Back Stabbers

The two big hits on the O’Jays’ first outing for Gamble/Huff powerhouse Philadelphia International Records are as thematically disparate as anything — the “it’s not paranoid if they’re really out to get you” tension of the god-tier title cut (that piano intro alone!), and the closing salvo of soul-unites-the-planet anthem “Love Train,” which respectively nail early-decade, pre-Watergate “smiling faces” anxiety and anticipate (or invent) late ’70s discomania. The rest of it, from the pristine bowtie-funk of “When the World’s At Peace” to the floating-in-space regret ballad “Who Am I,” sounds like the top ten hit singles they inexplicably weren’t but should’ve been.