Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best collection yet, March 28, 2003
There are at least four things that make this far and away the best Sly & the Family Stone collection yet:
1) Unless you've hunted them down on various hard-to-find compilations, this is the first time you'll hear true stereo mixes of "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Thank You" and "Everybody Is A Star". (The improvement in sound is a small miracle)
2) Unless you happen to have a copy of the MasterSound gold CD version of 'Stand!', this is the first time you'll hear those tracks on CD like they were meant to be heard, with punchy and crystal clear sound. (Only the 13-minute "Sex Machine" jam is omitted from that great album.)
3) Unless you have the UK import version of 'There's A Riot Goin' On', this is the first time you'll have most of that album in proper sound.
4) Unless you bought the ... Japanese import, this is the first time you'll have anything from 'Small Talk' on CD.
Now let's hope all the original albums will be released in remastered form with plenty of bonus tracks! (In the meantime, don't buy any of those substandard old CDs)
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67 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm telling you- YOU NEED THIS!!!!, April 19, 2004
There is a war goin on out there, between the good the bad and the pabulum. You can hear the battles seeping out of tv's and blaring out car windows. The war is for the soul of America- every time some lil' anorexic gal buys a Britney album an elf dies of advanced encyphalititis... Not mice elf though... This is your best defense against empty-ass bland as hell, dead-people music. Thirty five tracks of remastered Sly and the Fam????? Damn brother, where do I sign??!! Yes, yes, yes- this lil collection is exactly as badass as they say. In a world a broken promises- this is one that will not let you down! Where do I start? The badass opener (Underdog) that builds on the little kid's tune, `Frere Jacques,' making a funky world out of it? Sing a Simple Song, Stand!, Everyday People, Everybody is a Star, Love City, Life, Somebody's Watching You (a favorite mellow track of mine), Are you Ready, Fun... And that's just the first CD. The price on this is reasonable considering the quality, all the more if you can find a reliable used seller.... Nice packaging, blah blah blah- get it for the tunes or just don't get it. These songs deserve to be played. ALL THIRTY-FREAKIN-FIVE OF THEM!!!!!!!! Minor key beef- the track selection... Too much of their poppiesr shizzah and not enough deep-fried frunked out kinky funk madness. Well, I wasn't polled when they put this together so I can't really complain there. I would have had more of their oddball material- the absence of "I'm Gonna Trip through Your heart," (sampled by LL for Momma said knock you out) rankles a tad. As does the lack of `Remember Who You Are,' from Back on the right track... Aww hell though, there's so much killer cream from the cookie cutters on this that nothing can diminish the 5 star rating. Here- your five stars, now run with it baby, go outside and play. I have to say- the sound is soooooooo much better than before. I was a bit surprised and I don't usually put much stock in in `remastering,' yeah whatever, I thought- NO! It's much improved. So, until they start revamping and reissuing all the old Sly and albums with bonus tracks and better sound quality- it's either this or looting your grand-daddy's record collection like I done did done it. Shhhhhhh! Hey if you want to dig on Sly in a different evirons/goin's ons... Check out Funkadelic's, `Electric Spanking of War Babies,' (ASIN: B000069CLA) where he gets down with brother Eddie Hazel and the savior- Dr. George Clinton, Esq!!!!!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Two Sides of Sly Stone, March 18, 2005
When I saw that the library had just received this double disc set, I held my hands together and whispered a Burnsesque "Excellent". I could already envision the sunny days in my car, jamming out to some of the happiest and empowering funk ever made, songs such as "Dance to the Music", "I Want to Take You Higher", "Stand!" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime".
Those were the types of songs that I had on my worn out and now scratched copy of Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits. But I found that The Essential Sly and the Family Stone is more complete, and with that, a collection of songs that tells a story that is at times sublime and tragic. Especially if you read Sly Stone's descent into drug addiction and isolation into the songs.
One surprise on this collection is the first song, "Underdog". I hear a young and scrappy Sly, taking on racism in the lyrics, but still learning the ropes as far as arranging the horn parts and producing. The chorus sounds like it's in a minor key, not fully resolved. Comparing it to the later songs, it seems to lack that classic Sly perfection. But it's still catchy and I love it.
Soon enough the hits start to roll across the speakers. The classic Sly sound develops right before your ears. Multiple voices carry the verses. Driving drums and bass carry a big time horn section. Once in a while there might be some nonsense vocal harmonies; my favorite part is the chicken clucking on "Everybody is a Star". The lyrics feature some wonderful word play. And of course, there's a lot of hope and togetherness. After all, the Family Stone was one of the first intergrated groups, with both black and white musicians. Most people describe this era as Sly's Happy Music Era.
Not that there aren't any hints of a darker side. "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" foretells a different and darker sound, with more confrontational themes and an electronic talk box.
I also have to wonder if Sly could prophesize his own decline when you hear lines like the one in "Everybody is a Star" which goes: Did you catch a falling star? /It won't stop until it hits the ground.
The second disc is like the night to the first disc's day. It starts off with "Family Affair", which frankly isn't the most uplifting song. The driving drums of the first side are replaced with plodding electronic drums. And there's only one backup singer. Sly's vocals sound like they've been sung on a beautifully over-driven microphone, as if he's whispering into a megaphone right behing the speaker. It's a creepy sound, but very cool. Every time I hear this song, I envision Sly sitting in the studio with all the curtains drawn, binging on whatever he's been binging on. Nobody can be around him. But he still has it together enough to come up with a cool groove. He lays down all the tracks by himself and calls in the backup to record the refrain in a one hour session. I also like to imagine that Sly is referring to himself in the lyrics when he sings about the two children: the one child who loves to learn, and the other you would just love to burn--like the two sides of Sly Stone himself.
The rest of the disc is more confrontational, and the sound starts to get a little off kilter, more processed and electronic, like a bad trip...like Funkadelic. That's not to say that it's a bad thing, in fact it's kind of cool sometimes.
To me, "If You Want Me Stay" has a bass line that is just like musical crack. I cannot get enough of it, and there's no chorus or changes...just the bass, some horns, organ, and the lyrics straight through. And then the lyrics seem to be written by someone who's locked themselves in their hidey-hole.
If you want me to stay
I'll be around today
To be available for you to see
I'm about to go there
Then you'll know
For me to stay here
I've got to be me
You'll never be in doubt
That's what it's all about
You can't take me for granted and smile
Count the days I'm gone
Forget reachin' me by phone
Cause I promise
I'll be gone for a while...
I start to feel bad for the guy; it's like he's saying goodbye. And then, of course, Sly dropped off the face of the planet, to join the mythic American music acropolis of rock and roll burn-outs.
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