Search - Sly & Family Stone :: There's a Riot Goin on

Regarding the infamous sound quality

James M. Harrison | Columbus, OH USA | 02/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This essential Sly & The Family Stone recording, as has been noted elsewhere, has muddy sound that defies the usual crisp remastering (in other words, this is as good as it gets.) The reason? Mr. Stewart invited a long series of wannabe-singers (all young and attractive) into the studio to add backing tracks, and from there to thank him for the opportunity. Once they were gone, he wiped their tracks. The result of running the master tapes (!) through the machines dozens (if not hundreds) of times is the dull sound quality evident even after remastering. AND YET! It is an indispensible slice of the early 70's popular culture, reflected even in the sound of progressive musical genius compromised by the usual vices."

Sly's Riot Goin' On...It Was the Drugs...Man...

mvconsults | San Francisco, CA | 08/18/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kapke74's 10/03 review here hit it on the head: Syl's "There's a Riot Goin' On" indeed has a relaxing, hypnotic, totally narcotic quality to it.



The heavy bass, slowed down drugged out jams...tempos and melodies...it's like being on drugs without taking them yourself. The musical freestylin' indulgence...just jammin' man...



A note about the sound. The import version indeed has a very good sound quality to it. It may not be "a 20-bit SuperAudio remaster," but one might attribute it to something much simpler:



Perhaps it's just a better Master Tape. My CD copy was Made in Germany and we all knew that the UK/Euro/Japan versions of vinyl pressings were always clearly superior to the US version, so why not the CD product? But back to the review...



The hits here were of course "Family Affair," "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" and "Runnin' Away"...pretty autobiographical stuff if you know Syl's story and can read (& snort) between the lines.



Sorry I just had to write that.



Still the genius prevails. Sly & the Family Stone's first foray into the dark side of the '70s...the post-Summer of Love/end-of-the-'60s hangover thang. Dig it."

Funky and soulful

Foxxy S.L. | 08/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is another Family Stone album that my dad burned for me I love the whole album. Luv n Haight has that funk sound to it as Sly sings "Feel so good inside myself don't wanna move feel so good inside myself don't need to move". Towards the end of the song back-up singers sing "Feel so good,wanna move (which is probably backed by Little Sister). Just Like A Baby has a slow beat to it and you can hear Sly go into a low deep voice. Poet is the song that has that funk beat to it and Sly sings on it about being a songwriter and Poet. Family Affair is another song with a slow beat but not really slow. And if you hear it don't think that that's Larry Graham singing it's really Sly singing along with sister Rosemary in a low deep voice. Afica Talks To You The Asphalt Jungle has a guitar line in it. At the end of the song they sing "Timber"!The song is about 8 minutes long. (You Caught Me) Smilin' isn't really a slow beat song but it's still nice. Time is another song that you just hear Sly sing on. Spaced Cowboy is like a laid back song where everybody sings in low voices and Sly yodels and someone makes a cowboy sound. On Runnin' Away you can hear the trumpet and Saxophone and at the end of a verse you hear them say "Ha,ha" or "Hee,hee". Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa is the slower longer version of Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). The song is about 7 minutes long. The whole album is great and trust my word go buy this album."