Customer Reviews

Fencewalk: Anthology

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OK. Here's the deal. Mandrill are (in one humble funkateer's opinion) the most unbelievably slept on band of all time. Funkwise at least. The drums hit so hard. The bass is thick and bubbly, The guitar (one of the more bluesy sounding leads you will find in funk bands) cuts nice. They vocals keep the song on point- you won't hear references to John Donne, or lines from the Iliad. But then did you expect to? C'mon, This is funk, not Lit class...

The instruments play off each other masterfully, building groves. And of course there's the harp (blues harp, I mean, not what angels carry around under one arm). Some of the foonkiest harmonica work I have ever heard. I mean for real! It's up there with the *ish* that Lee Oskar cooked up with WAR.

Mandrill build up a groove. They take it up. And UP! AND UPPPP!!!! UP! UP! UP! If you have heard any of their songs then you know this. AND, unlike many Funk bands that stick to a nice, mellow groovy simmer, Mandrill can rock. They rock like Buddy Miles. They rock like Funkadelic. they Blast like Sly and the Fam, from around 'There's a Riot Going On,' era. They do it all and more. And for quite the modest fee- you get 31, full-length tracks. damn. I almost wish I had never heard them so I could discover them again for the first time with this anthology!!! 'Oh to see again with dawn's rose gaze...'

...Maybe you're here cuz you're building a tight little collection of blunt funk nasteeness. Maybe you're just bouncing around from review to review and happened to end up here. Maybe you got the 11 track 'Best of Mandrill,' compilation and couldn't stop blasting 'Fencewalk.' Repeatedly (I did). It don't matter- I don't care who you are or what you dig- Mandrill will turn you on your head. I kid you not. If this music don't make you move your butt, nod your head, tap your feet, or crack a smile- well, check your pulse because you may be one of the living dead that I see driving around listening to bland-ass, VH1 crite.

I'm shocked that so few hip hop/dance producers have touched on Mandrill for a lil' sampling work. The beat from 'Mango Meat'... You could do albums off the drums from that song... At any rate- This anthology is one of the centerpieces in my lil' funk collection. I can't believe that people denigrate Mandrill, they often get labelled as a second-tier funk band. I can assure you this is not the case- They are damn good, damn tight and hella funky. And they're not one-dimensional at all. So they weren't as experimental as Sly or Funkadelic... They still dropped some of the thickest, meatiest, bone-crushinest, slamminest, jamminest, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'aminest albums that you will ever find. Guaranteed.

Tell ya what- At least check out the cheaper 'Best of Mandrill,' comp- you can find them used in here, about and around for 5-8 bucks usually. well worth the chance...

One of the most influential funk-rock groups to emerge out of the 1970's, Mandrill, has just released its most comprehensive and enjoyable greatest hits compilation to date,entitled "Fencewalk: The Anthology." Unlike any greatest hits compilation to come before it, "Fencewalk: The Anthology" provides any Mandrill or classic funk-rock fan with a listening experience that is unmatched. Not only does "Fencewalk" embrace the depth and scope of the band's career but it further illustrates their contribution to rock n' roll which started in the early seventies and continues even today. Unfortunately, it is missing some gems from the "Beast From The East" album, and this would have been an excellent opportunity to let the Mandrill faithful get a few live versions or even some alternate takes of songs. Start your Mandrill collection here!!

Whether you stumbled onto Mandrill's page or knew exactly what you were doing when you got here - PICK UP THIS ALBUM. Seminal and perfect fusion of funk, rock, soul, latin, jazz, african and more. These guys easily crack my Top 5 bands of all time list and chances are they'll be on yours too after listening to them. Genius. Period.

At the risk of offending some readers, I think the best way to describe Mandrill is...
The Godchild of Santana *only gone ultra funky and...
more HARDCORE than War...
or how about 1/3 Latino Rock 1/3 Afro Rock 200% Funk and definitely what some would have refered to in that era as "great" music to get high to." (- - sorry PC Police, that's what many people did when they listened to albums like this.) At times there's also a bit of early CHICAGO (circa their first few albums) thrown in.
And then there's elements of the East Bay sound of the early '70s with a bit of progressive Jazz/Rock thrown in... Actually though the band centered around 3 Panamanian born brothers living in NYC - - one who actually had a pretty nice paying day gig as a cardiologist.
Sadly though the Horn, Hammond, percussion and tripped out vocal harmony group never took off as they deserved. They had their moments (including some soundtracks and a few charting singles) they never got the "superstar" or even cult status they deserved... this is amazing when you listen to this chock-full-of grooves CD which NEVER loses steam and also realize the ample level of charisma and uniqueness they had as a unit, as well as their fantastically packaged and conceptualized productions.

In the end, if you're JUST getting into Mandrill (or you were into them back in the day but your old albums are totally scratched and beaten up) this collection is definitely one gem you DON'T want to miss out on... This is one of those "got it ages ago and its never gone too far from my player" type listens...

Side note - - If you like this sound, BLACK HEAT: DECLASSIFIED GROOVES, EL CHICANO and LAFAYETTE AFRO ROCK BAND might be the way to go... which reminds me... Will ICE ever come back in print ??? (Wish I could find a copy of that tune SUICIDE!)

I have ALL of the Mandrill lps and MOST of the cds. This compilation is excellent and truly allows you to taste the bands finest works. However, I am looking for the one Mandrill album that has yet to be released in cd format. That lp is 'Mandrill Land'. That is the lp where, "House of Wood" came from. There is a song on there that truly showcases how deep these brothers were. It begins with a mean organ played by Claude Cave that sounds haunting like the 'Phantom of the Opera'. It segues into something so beautiful that it is not included on this marvelous collection. Alas, one day (someday I hope) it will be released. But until then, you cannot afford to sleep on one of the best 'greatest hits collections' by the premier 'funk' band of the 70's. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

When ever the question of afro/latin/rock/comes up most unenlightened people come out of their mouths with Carlos Santana and his early works with Santana. While giving all due respects to Carlos for his ground breaking work I don't consider Santana the best afro/latin/rock band of the 60's or 70's. As far as I'm concerned that title goes to Mandrill. Their first three albums consist of some of the finest music ever laid to wax. Their musicianship is phenomenal and the fire! Listen to Mandrill by Mandrill and tell me you've ever heard anything hotter, nastier or more powerful that that cut!

An amazing band from and amazing time. I remember walking down Jamaica Avenue in Queens looking at all the red faced Mandrill posters looking down at me as I rushed to band practice. Yeah I dug the band and I played their music. Worth every penny!

One word of warning though, if you hear this album you'll never be able to look at modern afro/latin/rock the same way again. Take that Ricky Martin!

Hi! My name is Mario A. Carter, and I'm currently living in Mexico City. I'm a Medical Doctor and a Proffesional Musician, just like Ric Wilson. All I've got to say, is that this band has'nt been fully understood even in our day, and many more years will pass before they are, because, I mean, they are playing so many different genres of music, and also being innovative and taking the music where it still has'nt been. For instance, they play "Bolero" ( Mini Suite for Duke), "Country" (Folks on a hill"), "Ultra funk"( Fencewalk), "Jazz"( Kofijham, Peace and Love), "Salsa"( Hágalo,Fat City Strut), "Afro-latin" ( Mandrill, Lord of the golden baboon), "Cha-cha-cha"(Cohelo, Solid),"Ballads"(Starry eyed, I refuse to smile),"Orchestral"(Central Park, Holiday),"Reggae"(Polk Street Carnaval, Lady Jane), "New Age"(Afrikus Retrospectus, Aspiration Flame), and I could go on and on. These guys are STILL way ahead of today's music. All I can say, is that I'm blessed to live in their time. Thanks for letting me say all this, because all the reviews I've read, talk of how Funk, or Latin they are, and LISTEN, they are much much more.
Dr. Mario A. Carter.

mandrill is one of many black rock groups from the 70's who made some good funk-rock jams and the world just slept on these brothers they was tight check out these jams and judge for yourself these brothers added spanish, african, and r&b with some rock and made some of the tightest black rock music ever heard only legendary funk group parliament-funkadelic could do better.

I'm 24 and I don't know very many people that have heard of these guys but deserve a billion times more credit than they ever recieved. I mean come on, Earth Wind and Fire, and the Funkadelic used to OPEN for these guys. Where's the love? This awsome anthology is a good thing to have in your music collection. It will take you to a whole different world! You certainly won't hear any of their Latin-Funk stylings on any dial on the radio, and its too bad!

MANDRILL was a contemporary of groups like WAR, Tower Of Power, E,W & F,
Parliament-Funkadelic and The Ohio Players. They were very funky, tribal & raw,
and had a great horn section that would rival any of those aforemetioned bands,
and their hits like FENCEWALK, which was actually a dance back in 1973,
as well as "Can You Get It" and others were R&B / Funk staples in the 70's.
Their sick stanky-funk grooves were heavily sampled by hip-hop acts in the 90's.
They also put on a hell of a live show that rivaled all their contemporaries,
but for some strange reason they are very underrated and almost unheard of today.
This compilation is a great representation of their work and may inspire some real
music and funk-lovers to check out their original albums which contain some great music
that were gems on the albums but not released as singles back in the day.
All around, this is a great compilation from some unsung funk pioneers!