The self-entitled debut from Funkadelic in 1970. The Funk group were originaly backing members to George Clinton's band, The Parliaments (Not to be confused with Parliament, who were the other band to split off from this original group). The group were one of the top ones in the genre at the time, and although for this one, they did less of the Funk as we know it, and more Pyschedelic Soul and Rock. Nonetheless, it has been samples numerous times in the Hip Hop world for its originality and pureness. As well as Clinton, other names you may recognise are Fuzzy Haskins, Billy Bass Nelson and Eddie Hazel.
1. "Mommy, What's A Funkadelic?"
This oen semed to go on forever, and not a lot seemed to happen in it as they begin the album with some Pyschedelic Rock. From the start, you get an idea of waht this album is going to be like as you get it all based aroudn a smooth riff by Eddie
Hazel, which is bound to stick in your head, and then George Clinton just speaks over it all in a way which is very much of-the-time, and would mean very little today.
**Three Stars**
2. "I Bet You"
This one seems to grab you after you are brought down by the monotony of listneing to the same riff for over nine minutes, however I felt that as a track in its own right, it is a fairly strong one as you get them going for another exciting set by the lead guitarist, and a great range of vocalists join to just add to the funky groove which they are given. The lyrics are meaningless, but they are often nonsensical with Funk of this time.
**Four Stars**
3. "Music for My Mother"
Billy Bass Nelson steps up for a deep bass riff on this on, and it indicates a change to the mood of things as we are brought down. From there, you get Herb Sparkman speaking on his inspiration for this track. The rawness of it all comes through here, and it brings you into the feel of the time.
4. "I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing"
This one was the first on the album which I recognized as the Funk I am familiar with as the think begins with the sounds of the wah-wah- guitar to really bring you into it all. With this starting it all off, you are made to take notice, and emmerce yourself within the music. Tiki Fulward takes care of the drums on this, and the way he tears it up is incredible, and makes you really take notice (after a fairly droning start).
The drums on this are just as funky as on the track prior to it, and with such a strong start, you get them just hyping off the vibes of it, and just singing about how funky it all is. It is such a good one that Nas felt the need to sample it on two occassions, and 2Pac even encorporated it into his debut album, "2Pacalypse Now".
**Four Stars**
6. "Qualify and Satisfy"
I saw this one as a drop in quality as you go from some onf the strongest material on it to a tune which has Calvin SImon taking lead vocals and singing the blues with the music taking this typical form. I didn't think that it had as much to offer, and brought the think down before it went to the final tune.
**Two Stars**
7. "What Is Soul"
You have the group hinting on where there music would go to in the future as you get them doing some of the spacey stuff at the start with George Clinton hyping them up as futuristic. After this they go into a deep Funk tune with them attempting to describe what soul is. It is interesting as it shows that they are on a new level of thought when attempting to comprehend what exactly 'Soul' is.
**Four Stars**
As someone who is just used to a more standardized form of msuic where the tracks span no longer than five minutes, having tracks go on for nearly ten minutes in some cases was a bit of a challenge to engage with for the entirety of the recording. However I could appreciate what went down here, and they came with classic material. I would only recommend that you get this if you really know what you are in for. This album has them a little before Funk became what people really remember from the period, and so is quite experimental.
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