Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins Discography Review ( Work in progress)

 

Parliament

Osmium  (1970)

Genre: Rock, Funk, Psychedelic Rock, Psychedelic Soul

Today I was going to work on the  album review of the Red Hot Chili Peppers called the  Uplifting Mofo Party Plan but instead   I stumble on this classic 70's album helmed by the funk master George Clinton. This album started the Funkadelic-Parliament legend, that inspired all of my favorite funk rock bands from the Red Hot Chili Pepper, Fishbone, Primus too the Chilean Los Tetas. Now Osmium  is probably the most rock oriented and experimental Parliament albums, dabbling with many genres and this aspect really surprised me because I was more familiar with their later work that is more party oriented, and this album rocks hard at moments and we get our first version of Red Hot Mama out of this production. The band has tons of energy and feeling,  Tiki Fulwood's drums are just fantastic and makes the song just explode.  The album is also pretty guitar driven so Eddie Hazel shines on this production and  to my surprise BernieWorrel isn't the main musician on the keys but another guy called Mickey Atkins.

Now vocally like all Parliament and Funkadelic albums there is a different singer on almost every track the album credits up seven people for their vocal work including George Clinton and Fuzzy Haskins.

Overall: 54





Funkadelic

Free Your Mind and Your Ass will Follow (1970)

Genre: Funk, Psychedelic Soul

Parliaments sister band, in its early stages sound very  much like Parliament , maybe more experimental with using trippy effects and it seems that they jam more on this album compared to Osmium. The band is composed by Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross are on the guitar, Bernie Worrell on the keys, Tiki Fulwood and Billy Nelson on the Bass.  And the vocal section as usual has bunch of people with George Clinton at the helm and Fuzzy Haskins. 

Overall: 53.5

 

Funkadelic

One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

Genre: Funk, Funk Rock, Black Rock

Today I bring you guys a mega funk classic, from the legendary P-Funkers, Funkadelic, which  features  the funky mastermind George Clinton, Bernie Worrell on the keys, Micheal Hampton on guitar, Eddie Hazel on guitar  ( Maggot Brains live) and Bootsy Collins on Bass, just to name a few collaborators on this project. Lyrically it a pretty politically charge album without losing its joyous feeling. The band explicitly questions genre y musical categories on the track "Who Says the a Funk Band Can't Play Rock and Roll", its like funky declaration of war that the some of the alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers would use a decade later. Another super charged and implicitly heavy song is Lunchmeataphobia ( Think it Ain't Illegal Yet !), I always wondered why no alternative metal bands never covered this song, its sick , imagine  Korn or Limp Bizkit rocking this one, the mosh pit would just explode.   Instrumentally there are some beautiful demonstrations of musicianship and solos both on guitar and bass. The sound and production holds up pretty well after all these years and I super recommend this album for people that want to start to explore the universe of 70's funk. 

Overall: 56    

Bootsy Collins

Ahh…The Name is Bootsy, Baby! (1979)

Genre: Funk, Deep Funk

So here we go with this super funk masterpiece, it’s a great album to really get into hardcore old school funk. 

Vocals and Lyrics: Some of Bootsy’s lyrics are pretty surreal and funny, and the vocals (including backup singers) in general are just fantastic. 8

Instrumentation:        

Guitar: It’s the only let down of the album, the guitar isn’t relevant in this production.

Bass: Bootsy is at the top of his game, his funky bass lines kick butt, good solos and crazy use of bass effects.

Drums: Some real impressive drumming for an old School funk album.

Extended band: There is tons of interesting stuff to hear from the horn section and on the keys. 8.5

Melody and/or Structure: Structure wise most of the songs are extended Funk jams, but melody does play an import role in each song. 7

Sound, Production and Feeling: You can hear all kinds of trippy effects on the Bass and on the Keys, it’s a sonic trip to the 70`s but the cool thing is nothing sounds dated. 8

Songs: They are all classics 7

The Bad:

                                                                                                     

Originality: This album is bursting at the seams with fresh funky ideas.  10

Overall: 48.5

Bootsy Collins

Tha Funk Capital of the World (2011)

Genre:  P-Funk, Funk Metal, Hip Hop

This album is an obscene display of funk, Bootsy jammes as many of his pales together in this definitive funk album for the new century and it’s a real tribute to the history of funk music.

                       

Vocals and Lyrics: Surprisingly the lyrics of this album are really good; even though the best stuff is spoken word like the song Reverend Al Sharpton’s is on, that is a moving tribute to James Brown and Samuel L. Jackson exposition of his life story was a stunning surprise how  much I liked this track. The rappers on the album as usual do a great job, but Chuck D stands out showing how things should be done. And last but not least George Clintons blues infected track shows us that he’s a funk genius. 10

Instrumentation:                    

Guitar: Bucket Head’s track is the high point on this album his shredding is well received in the context of this album.      

Bass: Bootsy actual plays more than usual compared to what he had been doing, he had gotten lazy lately; he comes out swing with his super funky bass lines.

Drums: The Drums on this album are what really take this album to another level, Bootsy doesn’t use that many drum machines, wisely choosing to use some impressive drummers giving a more organic feel.

Others: Bernie Worrel’s trippy keys are sprinkled all over the album, giving the album the P-Funk seal of approval. 9.3

Melody and/or Structure: Bootsy tries to raise the bar in his composition level, he had gotten a little lazy on previous albums, and this production has some really interesting musical arrangements and surprises. 8

Sound, Production and Feeling: The album produces a tsunami of funky feeling, and it sound impeccable. 10 

Songs: No fillers. 15

The Bad: Sometimes it gets a little too chaotic, too much going on at the same time.  -1

                                                                                                                         

Originality: Bootsy sound reinvigorated and the two funk metal tracks sound super fresh, he should try to make a full on funk metal album. And we find Boosty taking some interesting risks like sampling a Jimi Hendrix interview for a track and write a song around it, it's super cool. 10