Customer Reviews

Funkadelic

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

 

 

A classic album can be a classic albums for many reasons. It may just be so popular it is known to everyone. Or maybe the music is so good that alone gives it its status. Or maybe the importance of the album musically and historically takes it there.

Funkadelic, the band's first self-titled album from 1970, is a classic on several levels. The Temptations may have had the notion to integrate some psychedelic/Hendrix influences on Cloud Nine. But it was George Clinton and his Funkadelic vehicle that soul and funk could be as psychedelic, as windowpane dipped, as counter-cultural as any white rock. Funkidelic the band was one of the first soul bands that didn't even make a pretense as playing it straight. They just didn't care.

"If you suck my soul, I will lick your funky emotions." was not a line that would get a soul band on to Ed Sullivan in 1970. But it is how Funkadelic started their career, and this album. "Mommy, What's A Funkadelic," is the track this line opens, with a booming eccho, and it only gets more strange from there.

At nine minutes, this song made no stab at AM radio. The track is filled with eccho, wha wha guitars, dark bass, and ghostly backing vocals. The black people here speak like black people. There is a pant, a sexuality to the heavy breathing.

They're throwing your own stereotypes in your face--and not being cute about it. America was still desegregating in 1970. In all its absurdity and humor, this stuff was dangerous.

The album itself alternates between this not so absurd absurdity and more conventional soul numbers, which Clinton cut his teeth on. Even these have a rock edge. Layers and layers of guitars and voices. Musically and socially textured at every level

Albums like this just did not get made in 1970. In 2010, I am still hard pressed to find much like it.

George Clinton is phenomenal. Great album. There are a few jams that I felt dragged on but overall an excellent piece of work. This is a true funk album. Personal favorites include "I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing", "I Bet You", "Good Old Music", and "What Is Soul." If you don't own any Funkadelic albums, this is a perfect place to start. If you already own some Funkadelic records, and you don't have this one, you are missing out.

Okay, so I bought this remastered version because I am a freak and must always have the newest version of a product if it seems like it is the best. I just got this CD, opened it and listened to it, and it didn't sound so great. I had the previous edition of Fundadelic, and this one seems to sound worse by comparison. The remaster sounds tinny to me, and it seems like they boosted the volume, without cleaning up the sound as much as they could have. The mix sounds less even than the previous edition. Maybe I'm crazy, and it doesn't matter, I would have bought it anyway for the bonus tracks.

My general impression of this album is summed up in this following passage (this is purely for fun!);

There was a time when I tried to escape this music - I thought it was for the old school folk who lost their groove along with Stella! So I indulged myself into the sigh life of Ghetto Flabulousness. Sportin' the latest fashions from the lights of Crockawear, Foolbu, and Smelle Smelle (Pelle Pelle), I simped walked my way into Moon Shallow nightclub every Friday and Saturday night (free *submission before midnight). As I stepped on the dancefloor and got my slack on with a few featherheads, they thought I was cool with my tailor made ebay jewelry completed with the plastic diamonds, but I myself had no groove because I was one of the star children neutralized by the atoms of the blah syndrome. As of a couple of months I would purchase the whole Funkadelic catalog that will have the funkadafied power to harvest the star children into planet one.


Tongue in cheek George Clinton imitation aside, simply put, Funkadelic's music is more stoned than a bonfire after party at Woodstock. For those who's used to the rockier side of their later releases will enjoy hearing these fellas in a more straight forward bluesy fashion. There's evidence of the George's surreal humor in "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic" and "Music for my Mother", extended phyche out jam sessions in "Good Ol Music", and the band's more subversive side in "What is Soul". In the production, the tripped out synth effects and studio trickery, which will become better defined on later releases, are also intact.

While this album lays down the foundation of the Funkadelic sound, I sounds simplier than the more complex jams on albums like "Let's take it to the Stage" and "One Nation under a Groove". It would probably be the easiest Funkadelic album to listen to along with "Standing on the Verge". While they are an acquired taste, anyone who has the nerve to say that "Soul is a joint rolled up in toilet tissue" deserves a curious ear or two.

Funkadelic (self-titled debut - Bonus tracks) : Some debut records give you all the bands best stuff and then they have nothing left. Other debut records are tests, experiments, a release to see what floats, what works, and what direction the band should take from then on. This debut from Funkadelic is the second kind of debut. This album tests the waters. There are some fine cuts here but not great cuts. It is an enjoyable album, but it only hints at the talent that will be unleashed in their following albums. This CD has seven bonus tracks, doubling the size of the original record. The bonus tracks are recordings from 1969, leading up to this debut. This is more of a Funkadelic early history album than anything else. It gets four stars.

Trippy. Very, very trippy. The group was clearly quite stoned when they recorded this. It's slow, it's murky, and it's really, really weird. Kind of like mid-'60s Pink Floyd, only with more sense of groove and humor. Or maybe like an even more stoned version of Electric Ladyland. I don't know. Point is, it's very strange, very druggy, and it moves very slowly. The melodies are generally absent - "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" (Great song title there, by the way. Why it didn't become the album title is beyond my comprehension) doesn't even have a vocal melody, it's just a leaden nine-minute vamp with a bizarre recitation over it. The first two or three minutes of are fun. But it doesn't have any Eddie Hazel, at this early point the most interesting part of the group, so it spirals off long before it actually ends. I prefer "I Bet You" myself, a song that does showcase the group's instrumental prowess. Check out the interlocking lead guitars, which are playing not one but two great riffs! And it's got the group's signature mass chanted vocal hook thing going! Or, if you want to hear the group do the slow, stoned groove thing, check out "Music for My Mother." It's a lot more interesting, because it's a good four minutes shorter, has a really cool "vocal-harmonica" solo, and a catchy chant. Or, if you want to hear the group wake up and rock, you might be interested in the distorted cacophony "I've Got a Thing You've Got a Thing Everybody's Got a Thing," with fantastic wah-wah/organ interplay. See what I mean about the musicianship here? You also get to hear a lot of Eddie's stinging guitar on "Good Ole Music," but unfortunately the group can't control themselves on that track, so it slips into unnecessary crap at around minute five and never really finds its way back to where it was when it started. Still, it's a whole ton better than "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?", even though I grow pretty tired of the skating-rink organ solos pretty fast. The leaden blues "Qualify and Satisfy" is also only saved by Eddie's blues licks - the rest of the band was barely competent at this point, since these were in the days before Bernie Worrell (though he does add the organ on "I've Got a Thing"), Jerome Brailey, Bootsy Collins and all the others. Tiki Fullwood hammers away, and Micky Atkins adds more annoying skating-rink organ. And despite its hilarious lyrics, I'm not too impressed with "What Is Soul?" - it's "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" all over again, with Eddie struggling to find a good lick and coming up short in the process and the electric organ taking up way too much space and making way too many annoying noises. Still, the lyrics are really funny. I can definitely give this embryonic version of the group credit for being original, but that doesn't mean I'll want to actually listen to this album ever again. Things would get much better for the acid-rock version of the band.

Black rock & roll? yes!! Long before Living colour. And, long before it was cool to be funky. I drove my neighborhood crazy with this LP. THe neighbors were calling my mom at work, talking about me playing some kind of devil rock music. But it was cool, it was cool cause I knew how to groove. I was walking around Oaktown asking people what is soul, and if they could get to that, long before it was a matter of fact. All of these jams are good to the earhole and lay down the rules for black rock and roll. Not the anglo-saxon's version of what black rock and roll should be. No offense Chuck Berry, or that other guy who will remain nameless in this review.

This is the ground breaking snit, of what was to be comming around the mountain when she comes. If you can get to that!! You've got Tiki Fullwood on here, that should be enough for anyone familiar with the funk that's spychedelic (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose).
Funkadelic even had Michael Jackson talking about "I Bet Cha". yeah, he covered it, check your history, folks. I am funk-ologist. And funkadelic soul is the ring around my bath tub.

Funkadelic

Where Sly's Theres A Riot Goin On felt more like one long extended jam and it was a good thing, that doesn't work as well here. This feels like that because half the tracks on the album aren't even songs. Just compiled noises and instrumentation with George Clinton often speaking over the music.

This must be said though, for a debut album, and for 1970, this is still the Funkiest thing around, and the problem with the album really lies within Clinton. His musical vision was not yet fully realized unto a few albums later. That isn't to say that the album is terrible, it isn't in fact much of it is decent and as for the players it is amazing.

Eddie Hazel who in my book is the most underrated, and forgotten guitarist in the world. He dominates Funkadelics self-titled debut album just as much as he did Maggot Brain and Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On. His playing was always tasteful has heard on 'Good Old Music' and nasty when need be like on 'Music For My Mother.' The man was a God with a six string and he is really the only thing that saves Funkadelics debut.

If your interested it is worth checking out but be warned it feels like the demos and outtakes for Jimi Hendrixs Electric Ladyland.

man the story of funkadelic begins here be warned those who here this will never be the same again george clinton opens up the album saying if you will suck my soul i will lick your funky emotions then the music kicks in with the best funk-soul-psychedelic rock jimi hendrix never recorded clinton lets you know he is not of this world and funkadelic is here to funk the planet good jam the beat is hard and punishing weird man very weird. next song is I bet you a remake of an earlier parliaments tune the singing was done by the 5 parliaments plus eddie hazel and pat lewis boy eddie hazel does some strange guitar licks giving hendrix a run in that department. music for my mother was hellafunky hern sparkman is way down south in mississisippi in the woods this was recorded in 69-70 but the blues beat in the background played by eddie hazel, and billy bass nelson sounds like it was done in 1930 funkaDELIC WAS WORKING WITH SOME REALLY OLD school vibes here the wo ha hey chants are infectious. I got a thing you got a thing is heavy influenced by sly and the family stone the riff played by ray monnette is the funkiest guitar riff hendrix never recorded this song is about getting high the ultimate party jam. good old music is another parliaments remake the original was motown psychedelic soul this version outdoes it the drums are louder tiki fulwood is smiling from the grave the drum paTTERN IS THE MOST SAMPLED IN RAP MUSIC NEXT TO James brown's funky drummer the guitars are loud props to eddie hazel, and tawl ross and billy bass goes stupid on the bassline at the end he hoes into ball of confusion by the temptations who was copying these mugs heavily round this time but the temps being on motown was gonna get more exposure. qualify to satisfy is another funkpsychedelic blues tune calvin simon tries to convince a girl to sleep with him saying he's better than her man the lyrics are'mt much but the funkadelics make up for it the beat gets crazieer as the song progress eddie hazel gets more out there til he goes to the next solar system at the end it was like he met the crossroads, hendrix and said I'll be back next millenium I'm, going back to earth now crazy stuff man the last song what is soul has george clinton once again explaining his mission tiki'as drums are loud and eddie and billy's playing are on the 1. can't shake it loose is an old jam in the motown fashion the supremes covered this this one has george, calvin simon and eddie hazel singing lead cool jam, as good as i can feel is instrumental the funkadelics was the hottest funk band love it, open our eyes is the stramgest gopspel song I ever heard eddie hazel sings lead over an haunting piana man sounds like an gospel performance from 1870 scary man what's weirder is that hazel does a guitar solo at the end and gets all jimi hendrix with it clearly funkadelic was the best funk band that graced mother earth please cop this and all p funk recordings if p funk is your cup of tea.

This one of my favorite funkadelic records.RENASTERED !!!! That one word sold me "for the second time" !!Buy it today!!!!