CoronaVinyl Day 175 (I): The Heat Is On by The Isley Brothers

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "I," and while I don't have many albums by "I" artists, the ones I do have are pretty damn good.  In 1975, The Isley Brothers released The Heat Is On, their 13th studio album.

The Isley Brothers are, as the name accurately implies, the Isley brothers.  They started out in the mid '50s, and originally it was Vernon, Ronald, O'Kelly, and Rudolph.  Vernon dropped out of the group before they really did anything, and the remaining three brothers had success in the late '50s through the late '60s as what I would consider a classic soul and R&B group.  They put out the now-iconic hits "Shout" and "Twist & Shout," as well as "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)."  Even an up-and-coming Jimi Hendrix played with them for about a year in the mid '60s.

In the late '60s, the band shifted its sound towards funk, beginning with "It's Your Thing" in 1969.  A couple years later, younger brothers Ernie and Marvin joined the band, as well as their brother-in-law, Chris Jasper, and with the six-piece line-up, the band reached its greatest success, releasing 8 Top 15 albums on the Billboard album chart between 1973 and 1980, including one #1.

That #1 album was The Heat Is On, which is a great funk/soul/funk rock album.  Side 1 is definitely more funky and funk rock based -- with Ernie Isley getting in some solid solos on guitar here and there, especially on "Hope You Feel Better Love" (Part 1 & 2)" -- while Side 2 is more soulful.  Both sides feature only three songs, though each song has "(Part 1 & 2)" in the title.  In addition to hitting #1 on the Billboard album chart (and the Billboard R&B album chart), the album produced two Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100:  "Fight The Power (Part 1)" reached #4 (the band's third Top 10 hit), and "For The Love Of You (Part 1 & 2)" reached #22.

The band has continued to make music throughout the decades, including as recently as 2017, and they have collaborated with the likes of R. Kelly and Santana.  Overall, 20 of the band's albums reached the Top 10 of the Billboard R&B album chart, including ten #1s.  The band has had 13 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including 4 Top 10s.  On the Billboard R&B singles chart, they have had 28 Top 10 songs, including seven #1s.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "The Heat Is On (Part 1 & 2)"

The title track is just pure funk, though Ernie Isley has some nice wailing guitars in this one too.  

Favorite song from Side 2:  "For The Love Of You (Part 1 & 2)"
The first song on Side 2 is, like the other two songs on the side, a smooth and sexy '70s soul song.