One Nation Under a Groove

It's not a perfect heuristic, plenty of exceptions etc, but I'm finding something that separates a lot of good 80s pop music from bad is that the good acts really, *really* took a lot of influence from funk. This is great stuff!

Today's album was a weird one to fit into a genre. It was funk, rock, psychadelica, and soul all seamlessly mixed into a fantastic listening experience!

Funkadelic started life as a sister act to George Clinton's doo wop group, the Parliaments. Funkadelic is where all the experimentation happened, whereas the Parliaments stayed true to the funk genre.

It is said that the name Funkadelic came from the fact that most of the inspirations for their music came from LSD trips. This makes sense, given some of the song titles. Notably: Lunchmeataphobia and Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis.

The musical talent in this band is amazing! Stand out props to Michael Hampton for blowing the roof off of the place and shredding guitar licks in the song Maggot Brain!

Overall, a great album! Will definately listen again! I had to find the album on YouTube though because Spotify doesn't have it for some dumb reason.

Favourite songs: Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!, Maggot Brain /Chant (Think! It Ain't Illegal Yet!), One Nation Under a Groove, Lunchmeataphobia (Think! It Ain't Illegal Yet!)

Least favourite songs: Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis / Enema Squad (the Doo Doo Chasers)

4/5

I love the spirit of Funkadelic. Some of the most unfiltered musical expression you'll ever hear.

Good funk album.

The entry fee to this album is your promise. Your promise to both give and surrender to the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk. And that promise leads to unity, and unity leads to your mind being freed. And most likely your ass, too, of course, but we already knew that. We are, after all, in Funkadelic Nation. So reprint the fiat currency. As good as this album is, whenever I hear those raunchy guitar solos, I feel Eddie Hazel's absence. I'm not really criticizing the album for that... it's just. Yeah. Hazel is such a presence that he is missed in the music when he's not part of it. That's just me, though. The strength of Funkadelic is in its numbers, and Mike Hampton does a fine job here. How you respond to the fact that fried ice cream is a reality is probably a good indicator of how you respond to life on a daily basis. It's either wonderful or a horror show. By the way, this is the album that has the live version of "Maggot Brain", so do yourself a favor if you've never heard this track. Pour yourself a drink, sit back, turn off your phone and your lights, and be transported.

Pretty much what I think of when I think of funk. This album somehow feels retro and futuristic at the same time in the best way. Love it.

I know I'm supposed to view this group through a funk lens, but there is so much rock and jam in this album, I don't think it's right to limit my view. That idea is perfect captured both lyrically and musically in the track 'Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!"

Building from that idea, I think that spirit is a major part of why this album leaves such an indelible impression. Each track forces you to open your mind further and further, both on what you think the band is, and on various serious and nonsensical topics. But none of it comes across as heavy handed. They just want to help bring one nation together under a groove!

Highlight tracks for me would be 'One Nation Under a Groove', 'Cholly', and especially 'Maggot Brain / Chant'.

Aside from the overused funk/groove wordplay, and being about 20 mins too long - I enjoyed the album.

This album is like balm for the soul. The funk rock is just what I needed on this Friday.

Very funky, and very good