Black Oak Arkansas

While If An Angel … is not the powerhouse of boogie-ing funk that High On the Hog would be, it does stand as BOA's second best studio album. Decidedly calmer and more psychedelic than later stuff, with Jim Mangrum sounding more like a front porch philosopher than the horny hillbilly he is on their more famous material, the record has serious merits. "Gravel Roads" is one of Mangrum's best-ever hick performances, while "Our Mind's Eye" and "Mutants of the Monster" illustrate the band's interest in, yes, Eastern mysticism. "Fertile Woman" is just weird.