This DTS CD is an out of print collectible! It is a DTS Entertainment release. Catalog 71021-54404-2-2. There is a saw cut on the spine of the case. Digital Surround for DTS-capable 5.1 sound systems. This CD is in the DTS 5.1 format and requires a DTS decoder or preamp to play.

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By the time of 1975's HONEY, the Players had streamlined their album covers from HUSTLER-ish to PLAYBOY-ish, while keeping their music still delightfully funky & sexy beyond description. 1974's FIRE contained their first #1 pop hit with the title track, and the music was definitely what its title stated: blazing! While HONEY hints at something a little more, well, smooth, it's still a fantastic album with enough grit to rock the dance floors before putting on the slower stuff when you get back home.

"Love Rollercoaster" was the Player's 2nd #1 pop hit, and is probably their most famous song thanks to cover versions like that from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While the Peppers' version was a good White-boy version of it, the Players' one is still the funky king, one to get you up & moving no matter how many times it's been played at parties, sporting events or oldies radio. Also, doesn't the line "your love is like a rollercoaster, baby baby/I wanna ride" scream poetry? *wink*

"Fopp" is another chaotic funky delight with the opening drum line indeed sounding reminiscent of the opening to Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City". Maybe Axl Rose needs to pay some restitution to the Players, who knows? "Ain't Givin' Up No Ground" is a short nonsense number that closed out side one of the original album, and is more of a space-filler than anything else. The Players maybe included it on the album to put it over a half-hour length.

As has been proven time & time again, ballads were always the Players' secret weapon, and they remain underrated with all the loud, screaming funk that was their trademark. "Sweet Sticky Thing" was lucky to be released for it is indeed much smoother-edged than what the Players were known for at the time. The fact this jazz-grooved tune (man, that saxophone!) did so well really says something.

The opening title track was a brave way to start out the album, especially after just having a massive #1 hit with "Fire". I can easily imagine this song coming from Earth, Wind & Fire, who were probably the only other group the Players could really compete with in the funk sweepstakes (Parliament/Funkadelic were already the kings, so they were out of the running).

"Let's Do It" is another romantic jam to melt your lover's heart with, and hopefully you won't find yourself singing the closing ballad "Alone" before long. The man singing this song is all-too-obviously heartbroken and, as my good friend Nathan says, it definitely is a forgotten treasure of '70s R&B balladry with Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner's lead vocal just tear-inducing. Even the spare musical back-up on the song heightens its emotional nakedness.

Back in the mid-1970s, an actual band in R&B/soul was not all that uncommon, unlike today where they seem to be an exception. The fact that most of them were self-contained was even more of a wonder, and the Ohio Players definitely had most of the control over their careers. HONEY was produced, written & performed by the Players themselves, so you know the album is exactly how they would have wanted it. Even those ever-present covers were their brainchild, with HONEY's being the undoubtedly the most famous of all (the inner photo is a true "how could they do it?" affair).

While the Players have been sampled like mad by hip-hop artists for years, and are still adored by R&B lovers today, they have been sort of overlooked in the overall pantheon of popular music. Earth, Wind & Fire have been inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as has Parliament/Funkadelic, so why not the Players? Until that day comes, we can be sure that an album as fantastic & funky as HONEY will be one of the things that gets them in there.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

HoneyJan 19, 2002
By WILLIE A YOUNG II "willow"
This is my favorite Ohio Players LP, mainly because it's 7 terrific songs, great writing, terrific playing and some of the lovliest, quirkiest vocals ever put on wax. The title track opens the album and sports one of the prettiest melodies these gents have ever come up with. This doo-wop flavored ballad sets a calming, soothing mood that permeates almost every track with the exception of the heavy-rock/funk track "Fopp" (ever wonder where Guns 'n' Roses copped the riff for "Paradise City"? here's your answer!) and the number 1 hit "Love Rollercoaster". The centerpiece of the album is the masterpiece "Sweet Sticky Thing" which is not only one of the longest tracks here, but is of special note because the band displays an overt jazz sound from the sax playing that colors the choruses, to the astounding drumming of Jimmy "Diamond" Williams (notice his great footwork and his cymbal rolls and crashes that close the song), this track alone makes the LP worth owning. The closing ballad "Alone" is another stunner. Featuring just Sugarfoot on guitar, a rising and falling synth in the background and Sugarfoot's plaintive voice singing lyrics of loneliness and desperation ('I don't wanna be alone anymore', someone pick me up off the floor'), "Alone" ends this classic album on a melancholy but hopeful note for us hopeless romantics! Surprisingly, "Honey" never sounds dated and in fact, it's influence can be heard in the music of artists from the last 2 decades in music (both soul and rock, case in point: Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of "Rollercoaster..." in 1996.) A winning album that has stood the rest of time.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

The Best Ohio Players Album in 5.1!!!Sep 10, 2009
By Elmer S. Hider
Having already owned Fire on DTS 5.1 "dvd audio", I had always hoped to find HONEY on 5.1, as most retail stores have been somewhat of a letdown concerning their selection of 5.1 audio releases. I was very pleased to be able to purchase this through Amazon.

This is certainly the classic Ohio Players album if there ever was one: "Sweet Sticky Thing", "Fopp", and "Love Rollercoaster" are undoubtedly the finest 1970's-style R&B ever produced, and to hear it in full 5.1 surround sound is especially thrilling. Highly recommended for fans of The Ohio Players, or for anyone wanting to hear what Rhythm & Blues, Soul music, or funk-rock is all about.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Smooth Seductive FunkJun 29, 2004
By Tyrone Williams
Most (if not all) of the great R&B/Soul bands of the 1970's used some form of conceptualism when making an album - from the music itself to the package that covered it. The Ohio Players had a formula that worked to perfection - Make a album of smoldering funk, smooth ballads, and jazz-influenced jam sessions and package it with a sexy nude model on the cover representing the theme of the album - in this case, HONEY.

This is the classic album that gave us the #1 hit, "Love Rollercoaster" and the ultra-smooth "Sweet Sticky Thing", but this is one of those CD's you can enjoy without skipping a track.
The album opens with the BEAUTIFULLY orchestrated title track then goes into the rock-riffed "Fopp" with its outrageous lyrics ("Fopp me right/Don't you fopp me wrong/We'll be here foppin' all night long!"). "Let's Love" is a smooth romantic jam with an irreststible hook. The 1 1/2 minute "Ain't Givin' Up No Ground" is just a quick peek into an Ohio Players jam session. The album closes with the stripped-down, passionate ballad "Alone". This is Sugarfoot's finest moment on the mic.

Even though nude models graced every Ohio Players album cover, they only made me think of the great music inside the cover.

T.W.

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