Review Summary: A Smooth Sophisticated release
Although this is a great release from the Players it is due mainly to 3 great songs. The other songs and the fact it is so ballad heavy drag it down a bit. In fact probably 5 of the cuts would be considered ballads but the title cut has enough energy that it is far better than the other ballads.
The title cut "Angel" is a magnificent jazz influenced song that builds as it goes along. It uses George Benson like scatting to great effect and gets things off to a great start. "Body Vibes" is another winner and shows the sophistication the Players had been improving at as they went along. It incorporates all the Player trademarks, funk, jazz, and like Angel it slowly builds up and switches tempo's. It really wasn't a big hit only inching into the Top 20 on the R&B charts. The best song on the album is "O-H-I-O". It is brash and funky and really ahead of it's time for 1977. One kind of wishes there was more of the pure funk of this song on this release and while "Merry-Go-Round" is also very funky whether it be because of the title or the approach it comes off as an attempt to recapture the glory days of "Love Rollercoaster". It is just o.k.
Then what you have is 4 ballads that are all very good but as I mentioned for a band known for their fierce funk you crave more of that than the ballads.
Still this would be the last "Great" release by the Players as they got sidetracked by forays into Jazz and Disco before just fizzling out.
