The phrase \u201cgame of two halves\u201d wasn\u2019t, as some dolts would have you believe, coined by some bemulleted clodhopper who\u2019d been yanked from the communal bath to face The Big Match <\/i>cameras. No, it was actually first used to describe The Heat Is On<\/i>, The Isley Brothers\u2019 13th album, first released back in 1975 and now given the immaculate, audiophile treatment by Speakers Corner.<\/p>\n
Opener Fight The Power wastes no time in hunkering down to a stomping groove with the three brothers seemingly having an absolute blast as they laid down the vocals in unison. The Heat Is On follows with a slower, even nastier funk and then Hope You Feel Better Love acts as a disco-flavoured showcase for some fret histrionics from Ernie Isley.<\/p>\n
Then you flip the record, and something very different happens. For The Love Of You just drifts in, the melody catching you unawares, utterly unabashed in its romantic intentions. It takes a brave\u00a0band to call a smouldering slow jam Sensuality but it\u2019s doubtful The Isley Brothers were exactly lacking in confidence at the time. Fittingly it slinks around, taking its sweet time and not feeling the need to impress a soul, where\u2019s that cold shower? Except next up is the similarly bedroom-eyed Make Me Say It Again Girl \u2013 that puddle over there is where D\u2019Angelo melted on the floor. Yes it\u2019s slick, but it\u2019s also terrific fun. Just don\u2019t ask where the phrase Sick As A Parrot came from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The phrase \u201cgame of two halves\u201d wasn\u2019t, as some dolts would have you believe, coined by some bemulleted clodhopper who\u2019d been yanked from the communal bath to face The Big Match cameras. No, it was actually first used to describe The Heat Is On, The Isley Brothers\u2019 13th album, first released back in 1975 and now given the immaculate, audi\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8023,"featured_media":193561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"issue":[10093],"class_list":["post-193423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album","category-reviews","issue-january-2018"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n