Funkadelic
Standing On the Verge of Getting It On

THE REVIEW

On the pretext of Imasoulman's invitation to "darken the pages of the site," I finally decided to talk about this superb album from 1974. Now, who the Funkadelic are I believe is by now well-known; but I would still refer the forgetful to this page to learn more about the Parliament/Funkadelic duplicate by George Clinton.

So, the Funkadelic had achieved their first "serious" recognition (and also fairly commercial), finally balanced in 1971, with the famous "Maggot Brain." In the three subsequent years, they explored the dramatic potential of hallucinogenic drugs: their creativity would be positively affected, to say the least. They finally leaned towards the toughest and meanest funk possible, naturally combined with the psychedelic base that has always accompanied them. In just a few years, the Funkadelic transformed from carefree stoners, worthy companions of another "family" of the genre in terms of creative highs, into a leading group by the mid-'70s; guided by their charismatic leader, they reached with this album one of their creative peaks.

The most diverse psychedelic ambitions are set aside, to plunge into the dirt of a blacker than black funk, led by an incredibly inspired Eddie Hazel who dominates the entire album. If you're looking for a worthy heir to Hendrix without risking blasphemy, I think necessarily among the many, you have to pass through here: his six strings create amazing passages, born from a taste that takes root in blues to blossom in purest psychedelia and soul. Clinton takes care of the funk, the inspiring father of a true "genre culture" - that P-Funk that will emerge a year later in "Mothership Connection." And the tracks? Red Hot Momma is the gem, a hiccupped funk, an unstoppable and infectious dialogue between guitar and keyboard; Alice in my Fantasies is Rage Against The Machine twenty years ahead (ask Morello), in the typically Hendrix-like riff that underpins the track. Of course, the more psychedelic episodes cannot be missing, the seven-minute journey of I'll Stay (with Gary Bronson's effected drums) or the two splendidly odd minutes of Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him revealing the group's craziest and most anti-commercial soul - which in the long run will lead to their ruin. I've already mentioned the funk as a common thread: Hazel brands the sensual Sexy Ways and especially the title track, a sort of acidic choral hard rock punctuated by dizzying rhythmic blasts. And the closure, as per script, is entrusted to the twelve stunning minutes of Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts: one of the peaks of '70s psychedelia, Hazel (again him...) takes us by the hand and leads us through that stellar space depicted on the cover that the group clearly had in mind at the time.

The mix is simple: Hendrix + P-Funk, Psychedelia + Hard Rock: is there anything else to say?

"Funk is everything you need at any moment. It's something that saves your life, or it's an attitude, or it's that attitude that helps save your life when you feel it's not worth it anymore. You go to a place where you want to jump out of the window and that's it. Funk is that comic voice that comes to you and says, 'Why brother, nobody will miss you.' It's an attitude. It's anything needed at any moment. That's the way I see it. Funk is really all music."  - George Clinton.

Thanks to the site West Coasta Nostra for the quote.