THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON FUNK!.................ANY QUESTIONS?
Patrick Frierson | 10/29/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Casual music fans see Funkadelic's music as nothing more than a sampling source for hip hop producers and artists. When you listen to their music they're a lot more than that. Funkadelic took the took the colorful appearance of Sly and the Family Stone to an extreme and served as a flipside to the clean cut images of a lot of soul and funk groups at the time. When artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfiled talked about the disenfranchisement of black society, they spoke from a second person perspective. If you listen their songs, you'll get the impression that Funkadelic is the disenfranchised- and they're speaking from a first person perspective about black society as they see it (for better, funny, and worse). Their wild costumes, disjointed production style and lyrics will make a good intellectual debate about the effects the Nixon era had on certain Blacks.
As for Motor City Madness, this is the best anthology of the groups best work from the early 70's. "Free you Mind" has one of the most ferocious guitar riffs in the history of rock- as well as one the best catch phrases ever in its title. The song spiral out of control in the end as the fast beat and bernie's keyboard solo creates this feel of someone trapped in the realms of their restricted minds and they're lookin to free their true selves. Brilliant. "America eats it Young" is a weepy and humorous slow piece about young single mothers having children out of wedlock. There's a lot of sobbing and teary sounding guitar work going on that paints a picture of single mothers out there doing it on their own with no support. Even if the the spoken word is non sympatheic and rather sexist, it does provide a sense of comic relief to the situation.
Tracks like "Red hot Mama" and "Be my Beach" has sex on their maggot brains. "Better by the Pound" presents a sense of optimistism. Then there's the dance tracks like Standing on the Verge...." and the funniest being "Undisco Kidd". The subject of this song is a presumably out of touch kid dancin with the girl that's more funky and hip. The song comes off as a subliminal insult to disco dancers but, the track is so funky and brillantly executed that it would sound as at home in a posh discotecque as it would in someone's basement.
I can on about this anthology and funkadelic in general. You gotta pick up this collection to belive. There are some exclusions such as "No head, No backstage Pass", "Good ol Music", "Alice in my Fantasies", "Stuff and Thangs", etc. For that reason you may be better off pickin up their whole catalog. Either way, if you're in the mood for a stoned jam, get up off a@# and jam to this."
It's called funkadelic music it will bklow your funky mind
Sherance Brothers | Jasper Ala | 03/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"yeah funkadelic to the extreme this group did not invent funk but took it to the extreme taking the concepts of sun ra, sly stone, james brown, andf jimi hendrix to the next solar system you wanna know where gangster rap, hip hop, techno, neosoul and evety other genre that came after the mothership started check out this group. you hear the best of funkadelic's all 8 albums on westbound rest in peace eddie haZEL HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE P WILL NOT be forgotten that man deserved to be ran ked around the best guitarists ever maggot brain is stuill freeing minds today, red hot mama and every song hazel did was frightening. bootsy collins is on here you wanna hear his best work check out bootsy's rubber band and the parliament struff on casablanca, bernie worrell man without him there would be no p funk that mug took keyboards to the 12th planet. michael hampton, gary shider, ray davis, the original parliaments with fuzzy haskins boy all this funk there is a whole universe of p out there this is the place to start. clinton told hendrix before his death that nhe was trying to catch up well he passed jimi and left sun ra somewhere along an asteroid belt the truest representation of ghetto life from a rock n roll point of view came from funkadelic. hendrix, prince, rick james, jesse johnson, was all good, funky and nasty but they was a little watered down you hwear funkadelic and believe me it's not whitwwashed tjias ain't clapton, kiss, aerosmith, or mick jagger you caN TEL THESE MUGS are from the part of town even the police won't go to."
Motor City Madness
Harry Brewer | S'port, La. | 10/16/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Ah, yes. Funkadelic who do it all here. They rocked, they funked, they rhythmed & a few other things too. Eddie Hazel is a forgotten legend on lead guitar ("Maggot Brain") & Bootsy Collins a well remembered bassist.
Actually, the first disc in this set was released in 2003. In 2006 Westbound added a second disc with new artwork for the cover. We get a wide range of styles in this 2 disc, 29 song compilation. There are only two songs here that got chart action & neither of the two were actually on the traditional Pop Singles chart. But Funkadelic was not about hits. There were about funk, partying &, in general, to use one of our more recent phrases: shock & awe. The two songs that actually charted were "A Joyful Process" which went to #38 on the Black Singles chart & "Get Off Your A** and Jam" which went to #14 on the Club Play chart.
Some of the better known songs included in this collection are: "Free Your Mind and Your A** Will Follow", "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On", "Funky Dollar Bill", "Cosmic Slop", "Loose Booty", "America Eats Its Young", "Maggot Brain" (a song to rival Jimi Hendrix), "Be My Beach" & "Music For My Mother" (which sounds eerily like the Doors).
This is a great collection of Funkadelic with George Clinton at the helm, sailing into waters that few groups dared to venture into. Get this and get your freak on, you freakazoids. Sure, there's some songs missing as always on any compilation. Solution; Get all their freaking music, you maggot brain. P.S., finally got to see George Clinton a few weeks ago, live. Don't miss him if you get a chance to see him!"
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1