The 1974 second album from seven-piece funk outfit Black Heat featured their biggest hit, the chunky title track, along with eight more songs, mostly sophisticated, intricately arranged and tightly produced deep funk across a broad range of tempos and moods. The album format, together with a rising major label confidence in the crossover potential of black acts was providing many R’n’B bands the scope to stretch out and Black Heat seized the opportunity here. No Time To Burn is at the more sophisticated end of the 70s funk genre with songs featuring rich and heavy full arrangements, the layered percussion filled out with organ, keys, clav and flutes as well as guitars, horns and vocals, in contrast to say the sparse, spartan sound of the JBs, or the raw grinding, stripped back Meters. Fast past party-funkers, lo-tempo steaming swamp funk, jazzy horn lines, decent songs and plenty of high-standard ensemble playing make for an excellent funk effort.