I was just listening to this album earlier today. I considered this album
to be the weakest of the commodores albums during the lionel richie era.
I found that i like half of the 8 tracks on the album. I think the second
single flying high killed any momentum that album had in 1978.
Three times a lady was number one and motown followed it up with a mediocre
track like flying high when the soul ballad say yeah was easily the album's
best cut. It was lionel richie's best soulful ballad with the group outside
of just to be close to you. Other good tracks on the album were the funky
x-rated movie,i like what you do, and visions. Say Yeah is still the jam
today.

For many years.I sorta dismissed this album.I felt that it wasn't nearly as powerful as the album that preceded it (1977's 'The Commodores,which I consider their masterpiece).But in recent years,I have come to appreciate this album alot more.

phunkdaddy said:

I agree. Say Yeah is bangin'. I thought I was the only one who dug this song. Should have been a single but I know Motown was going more for the white folks and Say Yeah was waay to "black". That's why they released "Flying High" as a single, which it shouldn't have been. This album definately isn't as strong as their earlier albums. I think it's because Lionel had become "the one" Motown was looking to as far as a certain type of hit. Lionel's ballads, although were pretty and well crafted, definately had a more universal appeal. These were the times of Barry Manilow with "Looks Like We Made It" and "Mandy" and Debbie Boone "You're The Light Of My Life". Lionel took the Commodores into the genre with "Just To Be Close To You" although it was more soulful. Especially with Lionel's excellent talking on the verses. But he hit that soft pop market on the hit with Three Times A Lady. As a band, that killed off any other type of group effort writing. All Mowtown cared about was getting another smash crossover pop ballad. That didn't involve Thomas or Ronald.

blackguitaristz said:

Probably one of their last soulful tunes...

I was just reading the liner notes to my anthology cd.
Say Yeah was going to be the second single but then motown cancelled
it in favor of flying high. I guess motown wanted to follow three times a
lady with an uptempo song. If they wanted to go uptempo they should have
chose i like what you do.

phunkdaddy said:

Another great groove

phunkdaddy said:

Alot of times,Motown were confused about what Commodores songs would make the best singles.In 1976,they came very close to releasing "High On Sunshine" as a single,but they changed their mind at the last minute.I guess when a group has as many great songs as the Commodores did,it's not always easy to determine what the singles should be.It's surprising to me that a high-quality song like "Zoom"--which everybody likes---was never released as a single.Without question,that song would have been a Top 10 smash on the pop and R&B charts.

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[Edited 1/28/08 6:20am]

blackguitaristz said:

I like the song "Flying High".It reminds me of those late-70s midtempo soft rock hits that were so common back then.In fact,"Flying High" was inspired by Fleetwood Mac's 1977 hit "Dreams",which Lionel loved.He set out to make a song like that....a song that captured that same,breezy,lazy Saturday afternoon feeling.But I agree with you,the album as a whole isn't as strong as the previous albums.Oddly enough,I like "Three Times A Lady" though.I was a huge fan of those sappy,late-70s soft rock songs and "Three Times..." is as sappy as it gets,lol.

Yeah, I have to agree; with this being the weakest album of that era. Everything after this was just bunk....

*my favorite cuts* from this album were,

*X-Rated Movie*
*Say Yeah*
*I Like What You Do*
*Three Times A Lady*

This was o-kay.
Flying High

'Natural High' was released at an exciting time for the Commodores.After the previous self-titled album and the subsequent 'Commodores Live' 2-LP set,these guys were on FIRE! In addition,they appeared in the disco comedy 'Thank God It's Friday',released in May 1978.During that summer,their song "Three Times A Lady" was topping the charts.In fact,it became the only Top 10 pop single from Motown Records that year (surprising,huh?).Arguably,Earth Wind and Fire were the only R&B/funk band that was hotter than the Commodores during this period.

SoulAlive said:

when is Motown gonna remaster all the Commodores albums?

blackguitaristz said:

It was kinda odd that they released "Three Times A Lady" as the first single.Only a few months earlier,the guys had just enjoyed two of their biggest funk hits---"Brick House" and "Too Hot Ta Trot"---so it seemed like Motown would have released another funk jam as the first single.It was a bold marketing move,but it paid off.