It’s desire. On the album Betty Davis recorded in 1976 at Studio in the Woods in Bogalusa, the title may ask if it’s love or desire, but she makes it clear. The only time love appears is “When Romance Says Goodbye,” and the song is the end of all softness and tenderness. Here as on her other albums, she owns her sexuality and sings about it in terms that sound cataclysmic. Listen to the title track, “Whorey Angel” and “Crashin’ from Passion” and tell me anyone walks away from sex with Davis without sustaining serious internal injuries.

The cult of Betty Davis—onetime wife of Miles Davis— resurfaced in 2007 when Light in the Attic Records reissued Betty Davis and They Say I’m Different, and the recently reissued Nasty Gal and Is It Love or Desire are more of the same—glam, guitar-heavy funk-rock supporting her extreme vocals. She’s as much an actress as a singer, and she specializes in portraying the woman who’ll wake the neighboring town during sex or the post-coital shouting match. The album was recorded for Island Records but went unreleased for reasons no one is certain of. For sure, her musical vision is an extreme one, but no more so than her previous albums. Her music is admirable for that extremeness, and it still sounds vibrant today. It’s not musical, either. The songs work, and the groove for “Crashin’ from Passion” was ahead of its time and sounds contemporary now. In the liner notes, Davis attributes the shelving of the album to a disagreement she had with label owner Chris Blackwell, and that’s as likely as anything. If the passion she brings to her performance is rooted in anything real, it’s easy to imagine that she could have falling outs. The intensity means she can be a little exhausting to listen to, but the ride is worth it.