Sly & the Family Stone - Greatest Hits [Epic]

Amazon.com
As the title would lead to you to believe, these are the greatest hits from a group that had a fair share of hits in the late '60s and early '70s. Too pop savvy to be merely a funk band, and too damn funky to be just a rock band, Sly and his multicultural crew made intelligent party music that crossed boundaries and became AM radio staples. Included in this collection are smashes like "Dance to the Music", "M'lady", "Sing A Simple Song", "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" and "Everybody is a Star". --Amy Linden

Sly & the Family Stone - Greatest Hits [Epic],Sly & Family Stone,Sony,Pop,Popular Music,Rock,Soul/R & B

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Average customer rating: Mostly the essential, at least A fine introduction to a great band. You may still need this even if you bought "the collection" Looks like you need this collection after all!!! Boom-laka-laka-laka! Boom-laka-laka-laka!

Essential Sly & Family Stone Sly & Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Box Sets at 30% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music R&B | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Very Best of War The Essential Isley Brothers Essential Earth Wind & Fire Kinks (The Ultimate Collection) James Brown - 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! ASIN: B00006NSH7 Release Date: 2003-03-11

Tracks:

1. Underdog
2. I Cannot Make It
3. Dance To The Music
4. Are You Ready?
5. Fun
6. M'Lady
7. Life
8. Love City
9. Stand!
10. Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
11. I Want To Take You Higher
12. Somebody's Watching You
13. Sing A Simple Song
14. Everyday People
15. You Can Make It If You Try
16. Hot Fun In The Summertime
17. Everybody Is A Star
18. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Tracks:

1. Family Affair
2. Luv N' Haight
3. Poet
4. (You Caught Me) Smilin'
5. Runnin' Away
6. Brave & Strong
7. Just Like A Baby
8. Thank You For Talkin' To Me, Africa
9. In Time
10. If You Want Me To Stay
11. Frisky
12. Skin I'm In
13. Babies Makin' Babies
14. If It Were Left Up To Me
15. Time For Livin'
16. Loose Booty
17. I Get High On You

Amazon.com

Long before Michael Jackson and Prince became superstars by fusing rhythmic soul with rock's sense of scale and ambition, a former Northern California deejay and producer named Sylvester Stewart took the vaunted musical utopianism of the '60s and forged it into the cross-cultural, ass-shaking, genre-bending groove monster that was Sly and the Family Stone. James Brown may have invented funk, but S&TFS masterfully tooled and supercharged it into mass-acceptance. No mere greatest hits collection--though they're all here in digitally remastered glory--this 35-track, double-disc anthology delves deeper into the handful of seminal albums the band produced before its leaders' long, troubling slide into drug abuse and oblivion. Given the chronological development, there's a sense here that Stewart/Stone's problems paralleled the increasingly militant and hard-edged stance his band took on albums like the uncompromising classics There's a Riot Going On and Family Affair. Propelled by Larry Graham's locomotive bass lines and accented by rousing horns, Sly and company swooped from the heights of 1969's hit-laden "Stand" towards a darker and more unsettling decade ahead. Few bands have soared higher--or fallen as far. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Mostly the essential, at least.......2007-07-12

All right, as of today (July 12, 2007), I have listened to SEVEN Sly & the Family Stone albums in the past 24 hours (A Whole New Thing; Dance to the Music; Life; Fresh; Small Talk; Back on the Right Track; Ain't But the One Way) - eight in the past week because I spun There's a Riot Goin' On recently too. What does this have to do with my review? Absolutely nothing. I like Sly and the FAmily Stone, that's all (okay, the last three albums on that list aren't all that good, but the first four are!)
So now, onto the review of the album itself. This is a good roundup, but there are two Sly Stone studio albums that must be heard before you get anything by him. They are (dat duh duh duh dat dat dat daaaah!) High on You and Heard You Missed Me, Now I'm Back. No, wait, those are the only two Sly & the Family Stone albums I've never heard. I'm REALLY talking about Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On. This album contains most of those, but they feature some songs you NEED to hear that you won't find on essential: the former's Sex Machine jam and the latter's Spaced Cowboy (very funny song!) and Africa Talks to You (The Asphalt Jungle).
So now, what do I think of Essential? I think it's a pretty good Sly overview with a few faults. First off, only one pick from A Whole New Thing? Okay, that's not Sly's best known album by any means, but it is unfairly overlooked. Yes, Underdog was a great selection, but I think a couple more songs are needed, in interest of fairness to that album (What Would I Do, for instance). Similarly, Dynamite! from Life (another unfairly overlooked album) would've been a nice selection, not like the title song, Fun and M'Lady don't belong here or anything. Let's see... Dance to the Music (the group's second album and breakthrough) is pretty uneven, but I Ain't Got No One is a good listen, and it wasn't on this album either. I won't bring up the tracks from Stand! and Riot, because you need both those albums anyway. Fresh is quite well represented - they got all the best songs from that one. Loose Booty and High on You are good late-period Sly. Time for Livin' is not, but it was a pretty substantial hit so it'll probably make it on most other Sly comps no matter what I say.
I think the one disc Greatest Hits is the ideal Sly primer myself, but if you can't find that, Essential has its moments too. You still need Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, though, no matter which one you buy. (Fresh, Life and A Whole New Thing are pretty good too, just not as good).

A fine introduction to a great band........2007-05-19

A superb overview of an essential musician who has been somewhat dismissed, "The Essential Sly and the Family Stone" presents a picture of just what this incredibly important band was all about. Formed by songwriter/producer/one-time DJ Sly Stone, the band was in many ways an extension of him and his vision, beginning as a pop/funk/soul outfit and quickly evolving into something altogether different, rewriting all the rules along the way. The early recordings have much more of a band feel, anchored by the incomporable rhythm section of Larry Graham and Gregg Errico. Both would leave the band as Sly Stone's vision seemed to become more exclusive and the band seemed to become a reflection of the darkness that was growing inside of him.

But enough hyperbole-- the music itself, presented in fine remastered sound, includes virtually all their singles for Epic and a number of album tracks, with particular emphasis on "Stand!" (seven cuts), "There's a Riot Goin' On" (eight) and "Fresh" (six). As I've often thought the three of these were far and away superior than everything else the band ever did, I'm alright with this. With the presentation chronological, you can hear the band rising from an older funk sound ("Underdog") to the commercial pop forced by the record label ("Dance to the Music") to eventually into a sunny sort of optimistic funk/soul ("Life"). Had the band stopped when they did find their own sound, they dismissal of them would make sense, but instead Stone's artistry became increasingly more dense, more personal, and more powerful. There are few records out there as direct and potent as "Stand!" and "There's a Riot Goin' On", the former perhaps the summation of the California dream ("Stand!", huge hit "Everyday People"), the latter being a reflection of its failure ("Luv N' Haight", "(You Caught Me) Smilin'"). Along with all this are many songs that have worked their way into collective consciousness-- the aformentioned "Everyday People", "Sing a Simple Song", "Everybody is a Star", "Hot Fun in the Summertime", "If You Want Me To Stay"... when I first started listening to Sly and the Family Stone only recently, I was shocked how much of this material I knew.

For fans, in the wake of the recent batch of remasters, this is somewhat undervalued with the band's first seven albums available in remastered sound. This does however include the two singles that were omitted from that remasters-- "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and double-A side "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody is a Star". There's also one track from Sly Stone solo record "High On You" ("I Get High on You"), which has not been reissued.

Sly and the Family Stone's place in music history is a bit undervalued, and I think this collection can go some way towards reconciling that. For the uninitiated, this is the place to start. Highly recommended.

You may still need this even if you bought "the collection".......2007-05-14

At first I bought "The anthology" (the single disc 20 track complilation), I wanted more so I bought Stand, There's a riot going on and Stand.

It wasn't until years later they came out with the "Essential Sly and the Family Stone". This is an excellent collection and feels more complete than "the anthology".

However, now the Collection (seven sly albums remastered and with bonus tracks) is out.

You would think that the Collection would have ALL the Sly tracks. BUT IT DOESN'T. Three singles (that were not on any albums and were singles only) are not in the collection, "Thank you" "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Everyone is a Star". As far as I know, these three tracks are only on compliations i.e. "Greatest Hits" "The Anthology" and "The Essential Sly and the Family Stone". The Essential is the only one that is remastered. (It usually makes little difference when they "remaster" tracks but the stereo versions of "Thank You" and "Hot Fun" do sound better).

If you need all the Sly tracks, you might need this for those three tracks. If you want a good compilation of some of sly's best tracks, well, this is the better of the three.
CORRECTION: The Sly and the Family Stone Collection seemed to have gone up to about 65 dollars (it was 55 the last time I checked which is about a week ago)

Looks like you need this collection after all!!!.......2007-04-13

Well, I bought this 2CD Essential collection of Sly & Fam when it came out...and I thought, while it was awesome, I'd wait to see if there is a boxset in the future, as 2CDs don't do Sly justice...

Turns out, "The Collection" did come out this week, so I picked it up...it consists of the first 7 Sly CDs in their entirety, in beautiful numbered digipacks with awesome booklets, plus 33 bonus tracks overall, and on the BestBuy version, a 2-track DVD!!! so I was VERY happy...until I saw 3 key singles were missing: "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Thank You For Lettin Me Be Mice Elf Again" and "Everybody Is A Star" (a cool live clip is on the DVD though)...turns out they weren't originally on ANY album, just released as singles and on that 1970 "Greatest Hits"...many bands like New Order have done this, even Elton John back in the 70s...release singles apart from their albums, as many of their albums are artistic statements, as are their singles, which never fit in the album format anyway.

Because of this, you need this "Essential" set in addition to the box...I wish I had known this back when this was first released...hey, better late than never, right!!!!

It's all good...

Boom-laka-laka-laka! Boom-laka-laka-laka! .......2007-02-08

I liked Sly back in the day when he was churnin' out hits like Krispy Kreme churns out doughnuts. Never purchased any of his vinyl records. I usually thought of the Woodstock performance whenever I saw the name Sly Stone.

Years later (read 2006) I developed a keen interest in Miles Davis and started collecting most of his stuff from 1955 - 1975. Every single CD from 1968 forward mentions the incredible influence that Sly Stone had on the music of Miles when you read the liner notes. I didn't really understand why someone who was a Julliard student, an incredible jazz player and a great band leader would take such an interest in a pop star who had little or no musical education. So, I set out to buy Sly and The Family Stone Greatest Hits. Then I saw this collection and picked it up instead. After listening to this, I do get it. The grooves are just so deep, they're infectious. It's hard not to want to get up and dance around. After a hard day at work, this is just the thing to pop in the car CD player. It's impossible to arrive home in a bad mood no matter how much the morons at work pissed you off that day. Great stuff! You get about 1/2 of Stand, All but one tune from Riot Going On, and most of Fresh. Then you get stuff from the earlier releases and the later stuff as Sly's star was starting to fade. But it's all great stuff!

If I have one criticism it's the overall packaging could have been better. A collection like this deserves a booklet with lots of pictures and more detailed notes. That's a pretty small complaint really. It's all about the music.

Well worth the price of admission. Have fun!

Average customer rating: Sly Stone's dark masterpiece. A Family Stone Affair

There's a Riot Goin' On Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Stand! Fresh Dance to the Music Life A Whole New Thing ASIN: B000MTFG1W Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Luv N' Haight
2. Just Like A Baby
3. Poet
4. Family Affair
5. Africa Talks To You ' The Asphalt Jungle'
6. There's A Riot Goin' On
7. Brave & Strong
8. (You Caught Me) Smilin'
9. Time
10. Spaced Cowboy
11. Runnin' Away
12. Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa
13. Runnin' Away
14. My Gorilla Is My Butler
15. Do You Know What?
16. That's Pretty Clean

Amazon.com

The hazy hints of dystopia from Sly and the Family Stone's fabulously successful 1969 hit album Stand! turned full-force on its follow-up, There's a Riot Goin' On. By 1971, Sly had his Hollywood mansion and legions of droppers-by laying down parts of Riot, many of them later overdubbed by Sly himself. The resulting album is entrancing, backed often by an austere, early drum machine and featuring dope-glazed vocals, paranoid shadows and, of course, a stewing funk groove. Horns are here, thinned out so they jab harder, and the keyboards gleam and shimmer and icily coat the beats, which sound in today's parlance simply lo-fi. And the beats, they've slowed menacingly, with voices dropping in, dropping out. Drugs were flowing freely by this point, complicating Sly's sound, inadvertently making an album that indelibly matches its maker's psyche-in-time. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Sly Stone's dark masterpiece........2007-05-16

Sly and the Family Stone's "Stand!" was an album of optimism and the brightness of '60s counterculture, but creeping just below the surface on that record was a darkness and claustrophobia-- an edge that separated "Stand!" from any of its predecessors or its peers. That darkness is the sound of "There's a Riot Goin' On", Sly Stone's bleak masterpiece, in its way the sound of civil unrest and, in my assessment, the greatest funk album ever recorded.

When I speak of claustrophobia, I mean it as a production vaue, and it's something evident throughout the record. There's a density to the record, even on the looser and less arranged pieces, that really sets the tone for the album. And while not all the album's songs have a message to match this claustrophobia, it does have a tendency to make even the optimistic material sound like you're trying to remember a dream after you've woken up. Take single "Family Affair"-- it's loose, based around a gentle pop vocal hook and is presented with a smooth baritone lead, but it sounds like "Stand!" dragged through the mud. It works out fantastically. All of this is accentuated by the tendency to move towards funk vamps for everything-- sometiems as much as seven minutes of the same riff feeds into this feeling of density.

But really, it's dark funk that dominates the record throughout-- wah wah guitars, dirty basslines, snapping horns, and Sly Stone vocalizing and singing all over the map, fierce and at times nearly out of control-- opener "Luv N' Haight" and Brave & Strong" are two fine examples of this. Along the way, he manages occasional moments of delicate beauty with a hint of melancholy that keeps the album from being a bit too bleak ("Poet", "(You Caught me) Smilin'") and closes things up with a recasting of "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" as a slice of slow funk that somehow manages to be as intriguing as the original.

This reissue remasters the record, appends a handful of bonus tracks (a single mix of "Runnin' Away" and three instrumentals leftover from the sessions) and includes a nice liner notes essay. The remastering alone makes this a worthwhile pickup, all the dark beauty of the record really comes forth and the feeling of the record is, if anything accentuated by it.

Truthfully, "There's a Riot Goin' On" may not be for everyone, it's a pretty dark record, but it's also the kind of thing that can really reinvent someone's opinion of Sly & the Family Stone (it certainly reinvented mine). It also serves nicely as a companion to "Stand!", they are very much opposite sides of the same music. I give a slight edge to "There's a Riot Goin' On" as Sly Stone's masterwork. This is essential listening.

A Family Stone Affair.......2007-04-18

For many many years after it's realese 'Theres A Riot Goin' On' has been considered Sly & The Family Stones best album.Well in the long and short,it's isn't.Sly never had a "best" album,he had a handfull of them.So this is the second of a three Sly "masterworks" that begun a year or so before with Stand! and ended a year or so after this with Fresh.One thing about a lot of the music here is that it emphasizes rather aimless grooves with Sly's chocked voice playing a more eccentric role;melody and song construction is not always the main priority.Does'nt mean that the shoppy wah wah's,organs and Sly's newfound Rhythm King drum machine don't draw you right into classic grooves such as "Luv N' Haight","Poet","Africa Talks To You","Time" and the mean "Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa" which quaotes from "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf",only drags much slower.Of course there really are some classic songs here-one being "Just Like A Baby".Musically it's almost nothing-spare spare spare but it has this quirky melody and a vocal so scorched it's as spare as the music.Then we all know "Family Affair" right?What a relevant hit-great beat,that wah wah and "bloods thicker then the mud,it's a family affair"-MY FAVORITE!!!!Just as wonderful are "Brave & Strong" and "(You Caught Me) Smilin'",three of the most melodic things here,next of course to "Runnin' Away" (the albums other hit) which is nothing but melody.And "Spaced Cowboy"-HILARIOUS,the funniest thing on the record,yodeling cowboyish funk that I am sure Sly did completely stoned but his sharp humor shined right through.The instrumental bonus cuts sound like vamps from the sessions that grew into this album,the sessions that (like the vamps) went nowhere.Okay I know;Larry Graham is credited as being on this but Sly played almost all the bass lines.About Sly's bass it's barely audible,a different style then Larry.But this really is a wonderful album,called a classic along with many others that often don't deserve the title.But "Riot" does so this is one of those musical feats worth wolfing down,no matter where you head is it.

Average customer rating: The pinnacle. EVERYBODY!!STAND!!STAND!!!!!STAND!!!!!!!!!!!

Stand! Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: There's a Riot Goin' On Fresh Dance to the Music Life A Whole New Thing ASIN: B000MZHVM8 Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Stand!
2. Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
3. I Want To Take You Higher
4. Somebody's Watching You
5. Sing A Simple Song
6. Everyday People
7. Sex Machine
8. You Can Make It If You Try
9. Stand!
10. I Want To Take You Higher
11. You Can Make It If You Try
12. Soul Clappin' II
13. My Brain (Zig-Zag)

Amazon.com

In 1967, Sly Stone was unabashed: his debut, A Whole New Thing, claimed high ground--it was new, big time. He knew it. By 1969, the newness was transformed, Sly was imploring listeners to Stand! and breaking new ground. The snarl of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" with its droning organ and wah-wah guitar had claws, it was unmistakable. And the full-on blast of harmonica, fuzz guitars, and horns that opens "I Want to Take You Higher" just cemented the claim: Music would unite and fight and kick and get you high. "Everyday People" almost seems an anomaly in this company, a breezy harmony vocal backing, simple piano framing, long horn lines, and a churchy chorus. It's the biggest hit from Stand!, a true pop gem. What you get with the rest of the album (and Sly's early catalog overall) is sui generis. "Sing a Simple Song" has scouring, wordless shouts, a heavy beat backed by multiple voices half-atop each other, horn riffs jetting across guitar riffs, and an abrupt, scrambling end. It's a tight and tough embrace, an open door. It's 1969. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

The pinnacle........2007-05-16

In 1969, Sly & the Family Stone finally found their voice with "Stand!". Continuing his fusion of nearly all sounds he could find while redefining what funk was, leader Sly Stone crafted an album with no less than 4 charting singles, topped off by #1 hit "Everyday People".

The album is dominated by something entirely new-- Stone has taken the band's funk sounds and injected some space, some openness into the music. Take the aformentioned "Everyday People"-- it's a funk song, there's no doubt, but it's got a breeziness to it that's somewhat indefinable (that and an irrestible chorus shouted passionately by the band with Sly on top). Likewise title track "Stand!" has this same openness, almost a California pop song to its verses, again with Stone's soulful vocal leading the way.

But there's something else on here as well, an almost claustrophobically dense sound that's beginning to emerge (and that would define the album's followup "There's a Riot Goin' On"). I think in some capacity it's evident everywhere, but it can most be heard in "Don't Call Me N*gger, Whitey" and the 12 minute jam "Sex Machine"-- a dark, bleak sound that doesn't lend itself to open structure but somehow maintains the same irresistability that the rest of the material has. On the former, Sly Stone sings the chorus with a venom over the dense funk dirge, the latter is wholly instrumental, but in roughly the same vein. Both also feature Sly Stone singing through a vocodor run through a wah-wah pedal to extraordinary effect. One thing about them that's definitely, even at their extended lengths (nearly 6 minutes and over 13 minutes respectively), both of them are incredibly intense and intriguing. Both also highly informed the future of music, be it Miles Davis' superb '70s records or pretty m uch the entire genres of soul, funk, r&b and hip hop.

Perhaps when the album does best is when it sits somewhere in between these-- "Somebody's Watching You" wiht its laid back groove and great dirty guitars ends up being one of the creepiest recordings on record and "I Want to Take You Higher" (a remake of "Higher" from a couple years ago) takes the claustrophobia and uses it to push ecstacy to new heights, proving to be downright overwhelming.

This reissue remasters the record and appends a handful of bonus tracks-- mostly single mixes and a couple unreleased recordings and includes detailed liner notes. Sonically, this improvement is fantastic-- the record is crisp and clear and presented as you'd like it to be. The only complaint I have is the choice to leave off singles "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and double A-side "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody is a Star". The three pieces were slated for a followup to "Stand!" that never materialized and ended up being stuck on a "Greatest Hits" record. While strictly speaking they don't belong either here or with this record's followup, it'd've been nice if they were included somewhere with this batch of remasters (for anyone looking, they can be found on "The Essential Sly & the Family Stone").

Bottom line on "Stand!" is that it's one of the great albums of it's era, and together with "There's a Riot Goin' On" forms the peak of Sly & the Family Stone. This is essential listening. Highly recommended.

EVERYBODY!!STAND!!STAND!!!!!STAND!!!!!!!!!!!.......2007-04-13

'Stand'is where Sly & The Family Stone's musical experiences onA Whole New Thing,Dance to the Music and Life gestated into something totally unique.Those albums found Sly waltzing over,under and around the funk;on 'Stand' he dives right into it.Of course most of us know the hits by heart-the title track,the punchy rock of "I Wanna Take Your Higher" and of course the immortal "Everyday People".In fact what is so important here is that this marks the moment Sly became a full flegded album artist because the peppy "Somebody's Watching You" is one of those classics-that-never-was-a-hit.As far as the funk goes there's huge handfuls of that in "Sing A Simple Song" and "You Can Make It If You Try" alone.Still neither of those are enough to keep the totally dangerous "Don't Call Me Nigger,Whitey" in check;it's message is right on time with it's us vs. them humor and NASTY fuzz bass.And as far as fuzz bass goes Larry Graham packs almost more into the instrumental "Sex Machine" then the song can handle,but of course it does in a FUNK OVERLOADED kind of way.If 'Stand' itself spoke to and about the cultural,racial and political issues in the world and in music in the late 60's then the MEAN instrumental bonus "My Brain (Zig Zag)",just showing the complete musical inspiration Sly and his band were during 1969-70.If truth be known that inspiration may have been his musical downfull soon to come.But while it lasted,it was amazing.'Stand' is not only a classic funk album and a classic Sly release but a milestone in all of music of the 20'th century.

Average customer rating: Must-have. So much great material, but not quite as complete as it could be. 4.5 stars: Could even be the box set of the year... Sorry, its not the full collection Great overview

The Collection Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Box Sets | Stores | Music R&B & Soul | Box Sets | Stores | Music Similar Items: Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition) Betty Davis Songs of Leonard Cohen They Say I'm Different Excitable Boy ASIN: B000N69PD4 Release Date: 2007-04-10

Tracks:

1. Small Talk
2. Say You Will
3. Mother Beautiful
4. Time for Livin'
5. Can't Strain My Brain
6. Loose Booty
7. Holdin' On
8. Wishful Thinkin'
9. Better Thee Than Me
10. Livin' While I'm Livin'
11. This Is Love
12. Crossword Puzzle [Early Version][*]
13. Time for Livin' [Alternate Version][*]
14. Loose Booty [Alternate Version][*]
15. Positive [*][Instrumental]

Tracks:

1. Luv N' Haight
2. Just Like a Baby
3. Poet
4. Family Affair
5. Africa Talks to You "The Asphalt Jungle"
6. There's a Riot Goin' On
7. Brave & Strong
8. (You Caught Me) Smilin'
9. Time
10. Spaced Cowboy
11. Runnin' Away
12. Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa
13. Runnin' Away [Single Version][*]
14. My Gorilla Is My Butler [#][*][Instrumental]
15. Do You Know What? [*][Instrumental]
16. That's Pretty Clean [#][*][Instrumental]

Tracks:

1. Stand!
2. Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
3. I Want to Take You Higher
4. Somebody's Watching You
5. Sing a Simple Song
6. Everday People
7. Sex Machine
8. You Can Make It If You Try
9. Stand! [Simple Version]
10. I Want to Take You Higher [Single Version]
11. You Can Make It If You Try [Unissued Single Version][#]
12. Soul Clappin' II [#]
13. My Brain (Zig-Zag) [#][Instrumental]

Tracks:

1. Underdog
2. If This Room Could Talk
3. Run, Run, Run
4. Turn Me Loose
5. Let Me Hear It from You
6. Advice
7. I Cannot Make It
8. Trip to Your Heart
9. I Hate to Love Her
10. Bad Risk
11. That Kind of Person
12. Dog
13. Underdog [Single Version][*]
14. Let Me Hear It from You [Single Version][*]
15. Only One Way out of This Mess [*]
16. What Would I Do [*]
17. You Better Help Yourself [#][*][Instrumental]

Tracks:

1. Dynamite!
2. Chicken
3. Plastic Tim
4. Fun
5. Into My Own Thing
6. Harmony
7. Life
8. Love City
9. I'm an Animal
10. M'Lady
11. Jane Is a Groupee
12. Dynamite! [Single Version][*]
13. Seven More Days [#][*]
14. Pressure [#][*]
15. Sorrow [#][*][Instrumental]

Tracks:

1. In Time
2. If You Want Me to Stay
3. Let Me Have It All
4. Frisky
5. Thankful N' Thoughtful
6. Skin I'm In
7. I Don't Know (Satisfcation)
8. Keep on Dancin'
9. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
10. If It Were Left Up to Me
11. Babies Makin' Babies
12. Let Me Have It All [Alternate Mix][#][*]
13. Frisky [Alternate Mix][#][*]
14. Skin I'm In [Alternate Mix][#][*]
15. Keep on Dancin' [Alternate Mix][#][*]
16. Babies Makin' Babies [Alternate Mix][#][*]

Tracks:

1. Dance to the Music
2. Higher
3. I Ain't Got Nobody (For Real)
4. Dance to the Medley: Music Is Alive/Dance In/Music Lover
5. Ride the Rhythm
6. Color Me True
7. Are You Ready
8. Don't Burn Baby
9. I'll Never Fall in Love Again
10. Dance to the Music [Single Version][*]
11. Higher [Unissued Single Version][#][*]
12. Soul Clappin' [*]
13. We Love All [#][*]
14. I Can't Turn You Loose [#][*]
15. Never Do Your Woman Wrong [#][*][Instrumental]

Amazon.com

First, a sigh of exasperated relief--exasperation because it's taken a needlessly long time to get Sly and the Family Stone's catalog remastered and properly reissued. From the band's 1967 debut, A Whole New Thing through their 1974 swan song, Small Talk, the shifting band indulged everything from the long horn lines, fast rhythms, and quickly unmistakable urgent delivery of "Turn Me Loose," with its rapid, jerking funk rhythms and quick, sharp horn blasts, to the chilled groove, string backing, and slinky guitar on "Say You Will."

In between there's an embarrassment of riches: The 1968 one-two punch of Dance to the Music's title track and "Higher" introduces a gleaming exuberance; everyone wants to get higher and dance, but slowly the tune titles and funky whimsy of tunes like "Chicken," "Love City," "Fun," and the sheer musical cheer of "Harmony," show that Sly's bridge from hard-hitting funk riffage to more rock, more pop got mixed up with significantly new commercial heights (and larger narcotic appetites) and, simultaneously, more instability and simmering fury. By 1969, Sly's newness was transformed, with Stand!'s "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" snarl and droning organ and wah-wah guitar aplenty. The full-on blast of harmonica, fuzz guitars, and horns that opens "I Want to Take You Higher" just cemented the claim: Music would unite and fight and kick and get you high. The mega-hit "Everyday People" almost seems an anomaly in this company, a breezy harmony vocal backing, simple piano framing, reaching horn lines, and a churchy chorus. It's the biggest hit here, a true pop gem. Then there's "Sing a Simple Song" and its scouring, wordless shouts, a heavy beat backed by multiple voices half-atop each other, horn riffs jetting across guitar riffs, and an abrupt, scrambling end. It's a tight and tough embrace, an open door. It's 1969.

Then a dystopian haze turns full-force for There's a Riot Goin' On. By 1971, Sly had his Hollywood mansion and legions of droppers-by laying down parts of Riot. The result is entrancing, backed often by an austere, early drum machine and featuring dope-glazed vocals, paranoid shadows and, of course, a stewing funk groove. Horns are here, thinned out so they jab harder, and the keyboards gleam and shimmer and icily coat the beats, which sound in today's parlance simply lo-fi. And the beats, they've slowed menacingly, with voices dropping in, dropping out. Drugs were flowing freely by this point, complicating Sly's sound, inadvertently making an album that matches its maker's psyche-in-time indelibly. Once 1973's Fresh emerges, the austere, haunted glaze happens beneath slow-stewing grooves, as on the seemingly frivolous "Frisky," where the drums and keys and horns are enmeshed tightly, showing barely any sonic separation. The great bassist Larry Graham had left the Family by now, replaced by Rusty Allen, whose bass pops up as framing, while the vocals go lean and languid, turning to moans and melismatic blurs as the groove stirs. "If You Want Me to Stay" is a highlight, and the album is deeply funky even while reaching across the divide toward pop (rather than the '60s albums bridges to psychedelic rock, which proved itself pragmatically limited for the more intensely rebellious public as the Vietnam War and Watergate sent long social shadows).

As for Small Talk, it's the least ambitious, most settled session. The sounds are gorgeous in the new remastered form, making a new case for Small as a worthy bookend on your Sly shelf. Yes, he burned brighter and hotter and more furiously. It's still the same nervy mix, dramatic and intense. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Must-have........2007-05-25

If you want to have a respectable music collection, certainly you already own this. If not, get it now before you embarrass yourself.

So much great material, but not quite as complete as it could be........2007-05-18

This boxed set makes progress towards rectifying the sad state of the Sly & the Family Stone catalog-- a band that's pretty much fallen off the radar, the enormous influence that Sly Stone and his musicians had on music can't be underestimated. From their peers coming out of San Francisco to the fusion movement that kicked off a few years after their first records (Miles Davis was a huge fan) to pretty much all funk, soul, r&b and hip-hop music since these records, Sly Stone laid out the blueprint for much of modern music.

"Collection" draws together the band's first seven albums, all remastered with bonus tracks, reprinting of the original liner notes and a new liner notes essay, with each CD packaged in a digipack and housed in a sturdy slipcase style box. There's nothing in here that's not on the individually reissued CDs that followed this release by a couple weeks, so if you're wanting all of these, price should be your gating factor as to whether or not to go with the box or the individual CDs (unless you really want the slipcase...). The remastering done here is top notch-- everything sounds crisp and clear and the depth of the music really gets a chance to shine. The bonus tracks by and large alternate versions, different mixes, a couple early recordings, and a seemingly endless array of instrumental pieces. Some of them are fantastic ("Fresh" seems to have the best), for the most part they're more interesting than essential.

The music itself... if you're not familiar, this is the blueprint. As I've started listening to Sly & the Family Stone only recently, I'm amazed how oddly familiar and yet how unique this material can be. Sly Stone was definitely the mastermind here, writing, producing and singing most the leads as well as contributing primarily on organ (among other instruments), with the first integrated band, featuring women in instrumental roles rather than simply as backing vocalists and both white and black musicians. Brother Freddie Stone (guitar and vocals), sister Rose Stone (keyboards and vocals), Cynthia Robinson (trumpet) and Jerry Martini (saxophones) and vocal group Little Sister (including Vet Stone) contribute throughout. Initially, the band had one of the best rhythm sections ever essembled in bassist/vocalist Larry Graham (inventer of the slap bass technique) and drummer Gregg Errico, both left over the years, the former replaced by Rustee Allen the latter by a series of drummers (Andy Newmark being the most significant).

The early records leveraged this great musicianship and these endless array of vocalists in an aggressive funk sound. Although a brief detour into a pop/dance funk driven by the record company would get in the way of the band's progress (sophomore effort "Dance to the Music"), Sly's songwriting and arranging quickly evovled into something with a real sense of timelessness-- his two masterworks, the positive funk of "Stand!" and the dark, claustrophobic "There's a Riot Goin' On" (and to a slightly lesser extent, its followup "Fresh", nearly as great). Along the way, there's an endless series of fantastic cuts-- "Underdog", the aformentioned "Dance to the Music", "I Want to Take You Higher", "Everyday People", "Just Like a Baby", "Family Affair", "(You Caught Me) Smilin'", "If You Want Me to Stay" (the song that turned me onto Sly...), the list goes on and on. There's so much great material here.

But curiously among all these riches, some of the best material was left out. Between "Stand!" and "There's a Riot Goin' On", Sly and the Family Stone released two superb singles-- "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and double A side "Thank You (Falettinme be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody is a Star" intended for an album that was eventually shelved and stuck on a "Greatest Hits" album. There's certainly room on the CDs to have fit these, they could have been tacked into the bonus material on either of the albums they were released between. Also left out of the set were the last two records Sly Stone did for Epic-- admittedly "High On You" was credited to Sly Stone and "Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back" was a Family Stone record in name only, I'd've liked to have had these anyway. While the contributions of a great band and great musicians can't ever be underestimated (I've often suspected Larry Graham's departure had something to do with the serious sound change between "Stand!" and "There's a Riot Goin' On", either that or Graham left because of the sound change), this was Sly Stone's show. Admittedly, it's the singles that I'm irritated about being missing and are the reason I'm dinging the rating a star (for anyone interested, they can be found on the remastered 2CD "The Essential Sly and the Family Stone").

Even with these weakness, this is a great set-- there's so much great music here that really needs to be heard. Highly recommended.

4.5 stars: Could even be the box set of the year..........2007-05-06

IF ONLY the head folks at Sony didn't take their sweet time in reissuing this legendary groundbreaking group's catalog! What you have here is a nicely-packaged collection of all their key INDIVIDUAL albums (save for their original greatest hits release which had those three excellent singles added to it; otherwise this would've been a runaway 5-star collection IMHO). All of them come digi-paked in their original album covers with newly written liner notes, outstanding sound restoration, and a slew of bonus tracks further documenting the tremendous musical growth of the band as well as their ever-lingering influence on today's music scene. Whether you're new to the group's music or not, this box set is about as indispensable as they come (especially since it's only available for a limited time; what's up with THAT!?!?!?). Besides, you'll end up saving far less than actually going out and buying the albums separately.

P.S. To those who may be wondering why Sly's 'High On You' album wasn't included in the mix, keep in mind that that was the first one credited solely to HIM rather than the group. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing it get the same treatment as well...

Sorry, its not the full collection.......2007-05-05

Unbelievable. Sony came close but they blundered again. Being a hardcore fan of this group for 40 years (yes, 40!), I can't call this a "collection". 3 KEY SONGS ARE MISSING!!

1. Hot Fun In The Summertime - MISSING!
2. Everybody Is A Star - MISSING
3. Thank You Fallentine Me Be Mice Elf Again - MISSING!

The missing songs are landmark songs in the history of R&B. Also the original 45 single mix of Everyday People is missing. How could Sony do this??! So all the fluff of unreleased tracks and alternate mixes can't excuse the key tracks missing. The Japan 8 CD version of this box set contains the missing tracks but do you wanna pay $200 for it??

Great overview.......2007-04-30

among Musicians that have truly made a Lasting impact Sly Stone is right there,but because he pretty much cooled off and other factors he isn't given the Proper due that his Musical Pioneering Hybrid of R&B,Pop,Gospel,Blues,Jazz and everything else in between that he helped create. sly and the Family Stone are on that same Bridge of Musical Trend-setters that broke Racial barriers and created Songs that are timeless. this collection captures the most important Music created by Sly Stone in it's full zenith. His Influence is felt decade upon decade. now i personally feel that this whole collection best captures his Importance. I wouldn't recommend anything else beyond this aside from the Live at the fillmore which is due soon. Sly Stone hit his Peak and Prime all at the same time. His Songwriting,Arranging and Production are still some of the most important standards in Music History. Funk Artists,rock,Pop,Rappers,Blues,Jazz,etc.... have all incorperated Sly Stone's Work and his work should be fully embraced. he is long overdue. the Band was Ground-Breaking and Sly Stone truly had his own Musical Bag.

Average customer rating: Completely satisfied, Excellent condition. Excellent soul album, but with poor sound!! Shipping Sly & The Family Stone- Greatest Hits (Best Of The Best) Sly At The Top Of His Game

Sly & the Family Stone - Greatest Hits [Epic] Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: The Best of War and More James Brown - 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! Earth Wind & Fire: Greatest Hits Pickin' Up the Pieces: The Best of Average White Band (1974-1980) Essential Sly & Family Stone ASIN: B0000024WQ Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

1. I Want To Take You Higher
2. Everybody Is A Star
3. Stand!
4. Life
5. Fun
6. You Can Make It If You Try
7. Dance To The Music
8. Everyday People
9. Hot Fun In The Summertime
10. M'Lady
11. Sing A Simple Song
12. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Amazon.com

As the title would lead to you to believe, these are the greatest hits from a group that had a fair share of hits in the late '60s and early '70s. Too pop savvy to be merely a funk band, and too damn funky to be just a rock band, Sly and his multicultural crew made intelligent party music that crossed boundaries and became AM radio staples. Included in this collection are smashes like "Dance to the Music", "M'lady", "Sing A Simple Song", "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" and "Everybody is a Star". --Amy Linden

Customer Reviews:

Completely satisfied, Excellent condition........2007-04-04

The title says it all.

Thanks,
Larry Tucker

Excellent soul album, but with poor sound!!.......2007-02-25

This album came out in 1970, and my mother had it on LP back then. I still have the LP copy that she had. It sounds great, even though the cover is marred with ring wear due to its age. Anyway, I have it on cassette also (which my uncle had), and I have the CD. It is a great album, but the sound quality of some of the songs is kind of poor. The second track on this album, Everybody is a Star, sounds kind of thin and dull, like it is in mono (same thing for the final track, Thank You.....). I am hoping to get the 2 CD Essential soon, which I heard that the sound quality of the songs on there is much better than the sound quality on this original Greatest Hits. I would have rated this album 5 stars, but one star was docked due to the poor sound quality on some of the songs (maybe that's why this title has been discontinued, but who knows?). I will still keep this title, but I will definitely go for the 2 CD Essential Sly and the Family Stone real soon!!

Shipping.......2007-01-30

The product was great; unfortunately, I ordered it in December 2006, with a promise of delivery around Jan. 9. The CD did not arrive until January 26th!!! I almost reordered it by that time. What happened here?!

Sly & The Family Stone- Greatest Hits (Best Of The Best).......2007-01-06

Don't pass up on this extreme valuable rarity!! If the track listing is correct for this 2-cd set, then what you are getting is the following- Disc One: The Greatest Hits. Disc one is no big deal but the last track on disc one goes with the songs on Disc Two: and they are called remixes. These "remixes" are all from a 1979 LP called "Ten Years Too Soon" and was way ahead of it's time. No one was putting out full length remix albums back then, hence the title Ten Years Too Soon, but technically these are just simply 1979 disco versions of their songs. But still.... these tracks are very rare and unless you can afford the $200 Japan import cd "Ten Years Too Soon", you better snatch this up right quick!

Sly At The Top Of His Game.......2006-07-26

If you're looking for a point of entry into the lava-lamp infested, funky nightclub world of Sly & the Family Stone, this Greatest Hits CD is your best bet - and it's a bargain. With the exception of Hendrix, Morrison, and Joplin - who died - and David Crosby - who isn't interesting enough to care about - Sly Stone shines out as the quintessential 60's cautionary tale, a man who inspired multitudes with his meteoric intensity and then self-destructed so completely that over the remaining decades he's remained a ghostly caricature of himself, struggling with mundane activities like remembering peoples' names - including his own.

Fortunately, this material is taken from the peak of his career, late 60's and early 70's. The music is exuberant, crackling with energy, and as funky as the law allows. S&TFS was a groundbreaking group in many ways, for starters they were interracial and mixed gender when this was virtually unknown. Their psychedelic blend of soul, R&B, rock, boom-chaka-laka-laka, and smart lyrics is irresistible and uniquely infectious. Sly had a genius for making complex compositions come out deceptively simple, danceable, and sing-in-the-shower-able. The CD is definitely incomplete, but the must-haves are there. (I've always had a sweet tooth for Hot Fun In The Summertime).

If you were not around when this music first appeared, what will strike you most is how influential it's been. Those who have not borrowed bits and pieces from Sly have stolen from him outright. Even so, few, if any of his imitators have been able to match his combination of wit, enthusiasm, and funkability. Buy this CD and put it on loud when there's nobody else around. If you're not dancing by the third or fourth song, you're Swiss.

Average customer rating:

Greatest Hits Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: There's a Riot Goin' On Planet Earth Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr Memory Almost Full Learning to Crawl ASIN: B000GG4XI8 Release Date: 2007-08-28

Tracks:

1. I Want To Take You Higher
2. Everybody Is A Star
3. Stand!
4. Life
5. Fun
6. You Can Make It If You Try
7. Dance To The Music
8. Everyday People
9. Hot Fun In The Summertime
10. M'Lady
11. Sing A Simple Song
12. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Average customer rating: LOVE IT!!! Crooklyn feeds the soul Pure rythmic soul

Crooklyn: Music From The Motion Picture (Volume 1) Buckshot and Masta Ace the Crooklyn Dodgers feat. Special Ed , The Staple Singers , Sly and the Family Stone , The Spinners , and Jean Knight Manufacturer: Fontana Mca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Salsa | Latin Music | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music 1990s | By Decade | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Similar Items: Crooklyn Dead Presidents: Music From The Motion Picture Dead Presidents: Music From The Motion Picture, Volume II Clockers (1995 Film) Music From Mo' Better Blues (1990 Film) ASIN: B000002OS4 Release Date: 1994-05-10

Tracks:

1. Crooklyn - The Crooklyn Dodgers
2. Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers
3. Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone
4. Pusher Man - Curtis Mayfield
5. Thin Line Between Love and Hate - The Persuaders
6. El Pito (I'll Never go Back to Georgia) - Joe Cuba
7. ABC - The Jackson 5
8. Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites
9. Mighty Love - The Spinners
10. Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight
11. Ooh, Child - The Five Stairseps
12. Pass The Peas - The JB's
13. Time Has Come Today - The Chambers Brothers
14. People Make The World Go Round - Marc Dorsey

Customer Reviews:

LOVE IT!!!.......2006-04-27

Such a terrific compilation of songs. Marc Dorsey's rendition of "People Make the World Go Round" gave me goosebumps! That's a good sign. A must have.

Crooklyn feeds the soul.......2005-06-12

This soudtrack means more to me than any other music compilation avaialable. Every song is carefully chosen to speak to the heart and mind of the listener and viewer of the Crooklyn film. It's a compilation of eclectic time-appropriate songs that portray the passion and atmosphere of the time period and culture it represents. The song "Oooh Child" has given me hope and encouragement through many of life's unexpected tragedies, and I appreciate every aspect of the music offered in this CD. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys a somewhat mellow yet passionate style of motown music. This CD is timeless.

Pure rythmic soul.......1999-02-17

Motown at its finest. A collaboration of songs that make you tap your feet and smile. From Ooh Child to ABC, Crooklyn will make you stand up and cheer (even if your driving). So pop in the CD, and stretch out your neck, because there's gonna be a whole lot of bopping to these Motown greats.

Average customer rating: Cool record Always Fresh! 4 1/2 stars-- cooled off. In Time Fresh Just Gets Fresher

Fresh Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Similar Items: There's a Riot Goin' On Stand! Dance to the Music Life A Whole New Thing ASIN: B000MTFG1M Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. In Time
2. If You Want Me To Stay
3. Let Me Have It All
4. Frisky
5. Thankful N' Thoughtful
6. Skin I'm In
7. I Don't Know (Satisfaction)
8. Keep On Dancin'
9. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
10. If It Were Left Up To Me
11. Babies Makin' Babies
12. Let Me Have It All
13. Frisky
14. Skin I'm In
15. Keep On Dancin'
16. Babies Makin' Babies

Customer Reviews:

Cool record.......2007-07-31

I'm a big fan of seventies music. Among the tremendous musical diversity born in that period was funk. This is one of its finest examples. Most importantly it's just great, original music made extra special through the remastering process.

Always Fresh!.......2007-07-22

One of the greatest funk recordings ever.The above review has it right: the 'alternate mixes' are in fact alternate takes. This is my third CD copy of it and it sounds the best of all by far. BTW My first CD copy is signed by the drummer Andy Newmark who I was lucky enough to do a recording session with a few years back.

4 1/2 stars-- cooled off........2007-05-17

After the dark, claustrophobic masterpiece of "There's a Riot Goin' On" and following the departure of bassist Larry Graham, Sly Stone turned his band's attention to a bit of a cooled off sound. This could have been in response to the demise of the powerful rhythm section of Graham and drummer Gregg Errico, who had left prior to 'Riot', but I think in some ways it was a response to the overwhelming nature of its predecessor-- "There's a Riot Goin' On" is an experience to listen to, making it must have been extraordinary.

This isn't to say that "Fresh" is light pop fare. On the contrary, it's a fantastic record, dark in its own way, but it's really quite a bit less intense then its predecessor. At its best, it finds a midtempo, loping sound over which Stone can wail out full of passion and the band can form a swirl around him, single and standout "If You Want Me To Stay" is a fine example of this-- the bassline provides a graceful drive, Stone is passionate in his lead vocal, and the horns cascade around him. By and large, the album sticks to this midtempo funk, driven by the basslines and at times angular guitars ("In Time") or swanky horns ("Skin I'm In"). Stone does develop a tendency to mumble and ramble here and there ("Frisky"), but by and large the great on this one manages to blindingly overshadow the bad and Stone proves stunningly inventive, even taking a schlock Doris Day pop song and making it into a fantastic soul/gospel number ("Que Sera Sera") and survives a remake of hit "Dance to the Music" as a chilled funk number ("Keep on Dancin'", which proves to be quite engaging).

This reissue has been remastered and adds a handful of alternate mixes as bonus tracks as well as including new liner notes. The bonus tracks here are interesting-- Sly Stone had tinkered substantially with the mix on "Fresh" before settling on its released version, although at some point in its early CD release history, alternate mixes for some of the record leaked out (and were quickly recalled by the label). Some of these are actually quite superior to the original mix, illustrating significantly more space and occasionally benefitting from a lack of overdubs-- "Let Me Have it All" is the best example of this, without the layers of vocal overdubs, Sly's vocal really shines. The remastering on this is equally top notch, the record sounds great throughout.

"Fresh" is always going to be thought of as the album that followed "There's a Riot Goin' On"-- it's not quite as good as its predecessor (or as "Stand!" before that), but truthfully this came at the end of a window where Sly Stone could do no wrong. "Fresh" is a fine record in its own right. Highly recommended.

In Time Fresh Just Gets Fresher.......2007-04-14

'Fresh' is a Sly album that is always in an awkward possition because it comes as the follow up to Stand! and
There's a Riot Goin' On ,both of which are considered classics.But trying to judge any Sly & The Family Stone did in the late 60's and early 70's is like trying to debate which chocolate you like best.If you love chocolate,you love it all.One thing 'Fresh' really helps you understand about Sly Stone is that he's a slick producer.Not in the sense of over doing it but how he takes,for example the first song "In Time" with it's gritty organ/guitar sound and get it all to sound smooth as melted caramel all at the same time.The best part about that song is the use of the rhythm box beat;unlike like drumming it gives the music a very exotic,modern feel and a lot of emotion rather then sound cold and artificial.Even more interesting to note is that "Let Me Have It All","Skin I'm In' and "Keep On Dancin",something of a reprise of "Dance To The Music" from six years earlier all share the same style-deep,brooding but funky and never at a slow crawl as the music on the previous album was.On the hit "If You Want Me To Stay" the absense of Larry Graham comes to the surface as newcomer Rusty Allen takes a more timid bassline but the song itself showcases an important theme;'Fresh' is an album about Sly letting go of the past and creating a new future;Sly tells us that if we "want to him stay" he'll be around but we should let him be himself in the meantime.The same theme extends into Sly's version of "Que Sera Sera",which takes the frothy meloncaughly of the Doris Day original into pure gospel/blues passion (plus primetime drama lovers will note it was featured in an episode of 'Judging Amy').The "old" Sly & The Family Stone is best represented on "If It Were Left Up To Me" with that perky horn style of "Everyday People" and,lyrically is matches up very well with the mildly claustraphobic funk of "Babies Makin' Babies",a flat out terrific funk tune that really does the impossible;it's funky and cool at the same time,two things that seldom go together.All five of the bonus cuts being alternate takes you get to see 'Fresh' in the trial and error stages with echo plexed vocals on "Frisky" and the music on "Babies Makin' Babies" kept even further in the backround.As for this CD the remaster of 'Fresh' is excellent,especially the stereo seperation which makes the album sound more genuine then even the first CD reissue.Plus the fact you get very good liner notes that actually enhance the listening experience rather then detract from it.So as an album (if you never heard it before this) 'Fresh' lives up to it's title by being an ear catching musical experience that will draw you right into it's grooves and melodies.And even if you've already heard it a million times this will make you love it all over again.

Average customer rating: 1 1/2 stars-- Record-company driven disaster. GET UP AND DANCE TO THE MUSIC!!!!!!!!!

Dance to the Music Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Stand! A Whole New Thing Life There's a Riot Goin' On Fresh ASIN: B000GG4XIS Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Dance To The Music
2. Higher
3. I Ain't Got Nobody (For Real)
4. Da5/16/06 nce To The Medley:; Music Is Alive\ Dance In\ Music Lover
5. Ride the Rhythm
6. Color Me True
7. Are You Ready
8. Don't Burn Baby
9. I'll Never Fall in Love Again
10. Dance To The Music (Single Version)
11. Higher (Single Version)
12. Soul Clappin'
13. We Love All
14. I Can't Turn You Loose
15. Never Do Your Woman Wrong (Instrumental)

Amazon.com

Sly's auspicious debut, A Whole New Thing begat Dance to the Music, and by 1968, things were popping for the Family Stone. The one-two punch of the title track and "Higher" introduces a gleaming exuberance; everyone wants to get higher and dance, so much so that the peripatetic, multiply vocaled and horn-drenched psych-funk of "Dance to the Medley" comes barely six minutes after the title track. "Ride the Rhythm" is a falsetto barn-burner, the wah-wahs creating melismas aplenty while the organ and horns and backing vocals riff crazy-like. "Color Me True" and "Are You Ready" slow to a more deliberate soul pacing, horns blaring and rhythms thumping. Sly was keen to cross over, to play for rock crowds, which he announces openly on the previously unreleased "Soul Clapping," where he calls out to "cats and kitties, hippies and squares." Three other unreleased cuts make this set a must-have document, even without Sly's brief re-emergence on the 2007 Grammy Awards. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

1 1/2 stars-- Record-company driven disaster........2007-05-15

After the relative commercial failure of their debut record "A Whole New Thing", Sly Stone was pressured by his record company to put out a pop single, and he turnd out a monster. "Dance to the Music" charted well, introduced by its shouted declaration ("get on up and dance to the music!"), vocal breaks, and great funky backbeat while the band introduces themselves to get going, it's about as strong a pop hook as anyone could hope for and a great song. But as great as it is, it ends up being pretty much the undoing of the album that shares its title. I don't know if Stone was afraid to stray from the formula the label wanted or if he was pressured to do so, but "Dance to the Music" (the album) ends up using the title track's chord progressions for half a dozen cuts, creating a pretty stunning lack of variance on the record. Making matters worse, some of the other material is so weak that you actually find yourself wishing it used the same chord progression as everything else.

I realize this is a pretty sharp criticism, but the record opens up with the great title track, it's hot and exciting and powerful. The second time I hear it ("Dance to the Medley", a 12 minute rewrite of "Dance to the Music"), I've had enough. When I get to hear it a third ("Ride the Rhythm") and fourth time ("Are You Ready"), I've pretty much had enough. It doesn't help that there's a bunch of subpar songs at the beginning of the record either ("Higher" is actually ok, but it'd get rewritten in a couple years as "I Want to Take you Higher", a much superior cut, "I Ain't Go Nobody" is bland funk). The real notable exception to all of this is "Don't Burn Baby"-- featuring a fantastic vocal from Sly Stone, a great, funky back beat, and an organ dominating the whole piece, this one is highly unique even in the catalog of Sly Stone.

This reissue remasters the album, appends several bonus tracks, and includes both the original liner notes and a new essay on the record. The sonic upgrade is very much worthwhile, the record sounds crisp and clean.

I'm sure it's pretty clear "Dance to the Music" isn't my favorite Sly & the Family Stone record-- the band would go on to a series of fantastic records starting with 1968's "Life". "Dance to the Music" is a single, not an album, this one is really for diehards only.

GET UP AND DANCE TO THE MUSIC!!!!!!!!! .......2007-04-22

In my humble opinion,the title track that starts off this album is one of the most perfect pop and soul songs ever recorded!!!It blasts right into existance,spotlights each musician and who can't sing it?It's a MUSICAL DIRECTIVE that's been going on for generation after generation.Obviously one doesn't expect the rest of this album to be able to keep up.But BY GOLLY IT DOES and with plenty more to burn;as an album,but purely a single 'Dance To The Music' is leaps ahead of A Whole New Thing in terms of songwriting and even energym,plenty of which is present on that debut.So what exactly does Sly do here?He just makes sure people who loved the classic single and bought this album hoping to hear more got JUST THAT!"Higher" is also enormous fun-so fresh,bouncy and carnavalesqe that Sly elected to UTTERLY transform it for another big hit on Stand! (you know the one).Then there's "Dance To The Medley"-the title track fleshed out and extended into a KILLER twelve minutes jam where the musicians don't just get spotlighted but DISTINCT SOLOS (Larry Graham's crackling fuzz bass being the highlite of course)and what comes next?Yet MORE catchy,hook filled funky tunes to make you DANCE "Ride The Rhythm",Color Me True","Are You Ready",the more creeping psychedelia of "Don't Burn Baby" and "I'll Never Fall In Love Again".And the bonus cuts?Well aside from th single edit of the title song and "Higher" you get "Soul Clappin","We Love All", the amazing "I Can't Turn You Loose" (don't know why it didn't make the final cut) and 'Never Do Your Woman Wrong",so it's all more more MORE!!!!So 'Dance To The Music' is not only Sly's greatest early album but actually not a bad place to get an introduction to his music.And try to listen to this album,stay still and NOT BE ABLE to avoid breaking out in a sweat!If Amazon let me give this twenty stars,that wouldn't be enough!!!Amazing!!

Average customer rating: Back on the right track. DYNAMITE!!!!!

Life Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Dance to the Music A Whole New Thing Stand! Fresh There's a Riot Goin' On ASIN: B000GG4XJ2 Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Dynamite!
2. Chicken
3. Plastic Jim
4. Fun
5. Into My Own Thing
6. Harmony
7. Life
8. Love City
9. I'm an Animal
10. M'Lady
11. Jane Is a Groupee
12. Dynamite!
13. Seven More Days
14. Pressure
15. Sorrow

Amazon.com

What a difference a decade can make: the original 1995 reissue of Life, Sly and the Family Stone's too-often-overlooked third album, would've triggered few associations beyond the singer's fans (and those who love killer soul-rock hybrids). In 2007, though, the opening shot of "Into My Own Thing" blares as the framework for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice," a rising, organ-and-horn melody statement with a taut, snare-drum thwack as its spine. Then Sly and the Family are off, talking about meditation and a big, bright 1968 vibe they ushered the prior year before with Dance to the Music. The tune titles tell a story: "Chicken," "Love City," "Fun," and the sheer musical cheer of "Harmony," the playful tuba and organ of "Life," even the opening fuzz-guitar grit of "Dynamite!"--these make Life transitional, a bridge from Sly's hard-hitting funk riffage to more rock, more pop. The album flopped commercially in 1968--the psych-funk of "Plastic Jim" and its "Eleanor Rigby"-inspired refrain "All the plastic people / What do they all come for" superseded quickly by the release later in the year of the brawnier, peppier "Everyday People." That latter tune launched the band's 1969 fourth album, Stand!, to significantly new commercial heights (and larger narcotic appetites). Onward and upward. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Back on the right track........2007-05-15

After the record-label driven "Dance to the Music", Sly & the Family Stone, no doubt given significant leverage with the help of a hit single, produced a stream of fantastic albums beginning with 1968's "Life". In some ways like "Dance to the Music", "Life" streamlines the band's sound a bit, but unlike "Dance to the Music", it accomplishes this by taking everything into a mid-tempo, guitar-driven funk stew.

This creates a significant diversity of sound-- fierce distorted guitars ("Dynamite!"), "Eleanor Rigby" ("Plastic Jim"), fuzz guitars and rotated vocals ("Into My Own Thing"), bizarre psychedelid funk ("I'm An Animal") and even "Dance to the Music" pop/funk ("Love City", "M'Lady") all find their way in. Most of it ends up as mid-tempo funk, but it's all really, really good, the only exception being the goofy closer "Jane is a Groupee".

This reissue remasters the record,a ppends a handful of bonus tracks, and includes a detailed liner note essay discussing the album. Like the other remasters, "Life" benefits immensely from the improved sound and really gets new life breathed into it.

My assessment of "Life" is somewhat tempered by knowledge of what the band would be doing in the future-- while it's a superb record, it pales in comparison to its successors. Both "Stand!" and "There's a Riot Goin' On" are among the finest albums of their era. Nonetheless, there's more than enough great material on "Life" to make it worth the investment. Recommended.

DYNAMITE!!!!!.......2007-04-18

Be warned when you put on "Life" you are inviting yourself into a world of rhythmic overload!As the transitional album between Dance to the Music and Stand! this album is filled with a lot of sestained musical dymanics and heavy group activity.The tempo is pretty continually sustained from "Dynamite" through "Into My Own Thing".The hits (the title track and "M'Lady") have the same festive carnaval funk style of "Dance To The Music",although the focus on this recording is much more on the groove,not songcraft so much."Jane Is A Groupee" lives more on the psychedelic shore.The bonus cuts here don't reveal much more then the album does.The major players here?Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson are miked up especially high and really punch through."Life" is right about where soul met funk at the crossroads of music and really laid down the groundwork for the upcoming funk onslaught that was Stand!.As the liner notes state 'Life' is often neglected not only because of it's place in Sly's catalog but because it has no big standout hit songs,the exact same problem that befell A Whole New Thing,the band's debut.But you can sing along to everything here,dance to it and even if it's not very carefully constructed it has a lot of wonderful things to say lyrically as well.So as is true with any definition of the word 'Life' is worth all the time you put into it.

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