Personnel: Al Green (vocals); Teenie Hodges (guitar); The Memphis Strings (strings); Andrew Love, Ed Logan (tenor saxophone); James Mitchell (baritone saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet); Jack Hale (trombone); Charles Hodges (piano, organ); Michael Allen, Archie Turner (piano); Larry Hodges (bass instrument); Howard Grimes (drums, congas, bongos).

Recording information: Royal Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee.

EXPLORES YOUR MIND represents the apex of Green's collaborations with producer Willie Mitchell and the Hi Records rhythm section. Leaner and more pointed than its predecessors, EXPLORES YOUR MIND finds Green stretching his emotions to the limit, testifying for all he's worth to both love and the Lord. Green's vision of the perfect love, as exemplified by "Stay With Me Forever," seems close enough to touch, and when he slips into his silky falsetto, it is the closest thing to rapture that you're likely to hear.

Foreshadowing the mix of the worldly with the spiritual that he would explore more fully on THE BELLE ALBUM, Green attempts to reach some kind of accord between the two on "God Bless This Love." The album also includes of one of Green's best-known songs, "Take Me To The River" (which became Talking Heads' first major hit when they covered it four years later), a song that seems to conflate baptism and sexual desire. Despite his subsequent commitment to his religious beliefs, it's likely that the unresolved conflict between Green's body and his soul are what make him such a complex and vital artist.

Many listeners are familiar with this album mostly because it includes of one of Green's best-known songs, "Take Me To The River," which became Talking Heads' first major hit when they covered it four years later. In fact, EXPLORES YOUR MIND represents the apex of Green's collaborations with producer Willie Mitchell and the Hi Records rhythm section. Leaner and more pointed than its predecessors, EXPLORES YOUR MIND finds Green stretching his emotions to the limit, testifying for all he's worth to both love and the Lord.

Green's vision of the perfect love, as exemplified by "Stay With Me Forever," seems close enough to touch, and when he slips into his silky falsetto, it's the closest thing to rapture that you're likely to hear. Foreshadowing the mix of the worldly with the spiritual that he would explore more fully on THE BELLE ALBUM, Green attempts to reach some kind of accord between the two on "God Bless This Love." Despite his subsequent commitment to his religious beliefs, it's likely that the unresolved conflict between Green's heart and his soul are what make him such a complex and vital artist.

Rolling Stone (p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "When he was signing about it, even ambition sounded like an act of faith."