Customer Reviews

Bump City

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 2008, WEA Japan released the entire WB Tower Of Power catalog in remastered form. All of the albums benefit from new mastering, and are worthwhile acquisitions for fans.

I found all of the remastered material to be superior to the Rhino 2CD "What Is Hip?" 1999 compilation set, except, surprisingly, for the material from the 3rd album, which sounds better on the Rhino.

Amazon does a haphazard job of stocking these remasters, so you may have to seek them from Japan-based retailers. Also, Amazon's prices are at least a third higher than buying direct from Japan, although shipping costs will cut into that percentage.

Here are the links for the `08 remasters:

East Bay Grease
Bump City
Tower Of Power
Back To Oakland
Urban Renewal
In The Slot
Live And In Living Color

Again, it's sad that American consumers have to obtain better sounding CD's from another country. WEA, and now WMG, have long maintained a corporate policy of not upgrading their catalog under the "they're-gonna-buy-it-anyway-so-why-waste-profits" philosophy, no matter that rival Sony has made a lucative business model out of remastering nearly the entire Columbia records catalog. Although this internal policy was mandated by the WEA regimes of the past, Edgar Bronfman, the current WMG chief, has maintained the status quo.

So, Tower Of Power now joins fellow WEA artists Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, The Doobie Brothers, Tower Of Power, Neil Young, Van Dyke Parks, Little Feat, Van Morrison, America, Annie Haslam, Everything But The Girl, Roberta Flack, Todd Rundgren, Cold Blood and Paul Butterfield, just to name a few, whose catalogs either partially or wholly exist in better audio in Japan than here in the U.S.

It's a pathetic and frustrating situation.

I saw Tower of Power at the Paramount Theater in Seattle in about 1976-1977. They were fantastic!! That's when I fell in love with them. Their music is funky, incredible horns, and makes you wanna dance. A few years ago I was looking for a cassette tape, was told Bump City was only available on CD, so I bought a CD player. This CD will get you jazzed when you're down!

I thought THE Tower of Power album was their 1973 "Tower of Power", until I was introduced to "Bump City"; an even funkier album. I'd never heard Tower of Power this RAW anywhere else. It's really nice to hear that they, once upon a time, could groove and make things work without trying to sound 101% clean, metronomic, and "correct". Tower of Power has an exceptionally funky sound throughout this album; especially Rocco's bass, is FAT! "Bump City", as opposed to MANY of their newer albums, is not sterile; it's human. It lives and breathes, and for most part it rocks and grooves like crazy. Of course, like on all their albums, there are a few up-hill tunes, like "Gone" and "You're Still a Young Man", but the album has unusually few tracks of that kind. For a raw sound and good mixture of material, I recommend ToP's first three albums, "East Bay Grease" (1970), "Bump City" (1972), and "Tower of Power" (1973). You've got to Funkifize!

Of all of TOP's albums, aside from EAST BAY GREASE, this one has to be their RAWEST, and also "fan favorite" hit heavy....
consider the presence of YOU'RE STILL A YOUNG MAN and DOWN TO THE NIGHT CLUB (both BILLBOARD 100 hits and two of the group's best known signature tunes outside of SQUIB CAKES and WHAT IS HIP.)
In addition, it includes YOU STRIKE MY MAIN NERVE and YOU'VE GOT TO FUNKIFIZE (a tune that features one of the most funky and over the top mid-tune horn vamps) two tunes that have been over the top stables of their live show...
and let's not forget some other treats... Consider Garibaldi's imaginatively varied and driving drumming on WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD THAT DAY or the tightly screaming/ultra' bumpin' blues, FLASH IN THE PAN, which is another brilliant example how Garibaldi could take a relatively straight forward backbeat and take it in so many different directions... One can just as easily listen to the tune, and not pay much attention to the drummer, simply appreciating the tune... then years later actually pay attention to the drum track and realize what a frigging' visionary monster was and is... In fact, I challenge you to listen to any TOP ballad and play close attention to Garibaldi, even if you've heard it a million times before, and not be amazed... GONE being another easy to overlook example.

All this said, despite the fact that BUMP CITY is definitely a DEFINITIVE TOP listen, its interesting to note, that CHESTER THOMPSON and Lenny Williams have yet to join the band... and Rocco, while even then a monster bass play had yet to develop some elements of his trademark sound that would manifest themselves once CT joined up.

All in all... if you're a die hard TOP fan or just getting into their sound, this is definitely a must have listen... and it also features one of their best remembered horn section line ups with Mimi, Greg Adams (*check out his solo on GONE!), The Funky Doctor and Mic Gillette.

In conclusion, GET IT !

This album is Tower seeking to translate their awesome musicality and cult following into a signature sound that would appeal to a wider audience. Consequently, the songs are shorter than on their "East Bay Grease" debut album. It's also one of the Tower albums where you can play all the way through. This vocalist is not the Lenny Williams from their peak period, but he does a great job and you wish he had been able to stick around for a couple more albums. "Bump City" and "Down to the Nightclub" are great tunes, although they are also avaialble on the compilations.

If you're trying to get Tower albums, this is a worthwhile purchase although its not my favorite. Sadly, the pop success began to come with "Still a Young Man". This is a solid tune, but future Tower albums included more cheesy ballad numbers that diluted their funk and sought the pop audience. Moreover, Tower distinguishes themselves from other funk bands by their instrumental jams like "Squib Cakes" from Back To Oakland, and they hadn't added that component to their albums yet.

If you like the Tower from their peak period ["Tower of Power", "Back To Oakland", "Live"] and want to hear where that sound is coming from, "Bump City" is a great record to hear their early work.

--SD

My college roommate had this album back in the day (1973/74) and I remember liking it back then, but I never became a huge Tower of Power fan (I was into hard rock). Recently I decided to check it out again after all these years and I bought it. My god, this album is ridiculously great! Every single song is great. What a contrast to most of the pablam that's being put out today. I've got 30 years of Tower of Power to catch up on. Next step is to check out all of T.O.P.'s other highly regarded CDs (primarily the early ones). Buy this album!

This is the first TOP album I ever saw in my fathers record collection in the 70s.Everytime I saw the cover I would become afraid and cover my ears thinking lightning and thunder were about to strike.Little did I know then,THAT WAS TRUE.The first time I actually played the record in the late 80s i definitely heard the thunder and lightnin that TOP is capable of producing and they still continue to do so.Rick Stevens was the grittiest voiced lead singer they had but alas it was only for one album and he was sentenced to 25 years in the joint for manslaughter 3 years later.However Lenny Williams (who co wrote "You Strike My Main Nerve") came forward to take them to the next level in 73

This album has two of Tower's signature songs: Down to the Nightclub and Still a Young Man. After 30 years Tower still covers these at most every concert. Still sound fresh too. One of the best three or four albums the band has done.

This is the only album where all of the songs are great. Granted some are better than others, but overall, there isn't one song that I wouldn't want to listen to over and over. The depth of the music is unmatched in any other artist.

this is a rougher Tower Of Power&It fits really well in the Gritty vibe.Much Props too Rick Stevens on "Your'e Still a Young Man" that Performance is Solid.just like James Brown's "It's a Mans World" "Your'e Still a Young Man" Still Blows you away too this day.dig there Sound&Vibe.