Life

Sly & The Family Stone | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 18, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002ARX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,309 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dynamite!

2. Chicken

3. Plastic Jim

4. Fun

5. Into My Own Thing

6. Harmony

7. Life

8. Love City

9. I'm an Animal

10. M'Lady

11. Jane Is a Groupee

12. Only One Way Out of This Mess [#][*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sly at his brilliant best; editorial review in error, November 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Life (Audio CD)

First, let me say that this recording is non-stop fun and brilliance. Life is Sly at his best. It's one of his most consistent releases and my personal favorite. Now, on to setting the "record" straight. Amazon's mis-informed editorial reviewer erroneously puts Life's release BEFORE The Family Stone's breakthrough album, Dance To The Music. Anyone experiencing the original vinyl issues of Sly's discography as they happened remembers the chronology: A Whole New Thing (1967); Dance to the Music (Spring/Summer 1968); Life (Fall/Winter 1968). The title track from DTTM hit the singles charts in Summer 1968. Life was the superior sounding follow-up LP that offered funk rock and pop at its finest (M'Lady, Into My Own Thing, Fun, I'm An Animal, etc.). Jane Is A Groupee is arguably one of the most explosive cuts that Sly ever tracked. Life's title song was released as the first single from the record, but failed to follow DTTM up the charts. The group would later return with hit singles like Everyday People, Hot Fun In The Summertime, Everybody Is A Star and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A funk/rock/psychedelic/soul meltdown!, July 5, 2001

By 

Christian M Williams (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life (Audio CD)

Sly is and was a genius, no doubt, with exuberance and groove to spare on every track of this album. Even the filler material ("Chicken," "Dynamite") is catchy with some interesting production touches, and the better songs that didn't make his Greatest Hits collection are awesome.

You may recognize that "Into My Own Thing" has a distinctive horn/organ/bass/drum riff - heard today as the predominant sample from the current Fatboy Slim song (the one with Christopher Walken dancing).

If you love the alternating lead vocals, fuzz bass, punchy drums and brilliant arrangements of Sly's better known material, it will only take a few listens before these songs are as classic to you as his best. I really like "Harmony" (despite the cheesy intro) and "Jane Is A Groupee" (killer production).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By far the most underrated Sly and the Family Stone album, October 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Life (Audio CD)

This album will lighten your day and "put a smile on your face..." When I play this album I just press shuffle on my CD player and turn up the volume. Freddie Stone is at his loudest with his guitar, ranging from psychedelic(Dynamite) to blues(Plastic Jim) to strait up funk(M'lady). Turn the bass all the way up to hear Larry just groove.S&TFS are the most underrated band in the world and this is their most underrated album. Man, all this talk about this album, I think I'm gonna go give it a listen right now!