Customer Reviews

Clones of Dr Funkenstein

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"We love you Dr. Funkenstein, your funk is the best" - just one line from the album, and it's so true. George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic will forever stand out as the best Funkmasters around. I wouldn't go as far as to say this one is their best (Mothership Connection and Motor Booty Affair both would deserve more than five stars). Some of the other albums (f.e. Gloryhallastupid) sometimes have a more "experimental" feel to it. But this one stands out as the one that goes down instantly - and deep.
Great melodies, terrific horns (Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker together with the Brecker Brothers and Rick Gardner), Bernie Worrell on keys, Bootsy's thumpin' bass. Add a good dose of George Clinton's humor and you have this terrific album. What can I say except, get it!?!

"The Clones of Dr Funkenstein" was Parliament's move towards the more commercial. But don't let that stop you - the funk is still here in spades. It's just that it's not a flat-out dance album. The horn section is more present and it's very singable. And there are a bunch of great songs on this record. "Dr Funkenstein" is lyrically hilarious. "Children of Productions" furthers the concept - check out the band's playing on this one and how they orient themselves on the beat in relation to the singers. "Gettin' to Know You" is an uncharacteristic groove but one of the best songs on the album. The vocals are great and the song keeps your interest. The other songs more than keep up the pace and round out a great funk effort from Parliament. One standout: "Funkin' for Fun," which will get you up and dancing. While it's not as pure dance as "Funkentelechy" and the concept isn't as everpresent as on "Motor Booty," this record is a fine example of P-Funk at the height of its power. Definitely go for it.

After MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION, these guys couldn't be stopped. The outerspace theme really struck a chord with the public, and they tried to duplicate that success here with CLONES OF DR. FUNKENSTEIN. It is a creative concept, having Dr. Funkenstein be the mentor of Starchild and producing a bunch of clones to spread the funk, but this album lacks in some areas. This really was George's attempt to be more commercial, and it is not bad at all. But the reason why this lp is not as well known as MOTHERSHIP or FUNKENTELECHY is because it wasn't as original on the musical end. MOTHERSHIP invented the P. Funk concept, and FUNKENTELECHY showcased the bass synth and straight musical nastiness. CLONES wasn't a trailblazer, but it is still killer funk. The Prelude sets the stage for the album and "Gamin on Ya" gives the Horny Horns a full work-out. "Dr. Funkenstein" is good, but is a prime example of the commercial factor. "Children of Productions" is a great track with a nice horn section along with a pounding bassline, probably by Bootsy. "Gettin to Know You" is the gem of this lp. This is my favorite song off the album with Garry Shider's vocals going along nicely with another great horn riff and bass. "Do That Stuff" is a good song, with the most commercial appeal of the whole album. It has the same rythm as Funkadelic's "You Can't Miss What You Don't Measure" off of the album COSMIC SLOP. "Everything is on the One" is a nice track, but is probably the weakest on the whole album. "Ive Been Watchin You..." has some great vocals by Glen Goins, who would tragically pass away about a year after this album was released. He is one of the best singers I have ever heard and should be better known, just like the rest of the P. Funk staff should be. The final track, "Funkin for Fun" is exactly that. It is real funk that is fun and is similar to some of Parliament's earlier jams. Glen once again comes through with a great vocal performance. (These last two songs would be not nearly as good if it weren't for Glen) This album is, overall, good, but it suffers from the fact that it is basically a sequel to MOTHERSHIP. The album name was actually supposed to be MOTHERSHIP II until George decided that it would be better to be a little more creative. Any P. Funk fan needs to have this, but it can probably wait until you have some of their more essential lp's. (Both by Funkadelic and Parliament)

Funk On.

I didnt become a p.funk fan until 1993 (1'm only 25 years old). I had already collected MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION, FUNKENTELECHY VS THE PLACEBO SYNDROME, CHOCOLATE CITY, and MOTOR BOOTY AFFAIR and with these goodies already doin it in my earhole, i was all but ready to get funked when i picked this one up in '95. I must say out of all the parliament albums i've picked up (i have since collected them all), this is the one that i listen to the most, although i don't consider it their best because actually their all good in their own funky way. Musically, and vocally this album is good from beginning to end. From the Prelude and the keyboard intro of Gamin on Ya to glen goins' ever a'funkin vocals on the Funkin' for Fun fadeout, i can never get enough of hearing this one! Of course standouts are the hits Do that Stuff and Dr. Funkenstein, but the jam on this album (to agree with some other reviewers) has got to be I've Been Wathching You Move Your Sexy Body! Man, I swear this jam features the greatest vocal contribution to p-funk ever captured on record by glen goins! Only Bop Gun comes a close second! It's timeless! Overall the horn and vocal arrangements on this album are also more superior on this album, than any other pfunk album. Some feel this one was the more commercial (by p-funk standards that is) of the p-funk releases at that time but in my opinion this one is probably the more underground of all of parliament albums. Oldies stations rarely play any of the songs, including the hits off this album and it's certainly not as well known as MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION or FUNKENTELECHY VS. THE PLACEBO SYNDOME, but its still every bit as funky and essential as those albums! Oh, another good kick is the cover of this album, probably the best of all of parliaments' album covers! Dont'sleep on it, get this one now if you don't have it, if you have it already, then buy it again! This funk is somethin' you can never get enough of!

When I start churnin', burnin' and turnin'
It'll make your atoms move so fast
Expandin' your molecules
Causing a friction fire
Burnin' you on your neutron
Causing you to scream
"Hit me in the proton, BABY!"

If you've ever followed the P-Funk Earth Tour's venues, you will find that Roswell, New Mexico, is not on the list. Is this a coincidence? I think not.

You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to note the many similarities in the prognostication and supergroovalisticprosifunkstications of the good Dr. Funkenstein. Over twenty years before President William J. Clinton made the cloning of humans illegal, one George Clinton was flying his mothership under the radar and engaging in human cloning experiments, after reading Ira Levin's cloning thriller "The Boys of Brazil." CIA evidence that Clinton flew to Paraguay on several occasions in the early 1970s to meet with deranged Nazi geneticist Dr. Josef Mengele have been supressed by the federal government, but the Transnational Academy of Bootknocking Scientists sent a FOIA request to the government in 1997, which unearthed over 1,437 pages of evidence of collaborative conference between Drs. Mengele and Funkenstein. Just as FBI authorities were closing in on Clinton's operations, his front organizations, Parliament and Funkadelic -- two innocuous disco/funk/psychedlic rock bands -- released this document, "The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein," an LP record designed to put one nation under a groove, and to hide the monstrous truth in plain sight. This preposterous album led an unwitting populace to believe that the good doctor was just "Funkin' For Fun," that his genome splicing activities were nothing more than a dance move designed to "put a glide in your stride and a zip in your hip."

But, has anyone actually come aboard the Holy Mothership? Despite uncorroborated sightings over Oakland, Gary, Newark, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, and other Chocolate Cities, the Holy Mothership allegedly went into mothballs in the early 1980s after a copyright infringement suit forced Clinton to abandon ship. This ruse, disguised as a multi-million dollar squabble over publication rights to the Parliament/Funkadelic catalogue, was actually the government's way of keeping the brothers in their place. The Nation of Islam, subsequently, has attempted to legally expropriate the legal use of the Holy Mothership (cleverly changing the name to "Motherplane"), but most funkateers regard the Minister Louis Farrakhan as nothing more than Sir Nose D-Void of Funk in black nationalist's clothing.

Most relevant to the case are the numerous videotaped sightings of the Mothership over Area 51, as documented on Art Bell's radio program "Coast to Coast," but of course, you can't show videotaped evidence over the radio. Convenient. "Funk not only removes, it removes, dig?" The desired effect is what you get when NASA, the FBI, the CIA and the Pentagon suppress evidence of interplanetary funksmanship.

Dr. Funkenstein has gotten too close to the truth, too close to breaking the government's monopoly on cloning and space travel, which is why in the early 1970s, COINTELPRO agrents got Geo. Clinton hooked on cocaine, marijuana, heroin, mushrooms and peyote. Periodically, Clinton has been busted by local authorities under various drugs possession charges, which is cover for the CIA's keeping the atomic dog on a short leash, lest he upset the power structure that has since fled the inner cities and moved to the vanilla suburbs.

Further proof of how Dr. Funkenstein's afronauts have subverted popular culture as well as the history books rests in evidence of the Princess Diana murder long suppressed by INTERPOL, which was a covert operation designed to draw attention from the fact that funk saucers had landed outside of Cairo to reclaim the pyramids. How DID an otherwise slow news day move this very black achievement off the front pages and onto page A31 of the New York Times? I submit: Conspiracy by the Vanilla Power Structure.

Nonetheless, if your mind can handle it, spin this wax on your platters and let Dr. Funkenstein and his brides work they roots into your soul. This preternatural musical document from the band that predicted alien anal probes for mind control ("Free Your @ss, and Your Mind Will Follow") will blow the cobwebs outchyour mind.

This is one of those classic mid-late 70's albums, where the Horny Horns feature Michael and Randy Brecker, and where Bootsy can be heard behind the thumping bass-grooves along with Cordell Mosson, as well as in the choir and behind the drums. It is not as much a theme album as other Parliament albums, but nonetheless partly revolves around Dr. Funkenstein and his Children of Production. It's not as strong as its precursor "Mothership Connection", but has some strong and loose grooves which you can't help but be moved by. "Everything is On the One" grooves like CRAZY - it's a shame it's one of the shorter songs on this 40 minute album, and that all tracks don't have a groove like this. The rhythm and horn arrangements on "Getten' To Know You" aren't as strong as on the rest of the album, but the first track after the prelude on this album --"Gamin' On Ya"-- is very horn-based, and has one of the funkiest horn arrangements ever. "I've Been Watching You" has a VERY Funkadelic-ish quality to it. There's something about it that goes hand in hand with Funkadelic's "Baby I Owe You Something Good" and "You Scared the Lovin' Outta Me" - it's quite surprising how it didn't end up on Funkadelic's "Tales of Kidd Funkadelic" instead of something with the quality of "Take Your Dead Ass Home". If you can't decide whether you should get this album or "Mothership Connection" I strongly recommend the latter; if you've familiarized yourself with the Mothership it will be much easier to appreciate this one.

You are looking in the wrong place for any Phantom, though the opening organ on Prelude may not initially be the tip that the riff is leading to Starchild - a character based on Sun Ra's Black Noah - and his mentor, Dr. Funkenstein.

In a mix dominated by the horn section - Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Rick Gardner, Michael Brecker & Randy Brecker - right from the opening melodic phrase of Gamin' On Ya, the storyline tells how aliens placed the secrets of funk in the pyramids and are now returning to set us free.

Check out Gettin' To Know You, especially the piano solo by Bernie Worrell, and consider it a nod to the genius of Stevie Wonder. The trombome solo by Wesley on Dr. Funkenstein drives the pure funk.

Children of Productions is the cornerstone to the story:

We're a flawless testimony
To the attainment of the P-Funk
Endowed with conceivement of true groove
We are deeper than abortion
Deeper than the notion
That the world was flat when it was round
We're gonna blow the cobwebs out your mind
Children of Productions

A classic drum intro kicks off Do That Stuff and flows into Everything Is On The One. The mid-tempo groove of I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body) sets up a great finale, Funkin' For You.

The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein is the complete package of legendary P-Funk characters and solid lyrics, with a twist in production that makes it one of the finest Parliament releases ever.

The genius of George Clinton comes alive on this classic recording. I can remember winning this album thru a radio contest when it was released and I've been playing it since then. I bought it on CD about 15 years ago and I still play it today. From "Prelude" to "Funkin for Fun", this album represents all that is funk. On the title cut, Clinton and the Funk Mob turns Einstein's Theory of Relativity into one of the greatest funk jams ever and it helped me out in Science class when I was in high school too. The horns are tight, the bass thumps and if Glenn Goins was not one of the greatest (underrated, overlooked) SOUL singers ever, then I'm not writing this review(May he rest in peace). There's even a monster slow jam "I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)". Dr Funkenstein gettin a little freaky? Why the funk not! This is a must have for any fan of the funk. KISS ME ON MY EGO !!!!!

man.
this ish is on FIRE!!! the mothership crashed and burned and from its ashes arose pyramids, pulpits, puppets, pimps, preachers and p-funk!
buy this one for 'i been watchin you', if for nothin else at all but jus to own that there song!!!! FIRE-FIRE, yall, fareal...