Customer Reviews

Street Songs (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

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Anyone, I mean, anyone considering themselves a TRUE Funkateer should run (not walk) and purchase this disc!!

Why? Beacuse the sound quality has been upgraded to "short of spectacular". Additionally, it contains many hit songs such as 'Give it to me Baby" (try to resist replying "give me a Bud"); "Super Freak" and, of course, the SLOW JAM classic, long version of "Fire & Desire" with Teena Marie (Lady T).

The other reason to buy this disc (actually the MAIN reason) is to listen to one of the BEST live shows I've heard in a while! Motown should be ashamed for sitting on this for 20 years!! Rick & the Stone City Band are hot to the core on classics like "Love Gun" and "Mary Jane" (the audience was really into this song). Lady T also "turns it out" with 'Sucka for Love" and "Square Biz". And, our good Motown friends captured it all in pristine condition! Go figure....

But, I don't want to talk to you anymore about it....Go out & buy it!! Now!!

Rick James is more remembered for his drug and criminal problems but in his hey day, he produced some superior funk music. Street Songs ranks with any funk album and Mr. James has never been better. The album features the ubiquitous "Super Freak" which has taken on a life of its own. Despite the overplay of it, the song has a vicious bass line and is a master groove. There are other superb cuts on the album like the sultry "Give It To Me Baby", the open come on of "Make Love To Me", the smoldering "Fire & Desire" and "Call Me". The album isn't all about parties as he speaks of inner city troubles in "Ghetto Love" that is set over a sweet groove, the scathing indictment of police indifference in "Mr. Policeman" and the drug scene in "Below The Funk (Pass The J)". The remastered version contains great 12" mixes of "super Freak" and "Give It To Me Baby" as well as a second disk with blazing live performances.

The good folks at Universal have given another classic album the red carpet treatment. Rick James' fifth(and best)album "Street Songs" is the one that best represents the man and his music. Known for the classic singles "Give It To Me Baby" and the ever ubiquitious "Super Freak", this album has great album tracks such as the reggae tinged "Mr. Policeman", the autobiographical "Ghetto Life", and the quiet storm staple "Fire And Desire" with Teena Marie. Some great extras come with this deluxe edition including the rare 12" versions of "Give It To Me Baby","Super Freak", and their instrumental B-sides. The final slam dunk to this package is an unreleased live concert recorded just a couple of months after this album's release. The live versions are great. It's surprising that this sat on a shelf for 20 years! All of Rick's hit's up until that point are included, and there are even two cuts by Teena Marie("I'm A Sucker For Your Love" and "Square Biz"). The booklet and digipak have some cool previously unseen photos including some from the original album cover photo shoot. Sonically this reissue is light years better than the poorly mastered original CD. One of the best R&B albums of the decade and another first rate deluxe edition.

Rick James is one of the Most Underrated Genius's to Me.The Man took the Funk to a whole different Level He has No Limits.not only do we get the Original Classic but also a Slamming Live set that is Banging.Teena Marie is tough on Here.The Stone City Band Give up The Funk&Never Let up.the Essay is Slamming as well.Rick James is still SUPERBAD!!His Albums Come&Get It,Bustin Out,THrowin Down should all get the same treatment as this.glad to see a Live Rick James set it was Long Overdue.

When I looked at the track listing for "Street Songs" I thought maybe it was a Re-issue greatest hits compilation with the same name as his earlier album then I realized that this was the same "Street Songs" only with two bonus tracks. Artists today are lucky to have one or two hits on an album, but this album is packed with hits. The first song "Give It ToMe Baby," sounds great remastered. The second song "Ghetto Life," man Rick really signs from the heart when he says "Ain't no need to hurry," basically saying their is no need to rush in the ghetto because everything will be there tommorrow. "Ghetto Life" also gained new fans as it was featured on the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto Vice City. This album also includes "Superfreak," a song that is over 20 years old that still bumps and sounds great and makes you want to get up and dance. "Street Songs" also includes the Teena Marie duet and classic song "Fire and Desire." This is a GREAT CD. The bonus tracks are 12 inch mixes of "Give It To Me Baby" and "Superfreak."

My deepest condolences to Rick James' family and friends. May he rest eternally in peace. The man is gone, but not his memory and music. It will continue to shine on...He was a brilliant musical creator who could not be creatively confined, controlled, or contained no matter what corporate labels would tell him or want him to do. He did his own thing and he did it his way and every production reflected that! That my friends was an artist.

Street Songs was more than a milestone in James' career;It was a revelation to his fans as well as new fans, critics, and skeptics.I was eleven years old when my cousins would play this album on the weekends or at parties.It instantly became an all-time favorite of mine in James' output.It's an essential classic for anyone to own who's taste in music is as expansive as the universe itself and knows no boundaries (eclecticism?).From the dance-funk driven riffs and hooks of Give It To Me Baby to the frenetic and soulful punk/new wave funk gem of a jam Super Freak and everything else in between, Street Songs made a lasting impression on me and has never left my album collection.James was truly a master at his craft and his sound and style was unique and his own. Some critics say that his music was sometimes derivative.It was not derivative but moreso inspired by whomever his musical influences were as an artist. He turned all this into his own artistry with his own talent. Afterall, even the great masters of painting sometimes learned or were inspired by others; The end product was from their own originality, though. Street Songs was my first Rick James' album, and from there I collected several other titles over the years. I even explored the musical universe James had created with the Mary Janes Girls, Teena Marie, Process and the Doo Rags, Val Young, and any other protegees he helped or worked with and wrote material for. It has been a pleasure and an honor to know and enjoy his music and that of affiliated artists mentioned!To think my curiosity and seeking out these other artists' material was sparked by Street Songs...

The Temptations, the horns, the lyrics, the grand creativity and free spirit that Rick James put into this project was phenominal for Street Songs.There will never be another artist who can even come close to doing what Rick James did...and he did it the best !

Two albums that must be re-mastered or released on c.d.(with bonus tracks,alternates,outtakes) from Rick James' catalog are "Reflections" (1984) and "Glow" (1985)...By a wonderful miracle I came across one(and ONLY one used copy in the record store) of his vinyl album with a befitting title called Reflections on the day of his passing...
Those two (Glow and Reflections)sit right next to Street Songs in my musical library !

as writter,arranger,producer,instrumentalist,vocalist Rick blew up with the pre-cursor to so-called gangsta rap. his honesty in his voices about sex,police brutality,Mary jane,his roots and up bringing. and the music is dynamite from Fire&desire with Lady T,give it to me baby,super freak,ghetto life, etc.. soul-ful and a classic to this day. the punk funk king is in full-effect on this album. before snoop,Quik,slick Rick,early Ice cube 2pac, etc Rick James was front and center on the street tip.

With the release of 1981's "Street Songs", The king of Funk,the late, great Rick James was catapulted into superstardom, and now his memory is etched forever into the hearts and minds of millions of loyal followers. This is one of, if not THE best album of the 80s in the R&B/Pop genres, in addition to Prince's "Purple Rain". While people compare Rick James to Prince, and I am hooked on both, there is NO comparison, since each artist has his own unique ways of presentation. 23 years later, I still play this album, and it sounds as fresh and new as the first day I bought it. Possibly one of the best duets of all time, Rick and the lovely Ms. Teena Marie's "Fire and Desire" is reason enough alone to get this masterpiece. F&D is stunning, intoxicating and mezmerizing like no other duet. In the song "Ghetto Life". Rick tells it like it is, not based on fantasy, but his own personal reality. Despite the trials and tribulations that plagued his life, Rick is a legend, and always will be. Get this album while it is still readily available. Mr James may be physically gone, but he will always live in us through his music.

I LOVE PRINCE,, BUT DO NOT ,, DO NOT,, MAKE SUCH AN ABSURED COMMENT LIKE RICK WAS IN PRINCE'S SHADOWS. FOR THE PEOPLE WHOM RICK MADE HIS MUSIC FOR,, HE IS THE KING OF PUNK FUNK. YOU HAD TO HAVE REALLY BEEN THERE. FROM THE SUMMER OF 1978 TO 1984, RICK JAMES MUSIC OWNED THE HOOD NIGHT CLUBS AND DISCO'S. NOTHING GOT A PARTY JUMPING FASTER. I MET MY FUTURE WIFE SLOW DANCING AT RANDOM AT NTC SAN DIEGO TO FIRE AND DESIRE. RICK JAMES PUT DOWN THE FUNK. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE RICK JAMES AND LISTEN TO HIM 69 TIMES (INSIDE JOKE TO THOSE WHO REALLY LOVED HIS MUSIC) RICK JAMES WAS A WESTCOAST PHENONEMON. AND HIS MUSIC REPRESENTS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MORE THAN ANY OTHER ARTIST.

Rick James achieved multiplatinum status, unquestionable street cred and superstardom with this release and with good reason, "Street Songs" remains his most consistent, confident and entertaining LP. All the big hits are here from the punk-funk of the biggest hit "Superfreak" to the terrific, guitar driven "Ghetto Life" (one of his greatest vocal performances ever)to the indictment of crooked law enforcement "Mr. Policeman" and his classic, heated duet with Teena Marie "Fire & Desire"(and I literally mean "Fire", Lady T recorded her vocals while suffering from a 100-plus degree fever) every track here is essential. Slick Rick owned the early 80's with this album. "Street Songs" belongs in any good collection.