Customer Reviews

Anthology

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best Sly compilation currently available; it's basically the Greatest Hits album fleshed out with more album cuts and early-'70s material. While the music itself is, naturally, wonderful, and the song selection is generous, the CD's sound and packaging leave much to be desired. There's too little bass presence, three single sides ("Hot Fun", "Thank You", and "Everybody Is A Star") are in Godawful pseudo-stereo, and the booklet has skimpy liner notes and mediocre graphics.

Epic/Legacy supposedly has a Sly box set planned for next fall, to be followed (hopefully) by an overhaul of the Family's CD catalog. Until then, this will be the definitive compilation by default.

This CD is much more essential than the first "greatest hits" album because a Sly collection is not complete without two of the greatest funk/soul songs ever written - "Family Affair" (a wonderfully poetic song that you won't get out of your head) and "Runnin' Away" (with its unforgettable trumpet melody). While there is a lot missing from this anthology, there is enough great material to make it a perfect introduction to Sly's beautiful contributions to soul music. Sly's music is a combination of multi-layered horns, bass lines, vocals (almost all the band members sang), and addictive melodies. He was also one of the first musicians to combine the hippie optimism of the 1960's with soul and funk music. Sly was almost more of a musical director than a performer, getting the most out of his tremendous musicians, especially the funkiest bass player around, Larry Graham. Sly's influence on soul music is immeasurable.

This is a way to introduce yourself to his music. It is a highly recommended addition to a music collection.

If you're looking for some of the roots to r&b music, Sly and the Family Stone is where you need to listen. This anthology is excellent for the casual buyer. It has 20 tracks covering all their hits and well known songs. Like Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, George Clinton, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson, Sly and the Family Stone are a must have for any rock collector.

I've got to give this five stars, because it is the most complete anthology of this great band. It has 8 more songs than Greatest Hits. There is no doubt that this band was one of the most visionary, groundbreaking, genre-breaking and best to come out of THE classic era of pop music. The music here speaks for itself. The solid pop song structures, the unusual ensemble singing, the tight, funky bass lines, the incredible musicianship, the visionary lyrics. Sly was a genius, and he assembled a unique supporting cast that realized his lofty ambition.

I want to mention the following resverations about this collection. The overall sound quality is mediocre. They were meticulously produced and recorded, and the digital mastering here does not do the music full justice. There is a fine new stereo mix of Hot Fun in the Summertime on Sony's 'Artifacts' series that was released in the early '90s, the subpar mono mix shows up here. Also, Family Affair is dismally flat, lacking any high end at all. Overall, this collection does not impress, sonically.

That said, this is some of the most essential and groundbreaking music made in a decade of amazing musicmaking that will never again be approached. An essential in any pop/rock/R&B/Soul catalog...at least, until Sony gives this music its full due with a finely remastered, at least 2 disc set.

Sly is one of the last great neglected megastars and legends of popular music. A true pioneer of integrated music, and thus integrated society, until drugs and self-abuse did him in. Great beats, great lyrics, always with that little wink that makes you think.

I can't figure out why there has not been a proper boxed set released or even a remaster of this compilation put out. For some reason, no one can get around to remastering this thing from the original tapes, in stereo. All these tracks are wonderful, and for a one-disc compilation, it is the best thing out there. But the sound quaility is, simply put, poor. Tons of hiss and noise, tinny and muffled sound, and inferior mono versions of some of his best stuff--"Thank you Fallettinme" and "Hot Fun", for example....If the record company is listening...Please get Sly off the black list and clean up his music the way it deserves!

Sly's music holds up well against time, but Epic needs to spend some time on the packaging of this disc. If you are looking for some great music at the "nice price", this album is for you. If you are looking for historical footnotes, album references, or info about the family, don't bother.

....I hear those tunes two years after they first came on the scene and they sound as if they were productions of falsely pumped up egos who end up bragging to you that they have supremely suckered you outta your money. AND your valuable time. What chutzpah. That's another reason why I have been currently been into the Public Domain ol' style 78s and unknown roots and blues here lately....but that's another story.

I put on this anthology (the 'Essentials' also is kick'ss, but it duddn't have that glammo Richard Avedon photog on its cover) and skip those "Wanna Take You Higher..." years and go directly to "Thank You Falettin'..." (with its often sampled and imitated gut-tar lines) and play those tunes from Sly's Muddy-Waters-Tom (Supa)-Flye-Larry-Graham-Last-Days-Rusty-Allen-Initiation years. Why? They not only are supremely funky, each tune is pretty unique. Runnin' Away (rumored to have Miles Davis on horn) sounds very different from Babies Makin' Babies and that sounds very different from Family Affair. One of my favorite redux is that version of Que Sera, Sera, in which Sly goes into a baptist deacon frenzy on the refrains handed to him by Rose in soulful Doris Day mode. That's a masterpiece. And you can still feel what Sly and his gang put into it. Passion. And mebbe a lil narcotics. But, nevertheless their music is never boring or plastic. Even if you're so inclined to begin this CD at track #1...UnLike many of the aforementioned current day pop tune CDs. "Don't let the plastic get(bring)you down...."? How appropriate.

What I remember is watching Sly and the Family Stone perform, not only the fantastic set they played at Woodstock but also on, of all things, "The Dick Cavett Show." Consequently, there is an interesting tradeoff here. Technically "I Want to Take You Higher" and "Dance to the Music" sound clearer and cleaning than they do on the "Woodstock" album, but they just do not capture the fire of the live performance. But that objection is something you can make for anysong on "Anthology." As good as "Stand!", "Everyday People," and "Hot Fun in the Summertime" sound on this hits collection, they sounded better performed live. This is not always the case in the world of music, but it is certainly true about the Family Stone, especially with Sly's wicked sense of humor (e.g., the subtitle of "Thank You," to wit, "(Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and who else would offer up his own cover of Doris Day's "Que Sera, Sera"?). "Anthology" does indeed offer up eight more tracks than the "Greatest Hits" collection, but rather than celebrating the increased in quantity I want to applaud the addition of the one song that most needed to be included in a Sly Stone retrospective, which would be Track #9 (You know they will never let me reprint the title down here in the review). This song was not a hit but it was certainly an important song because I am here to tell you that when that song came out at the end of the Sixties we all looked at the title at the record store, knowing our parents would never let us buy that album once that saw that word. But even without listening to that song it had an impact, because the title alone makes a point. It also reflected a new consciousness that equality could mean name calling in both directions. Race relations was not exactly a new topic to Stone, as he proved on "Everyday People" and "Stand"; it was just that sometimes the rhetoric got obscurred by the funk. So, anyhow, listen to this album and then be sure to go back and check out the Family Stone living large at Woodstock. Then just let the two blend in perfect peace and harmony in your mind.

one could argue about a track selection or two but this is an incredible compilation of the work of one of the giants of music, sly and the family stone. there's something for everyone in this band, whether you like soul, r&b, blues, jazz, hard rock, psychedelic rock, balladry, etc. the band are always brilliant, and sly stone was a superb lyricist. the band featured several excellent singers. its fascinating to see how experimental one of the biggest bands in america around the turn of the 70's was. this music is simply essential. this is a must have for any music collection!

I enjoy this CD Anthology of the music of Mr Sylvester Stewart. The 1960's in San Francisco seems to have been an idyllic time. In this environment, Sly and the Family Stone made an incredible, positive impact on popular culture that transcends time and place. Mr Stewart wrote and sang popular melodies, radio hits, which had serious lyrical content. Humour was never far away, either. The sappy message of the song THANK YOU is easier for me to accept with an alternate title of "FalletinmeBeMiceElfAgin". Mr Stewart had a tremendous influence on those around him. Mr Barry Michael Cooper writes the notes with references to the singer's character as a "prophet". "Sylvester Stewart, as he was formerly known, was a prophet, a prophet from San Francisco. A prophet who receycled hate into love. A prophet who borrowed the spiritual rhythms of the church to make the populace, black and white, secular and fundmentalist, dance to the music." Even without the message, I enjoy the songs which do inspire me to "dance to the music." My favourite song is EVERYDAY PEOPLE. It is fun to listen to which makes the message of peace and understanding easier to listen to and accept, I think. If you are interested in the music of a popular icon of the 1960's in San Francisco, or if you are interested a funky groove, this CD will interest you.