The Sin of Pride

was by far the most exploratory album ever issued and, other than their debut, fares the best. Whereas had been another rave-up album and had been a outing, was a deep look into the music of the '60s done with a sensibility. Obviously, and 's were reference points on this trail, but 's own way of hearing created a kind of that was very different in approach and execution than either of those chart-topping acts. Covers such as which opens the LP, and which closes it, are bookends for a moving blend of funky, driving, deeply textured music that makes pearls of tracks such as with its driving basslines and horn section, the roiling melodic line of and the sweet groove of Vocalist 's range limitations make him more expressive and offer a kind of innocence that is refreshing and enduring. With songs like the title track and crossing 's rave-up territory with sensibilities, is one of the great unsung albums from the early '80s and sounds much fresher and more adventurous today than many of its more well-known contemporaries' albums (check to see if you recognize the harmonica line -- it was stolen wholesale for by ). This album may have been ' swan song, but it reveals that they were headed into exciting waters musically and called it quits at a creative peak rather than in some lonesome, tired, aesthetically bankrupt alleyway of potential spent and gone. ~ Thom Jurek