heapin' helping of humor--this Minneapolis-based sextet was once the best funk band in the land. This second LP is the best single album from the act, which soon imploded, owing to an over-abundance of talent. Bug-eyed vocalist Morris Day and guitarist Jesse Johnson went on to semi-successful solo careers; keyboardist Jimmy Jam and bassist Terry Lewis became a mega-platinum writing/production team (Janet Jackson, most notably); drummer extraordinaire Jellybean Johnson and keyboardist Monte Moir were the other members. Co-produced by Day and Jamie Starr (a.k.a. Prince), this six-song 1982 effort sports three wall-rattling party-starters: the self-explantory "Wild and Loose," the tongue-in-cheek dance tune "The Walk," and the still-percolating, knotty-but-nice rhythms of "777-9311." Toss in a "New Wave"-style rocker, a droll take on the obligatory love-man ballad, and the band's straight-faced answer to the titular question ("Time to fix your clock!") is O-B-V-I-O-U-S.





















The Time - Ice Cream Castle [1984]

Whew! If you thought Jodeci and Dru Hill were the masters of putting sex into soul, think again. The Time are anything but subtle: there are tracks laced with heavy breathing, words like "straddle" and lines like "I wanna get you off, baby" are commonplace, and they're completed with a sultry style of soul that is equally as enticing in its uptempo forms (the very '80s-sounding "Jungle Love," "My Drawers") as it is in slow doses (the raw "Chili Sauce" and "If the Kid Can't Make You Come"). Even the more mellow, midtempo funk like "Ice Cream Castles" is addictive. The Time make you realize there's more to old-school funk than just George Clinton and Parliament.




















The Time - Pandemonium [1990]

The Time are in pretty good shape here, coming together again to record some more fly tunes with the one and only Morris Day.

Highlights include Jerk Out, with Morris smacking his ladies-man lips in anticipation for the funk; Chocolate, with crazy-Prince-styled funk for a main course and a dessert of Prince and Morris talking goofy; Data Bank, a smooth jam with all the elements for a mixed drink; and Sometimes I Get Lonely, about the most introspective dish you'll ever hear Morris Day get.


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Tracklisting is in the comments section.