Ohio Players - Climax (1974) [24bit FLAC]

By the time Westbound released Climax in 1974, the Ohio Players had left the Detroit-based label and signed with Mercury, where they would soon explode commercially with the superb Skin Tight. But Westbound still had enough material in the can to put together a few more Players LPs, including Climax and the 1975 release Rattlesnake. This collection contains a few songs that had already come out on previous Players albums -- "Players Balling" first appeared on 1971's Pain, while "Sleep Talk" and the instrumental "Food Stamps, Y'all" had been heard on 1973's Ecstasy. But most of the tunes were previously unreleased, including the title song (a soul-jazz instrumental) and covers of "Proud Mary" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Except for "Players Balling," this collection is unremarkable -- generally competent, but not remarkable or mind-blowing. Climax is enjoyable and interesting if you're a serious Ohio Players collector, although more casual listeners would do well to skip this album and spend their money on Fire, Skin Tight, or Honey instead.