Ahhh, good ol' Mel & Tim – possibly our favorite soul duo ever, and a really dynamic pair that carve some great new territory away from the path set by Sam & Dave! The album's a bit of a comeback for the duo, as you'd guess from the title – even though it was only recorded a few years after their initial work for the Bamboo label. There's a stylistic shift that marks a second chapter in the Mel & Tim groove – as they move away from the New York uptown sound, and go for more of a gritty southern sound – thanks to help from producer/arrangers Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins. The set list is filled with loads of great southern soul tunes – penned by composers who include Phillip Mitchell, Isaac Hayes, Dan Penn, and Homer Banks – on the titles "Heaven Knows", "Wrap It Up", "Don't Mess With My Money My Honey Or My Woman", "Carry Me", and a great cover of "I'm Your Puppet". LP, Vinyl record album

One of percussionist Ralph MacDonald's best albums of the late 70s – and one of the few on his own, given how many other records he played on! The set's a complicated mix of jazz, soul, and a variety of rootsier elements – and MacDonald shows a lot of sides of his personality here – stretching out in the ambitious "The Path" suite, which takes up all of side one, then hitting some more laidback jazz funk on the shorter tracks on side two. "The Path" traces a wide development of percussion – from African styled drumming on the intro, to some tighter clubbier jazz funk by the Bamboo Steel Band on later passages. Side two features a great percussive jammer called "It Feels So Good" – done with almost a Latin Jazz feel, and some sweet electric piano – plus the tracks "Smoke Rings & Wine", "I Cross My Heart", and "If I'm Still Around Tomorrow". LP, Vinyl record album