Search - Funkadelic :: Hardcore Jollies

Weak Link

finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 10/20/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Funkadelic is often a great band, but I see this as one of their worst releases. Released just after the group had moved to Westbound, it was really the first weak album to come out of the P-Funk canon (okay, so I haven't heard Rhenium or America Eats Its Young). There is occasionally some great stuff from Eddie, like on Comin' 'Round the Mountain and the title song, but none of that's Maggot Brain-level and neither of those tracks are exactly brilliant - even the sultry R&B love song Smokey wastes a minute on its spaced-out coda. I will grant that it's my second favorite song on the album, though, my favorite being the live Cosmic Slop. For whatever reason it is rather unpopular among fans, but I like it plenty. Magic Mike's ace guitar playing seriously reaches the emotional level of Maggot Brain, Machine Gun, or In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, the "Space... people... universal lovers" intro is awesome (and cannot be heard on the studio original!), and the bass line is clearer. But I'm not sure if it's better than the studio version or not: for one, the studio take had all these cool studio effects and that random string section and other stuff you can't exactly replicate live; for another, the mix is terrible, to the point where the bass overpowers the vocals. Which is too bad, because the lyrics (a brutally honest tale of a woman forced into prostitution to feed her family, if you don't know) are Clinton at his finest, and I love how he pitches it from a child's point of view, which means he doesn't have the chance to moralize about how either a) all prostitutes are going to Hell or b) desperate times call for desperate measures.

But Slop is by far my favorite - otherwise, this one comes up short. For one, Clinton makes a failed attempt to pull of the hilarious nonsense chant thing - something he had previously achieved on Parliament's Night of the Thumposarus Peoples. But the similar Adolescent Funk falls down dead. I've never been a fan of P-Funk ballads, and while it's amusing to hear that stupid "There's a place in France..." melody on You Scared the Lovin' Outta Me the first time, by the fourth I'm so irritated with the dirgelike atmosphere and pained vocals that it goes by unnoticed. If You Got Funk, You Got Style is an unimaginative call to dance; and Soul Mate has some very obnoxious vocals that ruin an otherwise not bad tune.

This is isn't really all that good. I love the live version of Slop; Comin' Round the Mountain, Smokey and the title song aren't too bad. But P-Funk has done far better: I'd recommend Parliament's Mothership Connection, Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome; Funkadelic's Free Your Mind..., Maggot Brain, Cosmic Slop, Standing on the Verge of Getting it On, Let's Take it to the Stage, One Nation Under a Groove and Uncle Jam; and Bootsy's Stretchin' Out in a Rubber Band; Ahh... the Name is Bootsy, Baby!, Bootsy? The Player of the Year and The One Giveth, the Count Taketh Away in this one's place. But it has its moments."

The High points are really worth it 3.5 stars

Mel Bridgman | Your Room | 12/23/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Hardcore Jollies" starts off with a classic-- "Comin Round The Mountain" is one of the all time best Funkadelic guitar jams and to me, it is the definitive Eddie Hazel moment. (before you argue, yes it is Eddie Hazel uncredited on that track no matter what you think) New kid (or should I say Kidd?) Mike Hampton gets a nice little guitar workout on the title track... There is a solid live version of "Cosmic Slop" which showcases both Hampton and Shider but suffers from poor mixing of the vocals which drop out at times... "You Scared the Lovin' out of me" is a classic track with shimmering Bernie Worrell synth, a phased and distorted guitar riff that quotes "The Streets of Cairo" (which spawned the "place in france, naked ladies dance" dirty nursery song) and a crazed Glen Goins screaming in a tone that is at once funny, incredibly skilled, exacerbated, soulful and a little bit unsettling. "Adolescent Funk" is a Worrell showcase with some nice moog soloing but it sort of meanders to nowhere. The rest of the tracks are listenable and not at all bad, they just aren't very memorable. Overall this is a good, solid record. I would give it 3.5 stars if I was allowed. A good album for fans, but probably not a good starting point for neophytes."