Customer Reviews

Up for the Down Stroke

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best and most creative and musically stimulating albums in existence. If you're looking for something to move you, to make you think, and to make you feel music completely differently, YOU NEED PARLIAMENT. All I can say is try it, and if it isn't for you, YOU AREN'T READY YET!!

Up For the Down Stroke was the first album of the re-worked Parliament. It layed the foundation for some of the weirder and funkier things to come. It has some classic songs, but some are rather dull.

The title track is a catchy tune that is great to hear live. The horns add great depth to the repetitive chants. This is probably one of the most funky songs on the album, and it is obvious that later albums spawned from this sound.

Testify is a rework of The Parliament's first single "I Just Wanna Testify". It has been redone and now it is a classic masterpiece. The singing is superb and the subtle horns in the background add a lot to it. It is a lot of fun to sing along to - but it isn't that great for dancing.

The Goose is a 9 minute long epic song. It is a love song with a slower beat, but not quite R&B. The singing is pretty layed back but still brilliant. It has one of the most memorable lyrics "I'm as happy as a monkey with a peanut machine" - I love that line. It does, however, stretch on too long - some of the instrumental and shouts could have been left out.

"I Can Move You If You Let Me" is a short, light, and very funky and catchy tune. It sounds almost remisent of Bootsy's sound - it is a highlight of the album.

"I Just Got Back" is just plain amazing song. Many people get turned off of it because of the oddness of the whistling. It is just singing with brilliant wistleing. It is one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard. I overlook the rest of the CD often because I love this song so much. I swear I am in a state of absolute peace and euphoria everytime I listen to it. You have never heard George Clinton sound so good. You must hear it.

"All Your Goodies Are Gone" is a slow song, but it has very good singing. It is similar in sound to "The Goose", but I like this better than The Goose.

"Whatever Makes You Feel Good" is a very dull song. It is slow like some of the others, and the soul sound to it is way too overpowering. It sounds very unfunky.

"Presence Of A Brain" is a great sound that is very close in sound to Eddie Hazel's brilliant works on Funkadelic's albums. The singing is great, and the keyboarding, bass, and guitar, is all superb. Another highlight.

All in all, Up For The Down Stroke is a must buy for Parliament fans. If you are just starting your P-Funk collection, I don't recomend starting with this one, unless you are coming from an R&B background. If you are familiar with P-Funk, don't pass this one up just because it is their first album - I think you will all love it.

This is the second comming of parliament as I knew it, and boys and girls it's funky.Get this cd and start with the original version then go directly to the Alternative version then start the whole thang over again. It's worth it!! You know the band was getting to roll. I love this disc. It sets the tone for the mothership and everything that would follow. if this isn't in your archives your just to finicky for the funk. It wasn't meant to be perfect like a showroom car. It's just good to your earhole. Dance around the house or kick back on it. A little side note... My favorite track is "All your Goodies are Gone" people that really know the funk,know it as the "Loser seat". Am I telling my age? yeah and who cares. Enjoy the Original funk/Rap/Dance crazy band. Yeah, I said it, "The first Rap band". Not Run D.M.C. Sorry!!!

First off, I'd like to say this: The single mix of "Testify" is MUCH better than the album cut. For one, they made a good call by repeating the opening riff an extra couple bars, because I could just listen to that riff all day. For another, the single mix has some great ensemble, Sly Stone-like vocals that the album take is sadly missing. Those vocals really make the song - the album mix is still a good track (it's still "Testify", after all), but the single version is superior in every way.
Getting on with it, Parliament's major-label debut is an okay album, but nothing at all like the heights they would hit on later discs. Like the next album, Chocolate City, there's no overriding concept here. The lyrics do mostly share a common theme, though - quick, just by looking at the titles, find me the common theme of "The Goose" ("that laid the golden egg"), "I Can Move You (If You Let Me)", "All Your Goodies Are Gone", and "Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good"! I think I know what you're thinking, and I'm pretty sure you're right. Out of those, "The Goose" really cooks (no pun intended), a nine-minute jazz-funk jam similar to the record's amazing hit title track, with sweet stop-start drumming during the bridge. For whatever reason, "The Goose" failed as a single. But it is just awesome. Seriously. "All Your Goodies are Gone" is second-best of those songs (and third-best overall). Its stoned, druggy atmosphere makes me think of Parliament's compatriots Funkadelic. I'm not too fond of either "I Can Move You" or "Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good" - the first is rather dull stereotypical R&B; the second seriously makes me think of arena-rock. And hey, whaddaya know, there are only two songs left! They're decent, but not brilliant - "I Just Got Back" is perfectly listenable but nonetheless pointless soft-rock (not kidding, it's really soft-rock from Parliament. Confused? So am I), and "Presence of a Brain" at least has some nice lyrics and nicer Latin piano going for it. Really, I'm not so sure what to say about this, but it can kick some butt when it feels like it.

I can remember Christmas 1974. This was on my wish list. My mother was appauled by the album cover and almost changed her mind because of the raunchy album cover. However I was so into this album. I loved the title cut, but the other songs got me as well. Testify is funky. The Goose (first single) was the song that got my attention. The background vocals are tight. It has a little "creepy" undertone to it. The hairs on my head was almost ready to stand when I heard the "ooh ahh yeah you're so sweet". "I Can Move You If You Let Me" sounds like "Up for the down stroke" a little. "I Just Got Back From The Fantasy Ahead Of Our TIme In The Four Lands Of Ellet"...well. He just got back sounds like he just got back from a acid trip. "All Your Goodies Are Gone" is a nother creepy like song. "What ever makes my baby" is one of my favorites because it' give the late Eddie Hazel a spotlight playing his guitar. "Presense of a brain"...i love to hear Garry Shider sing so it's a pretty good song. Now that I'm older, i have the cd and love it more than I did when I was 17. I still look at the cover and think of mom. "The Goose" & "All Your Goodies Are Gone" are remakes. The Parliaments did those songs in the 1960's. The horn arrangements on the album are supurb.

solid cd, the p-funk crew were experimenting something p-funk always did and the results paid off but george has yet to call the mothership, still every funkateer must have this to their collection, up for the down stroke has bootsy on the bass the chants, and beats is catchy, testify is a remake the cut that put parliament on the map back in 1967, the goose is strange some may not like this song, but the weird effects, guitar, and drum, plus george being himself makes it work-underrated, i just got back is strange it's okay sounds john denver at disneyland, all your goodies are gone has a nice piano vibe thank you bernie, the bassline kicks ass-plus the vocals,and the melodies fit the song- sounds like some ghetto shakespeare stuff a classic, whatever makes baby feel good is a slow blues tune which may bore you-but eddie hazel stops by and makes you bob your head (thank you mr.hazel for that hot solo), the last cut presence of a brain shows you how creative a mad band can get, eddie sings lead here the lyrics are scary and fits the vibe, then at the end gary, and calvin join in saying when god's children going to get together this song is scary but i love it, this cd is the bomb and parliament was just getting started.

There are a lot of reviews here that cover the particulars of this album's songs, the blow-you-away title track, and the Funk re-envisioning of Testify. This is the seed that launched Parliament as a Funk band and laid the basic groundwork for everything that was to come from Parliament up until ~1979. It is Funky, and you WILL dance, sucker.

I'd like to add that the version of this album with the extra alternate tracks (the 2003 remaster) has really excellent sound. I have some of these songs on other releases where the sound is a little muddy and noisy, and it's hard to pick any individual instruments or voices out of the din even if you're listening carefully. On this release though, the sound is big and clear, from the sizzling cymbals to the subwoofer-bumping kick. Good stuff.

For anyone accustomed to P-Funk in the context of albums such as Mothership Connection and so fourth this debut album under the name Parliament will doubtless raise a few eyebrows. One of the reasons for this is because in all honesty this album is a bit different for that. The main factors that seperate Parliament from Funkadelic musically in the mid 70's were not only the use of horns but also a more commercially accessible sound,even down to the rhythm itself. In those terms this album is,soundwise represents Parliament at it's least commercial and in some ways at it's darkest. Even the title song and "I Can Move You If You Let Me",the most conventionally horn-fueled funky of the songs on this album have a walloping rhythm and a scratchy clavinet sound on them that differentiate themselves from the other Parliament releases by and large. This album also features two remakes of songs originally recorded by The Parliaments,Clinton's old band from which he culled the name of this one. The remake of "Testify",a song whose original version had a pronounced Motown flavor is given the Sly Stone treatment here-complete with traded off vocals,darting keyboards and horn charts. "All Your Goodies Are Gone" gets the most psychedelic funk treatment of all the songs here. A slow,piano based arrangement features a smokey,high pitched lead vocal that's likely from Clinton himself but sounds rather like a female singer at times. The same type of slower burning funk shows up on the extended "The Goose" which showcases some wonderfully deep vocal harmonies. This album personally confused me at first due to the presense of three songs I usually would never associate with Parliaments sound. "I Just Got Back" is more of a 70's soft folk/rock number of a type you might've only heard on the first Parliament album Osmium or...on a Seals & Croft album or something. And the interesting part is it's not mere satire;it's Clinton genuinely looking to keep his sound open and expansive. Same goes for the stomping urban blues of "Whatever Makes You Feel Good Baby" and the more jazzy-funk styled closer "Presense Of A Brain". Considering this is only the second album recorded under the Parliament name it's not surprising it still represented a somewhat more experimental side of P-Funk at this point,even if it's the Parliament debut on Cassablanca. And while it may not yet be as conceptually involved as the direction Parliament would take in the immediate future this is an impressive and diverse label debut.

I waited forever and a day for this album to arrive and it was a pleasant surprise, and WORTH the wait! " I Can Move You" is probably my favorite song on this album. Eddie Hazel's guitar can really 'move' a gal!!! The pleasant surprise was learning that Clinton wrote that great song, "Testify", remembered that song from elementary school as a oldie but goodie!!! If you want to listen to classic Parliament before the drugs and insanity took over, this is one of the best albums!

Up For The Down Stroke is Parliament's second album. It has some really great moments. The title track remains as one of Parliaments all time classics and one of their best songs. The album is worth buying just for that song. The revamped version of Testify is just as good as the original, but a whole lot funkier. It is another standout. This album has some other great moments, such as Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good and Presence Of A Brain. The rest of the album, however, just isn't as good. The songs are all good, but their just not that funky. They are more like soul or R&B songs, and they are good, but Parliament's strongpoint is their funk. Although they did pull off a great soul song on Funkentelechy with Wizards Of Finance. This album is still really good, but don't expect the level of funk as their future albums.