Customer Reviews

Gloryhallastoopid

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gloryhallastoopid is by far the most misunderstood P. Funk album. You have to understand that these guys were trying to keep on evolving musically and stick with the same theme that made them so successful. What you have is a decent album, but there is not enough musical meshing with a bunch of new members coming on around this time. Numerous side projects were also being constructed by George and the gang, and more time could've probably been put into this effort. With that said, it is still killer funk, and certainly better than most of the music put out around that time. Synthesizers are present on every track as less and less real bass is actually used. Bootsy is not on here as much as other albums and Bernie was all but gone. (Worrell did not co-write a single song here.) Once again, Junie Morrison is the main guy behind the keys. The lp starts off in fine fashion with a great intro and "Gloryhallastoopid" is a nice track to get us into the theme. "Party People" is good, but it suffers greatly from legnth and it strays from the theme. It tries too hard to duplicate Funkadelic's "Knee Deep," but doesn't hold a candle to it. "The Big Bang Theory" is a great synth-oriented instrumental song that seems to almost be asking to be sampled by rap artists. "The Freeze" is a creative track, but it too suffers from legnth. The best 2 songs here are "Theme From The Black Hole," and "Colour Me Funky." They are both extremely funky and show that P. Funk was still alive and well. "May We Bang You?" tires on you after a while, but is a decent track none the less and closes out the album nicely. Though Bootsy isn't on here that much, he would practically dominate TROMBIPULATION, which is the last record from Parliament. I strongly recommend that album along with the main P. Funk albums from 75-78.

Funk On!

A party in The Black Hole. The recognition of stoopidity as a postive force. Another Parliament album that often gets panned. The title track is as strong as anything they have ever released, and "Party People" sounds just like it really is in a black hole in deep space, with one of Garry Shider's most inspired vocal performances on vinyl. "Theme From the Black Hole", how else can you capture a boogie if you don't attack from the back. Along with "The Freeze", "Big Bang Theory", "Colour Me Funky" and "May We Bang You", one of the Funk Mob's funkiest efforts. Strange, though, I have heard George Clinton hisself kind of diss the record. Decide fer yourself.

Are these people crazy? This album is one of the greatest things you could listen to, its just Funky! Oh, I'm not sure but I think its "Hot plasma in the vein".

GLORYHALLASTOOPID doesn't funk with the best of the parliament albums but as one reviewer on a p-funk web site put it, its still funky compared to unfunk! The tracks just arent as good as those on previous albums, but they're still a lot of funky fun anyway. I think the album gets panned because of how it was produced. It seems as if George took great 4 to 5 minute funk tracks and expanded them to no end. For example, The Freeze and Party People are goods songs but they could benefit from some serious editing. Both songs drag on and on with no new developments just repetiton over and over again. Also, the repeated chants on these songs are just not up to par, (can we make you hot?), (we are those party people?), i don't think so. The keeper on this one is definitely Theme From the Black Hole, a Great dance track with good horn arrangements and drup (handclaps), a toast to the boogie indeed! Also Big Bang Theory is a good instrumental with great bass and horn arrangements. The title track is standard and Color Me Funky is also a great track with the latter having a great guitar performance, not to mention good lyrics (nothing has changed, even the bang remains the same). Not necessary but still worthwhile if you're a hardcore funkateer.

the last days of funk is prophecised here not a bad cd could have been stronger like trombipulation if george released some of the outtakes which popped up on the family series years later. not a bad cd though. gloryhallastoopid jams. but why the funk they put party people out. the big bang theory kicks [butt]. this track was made to be sampled truly underrated classic. the freeze is tight in the middle the mob goes off is that maceo. color me funky to me is a omen of the mothership going to crash. hearing that now makes me wish the funk was still here. theme of the black hole jams .the last song may we bang you sucks a lot. not a bad cd for tru funkateers only.

One of the greatest things about Parliament is that all their albums have a theme. George Clinton is a fantastic conceptual artist. But the problem with this album is that some of the songs don't even go near the theme (this album is 'set in outer space'). That is still just a insignificant detail, because musically everything is on the one. 'Pin The Tail On The Funky', 'Colour Me Funky' and 'Theme from the Black Hole' are the stand-out tunes for me. No really weak cuts on this album, but a bit disappointing compared to other Parliament records. But still worth buying if you believe in the Mothership. Cuz now is the time to testify!

As the later Parliament albums go I tend to favor the next years 'Trombipulation',mainly because of the slightly more focused quality of song as opposed to the endless P-Funk groove.
That is what made this crew and on 1979's 'Glorhallastoopid' (or pin the tail on the funky) the P-Funk mob (then still fully intact) manage to balance both great grooving AND great songwriting as they did on their classic albums in the middle of the decade.The title track begins with an undesipherable prologe and then gets right into a solid,if not immediately classic jam.THEN the real meat of the matter starts with the four on the floor beat of "Party People"-ten minutes of growling funky singing that abolishes the tunes potencial association with disco.On the other hand "The Big Bang Theory" is a 100% CLASSIC
Parliament instrumental-mainly for Bernie Worrell's bouncy,liquid
synthesizer solos."The Freeze (Sizzleman)" deeply funkifies the tempo to more of a crawl but is every bit a deserved classic (and contrary to popular misunderstanding has NOTHING to do with disco)while "Color Me Funky" Worrell's synth work is spikier then usual and adds another dimention to a very similar groove.
"Theme From The Black Hole" is a classic that is worthy of Parliament's classic album jams of yore and at under five minutes perhapes an easier distilation.The album ends with the more R&B-ish funk of "May We Bang You?",an unusually melodic and pop oriented song by George Clinton's standards!
'Glorhallastoopid' is constantly slammed and trashed by even the most reliable R&B and funk album review books (count on my word-I've read 'em all lol) for the main reason it's one of the few P-Funk albums that has any possible relation to the dreaded D-I-S-C-O sound of the period (on that:give it a rest people-would you rather have disco back or LA Reid/Babyface?)
AND for abandoning Parliament's classic jamming groove sound.And while I love all of their old albums and this in fact may not be an indispencable classic it still deserves ALOT more respect then it gets.Like 'Trombipulation' (see my review) this album actually WIPES THE FLOOR with many hard funk concoctions of the day (and that I may add was no easy task)and is a welcome addition to my P-Funk collection.And if truth be known I think those out there who are willing to give 'Gloryhallastoopid' a chance will feel the same way.

Very funky and creative album. The intensity never lets up. One of my favorite Parliament albums. The standout track is Colour Me Funky where all the main members (George, Junie, Bootsy, Bernie, Garry Shider, Michael Hampton) come together on one track. The last great Parliament album.

This album was a big step down from the previous Parliament LP, although it wasn't as bad as their next one (Trombipulation). The title cut was alright, your typical Parliament intro song with a George Clinton monologue. I liked it. Couldn't wait to hear the rest of the LP. Sad to say, the next song let me down....tremendously. I was at a P-Funk concert in NY right after Funkadelic's 'Uncle Jam Wants You' came out, and they were giving away copies of 'Party People' 45's. I wasn't able to get one at the time, and I couldn't wait for the Parliament LP to come out so I could hear what I missed. Needless to say, I didn't miss anything. The fact that Parliament would record a disco song really bothered me (I heard that they were under pressure from the record company to put out a disco song). Fortunately, they more than made up for it with 'The Big Bang Theory', in my opinion the best song on the album. 'The Freeze (Sizzaleenmean)' was kinda interesting. It had a James Brown feel to it. But it really didn't fit in on this LP. 'Colour Me Funky' was a good, mellow funk tune that would've worked better on the 'Uncle Jam Wants You' album. I'm probably the only person in the world who wasn't impressed with 'Theme From The Black Hole'. It just sounded corny to me, plus, I was beginning to get a little tired of Sir Nose. I wasn't wild about 'May We Bang You' at first, but after repeated listenings, I really like this song. Overall, the Mothership was starting to run out of gas.

Well, even though it's not as good as the earlier Parliament albums, Gloryhallastoopid is not one to be disregarded. Bernie Worrell really makes this album fun to listen to. This album begins with an almost unknowledgeable prologue that leads right into the title track "Gloryhallastoopid (Pin the Tale on the Funky)", a nice tune that introduces the audience to Wellington Wigout. Even though the next song, "Party People", is what the band self-claimed to be their "worst song ever", it's really not too bad considering it is nearly 10 minutes long and close to the one thing pure funk musicians live to loathe-DISCO. It actually has a nice beat to it. The next one's my personal favorite, "The Big Bang Theory", a synth-filled instrumental featuring the one and only Bernie Worrell; I always try to not dance to this but fail to do so. The next one is what I believe is the worst on this album-"The Freeze (Sizzaleenmean)", which is more repetitive than "Party People" and is less thrilling. But George Clinton bounces back in a great ballad in "Colour Me Funky", what I believe is really a Funkadelic song that is a continuation of "One Nation Under a Groove" and a prelude to the album "Uncle Jam Wants You" that would come in the same year (1979). It appears that Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk will emerge as this victor as he really "pins the tale on the funky" in the next tune "Theme From the Black Hole" where Starchild is unfortunately on the losing side with Sir Nose pestering him at the end. The album concludes with another great song in "May We Bang You?". This is an album I would recommend if you want to pursue a P-Funk collection like me.