“Osmium” came out in 1970, and was the debut album from Parliament, the George Clinton-lead Funk and Psychedelic Soul band. In the group you have the original members of The Parliaments: Clinton, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas and Ray Davis (originally a Doo-Wop band), as well as Tiki Fulwood on drums, Billy Bass Nelson (bass), and Eddie Hazel (guitar). Many others participate in it, but these are the main members who went of to release further material with them, and then going to the super-group of Parliament-Funkadelic as they advanced.
1. “I Call My Baby Pussycat”
In order to kick the album off, you find them going straight for a funky one to wake the listeners up and get them in the mood for the thing. As this is a very complex album with lots of levels to it, I felt that the starter was suitable, as so much goes on within it, and it reflects the way the rest of it goes with so many different twists and turns.
**Four Stars**
2. “Put Love In Your Life”
This one took a while to really get into but I felt that the wait was worth it as once you have gotten over the slow build-up, it seems to just level out into a nice little jam, which reminds you a lot of the Funkadelic side of this group. You find them going
for some hard Rock in this one, and they juxtapose it with beats which don’t really support it, but at times it comes together very well to make the concept for it really work.
This is a fun little song, and seems to show just unique they are in the game as you have them starting with some yodelling before choosing to take their Detroit selves to the south and immerse themselves in the culture down their. They sing a song which tells the story of a young boy who gets himself into trouble with the law, but asks to simply be forgiven as he really isn’t the type to be caught up it it all in the future. It is a nice one, and this southern thing is brought back later on.
**Four Stars**
4. “Moonshine Heather”
For this one you find George Clinton as the sole vocalist on the song, and I think that I was only really attracted to this one for the fact that I recognized some of the melodies which he came with from other songs which he had done with the likes of Funkadelic at this time, and the way he does this to some funky percussion means that you are given reason to enjoy the recording as a whole (not that I really got what was said in the lyrics).
**Four Stars**
5. “Oh Lord, Why Lord/Prayer”
On this one you have them basing things around a composition which is very unlike them as it is all acoustic work, and I felt as though this was a weakness for it as it limited their potential in the track, and I thought that they were pretty much incapable of helping it with what they did on the vocals and in the rest of the recording.
**Two Stars**
6. “My Automobile”
Until I heard this, I had no idea what it was about when I first heard it being covered by N.W.A. On this original, you have them doing exactly what was to be done with this version as it is just a feel-good recording from them, and it find them going into new places as they try out a little Bluegrass and do a track which has them chugging along as they sing about riding with girls in their car. It is a great tune, and it fits in with my impression of them as some light-hearted musicians.
**Four Stars**
7. “There Is Nothing Before Me But A Thang”
To be honest, it did take a while for this one to connect with me as it start with them just experimenting what they have with all the various vocalist who they have to work with, and what sorts of things they can back it with, but once they have found the groove, you are made to engage with it and be taken right into the music. This merges the Psychedelic Rock with Funk, and the results are very strong.
**Four Stars**
8. “Funky Woman”
In my opinion, this song gives you just what you expect to hear from them as they just drop the Fun on it is a killer tune as a result, and it just sounds so fresh, despite the fact that it is at the early stages of the whole Funk scene, and this wasn’t really as popular hear, at the turn of the seventies, as it was towards the end of the decade, and in the start of the decade which followed on from it. It is all about the composition in this one, and it shows that they are able to bring in the Pop sounds, and bring their funkiness in it to completely transform it.
**Five stars**
9. “Livin’ The Life”
Unfortunately this is the point on the album where it seems to clearly worsen as you find them going for something which is much less appealing to me that what proceeded it as you have them returning to the religious work, but I felt that some of this was saved by the fact that they chose to bring in what was then a fresh sound of Funk.
**Two Stars**
10. “The Silent Boatman”
I thought that this one on the album was clearly one of the worst ones on the album which they could have ended it with as it really doesn’t have a lot going for it. The only thing that I could value it for was the percussion, as it sounded like a kind of thing which was found in the earliest Hip Hop work, and this element of it is exciting to me, but the way it is sung really puts me off.
**Two Stars**
There is a lot going on with this album, and the fact that it is so varied and experimental means that they never really explore any of the many genre which they just have a little go at. The Rock and Funk elements seem to be the most successful here, and it reflects the future which they had.
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