There’s a Riot Goin’ On

Not bad but not for me

ou, quentíssimo esse, hein. funk baixo astral refletindo a situação social dos eua pós década de 60. curti bastante.
btw family affair é fortíssima pqp

Funky stuff by legendary Sly Stone and his family of funksters. There are some great cuts on the record, including “Family Affair”, but I find myself struggling to really pay attention. It’s good for playing in the background but I’m not really that invested.

Best track? “There’s A Riot Goin’ On”

I feel like with a title/cover like that there should be a more call to arms type of moment, but it seems more like a personal mantra then any sort of external force. The album starts to pick it's groove by the second side and I see bands like air clearly got their sound from this. Or stole it wholesale. It's a steady feeling but nothing I would jump out of my seat for like say funkadelic. Solid 3

The dark side of the funk, but thank you for letting me be myself, again...

Everything I read about this album says it represents the shift from the optimistic 60s to the malaise of the 70s. I definitely hear that in the music, and as a result it's sometimes uncomfortable to listen to. There's nothing wrong with challenging music, but you can almost hear the dysfunction overtaking the band (as a result of Sly Stone's drug use and isolation from the rest of the band - apparently they all recorded separately). There were definitely tracks I liked (Just Like a Baby, Poet, Time, and Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa), but overall I don't think I want to revisit.

Still funky, yet not as happy as Stand!

Nah. It's whatever, I suppose. It's supposed to be funk, but it's like, elevator music funk. There's a couple funky bass lines, but it's not that deep down, dirty, nasty, STINKIN' funk. Kind of boring, to be honest.

I don't hate it, I just don't want to ever listen to it again.

Solid funk, all the way through... 'The recording was dominated by band frontman Sly Stone during a period of elevated drug use and intra-group tension...' No joke!

This is one that I’ve seen and heard people rave about for years and years. And for the A side I totally get it, but side B seems to falter for me. Songs like Spaced Cowboy don’t really work for me. The bass playing is really good especially on songs like Africa Talks To You and Brave & Strong. Highlights here were Luv N’ Haight, Family Affair, Africa Talks To You, and Brave & Strong.

I was quite hopeful coming into this, as I do like a bit of soul and funk. I knew the name 'Sly & The Family Stone', but didn't really know much of their stuff, so I was excited to finally learn more. On listening though, it's way slower and more stripped back than I was expecting. It's not really bringing much oomph. Some tracks are kind of not even there. It's just ok.

However I did leave it running after the fact, and Spotify served up an awesome selection of funk and soul for the next few hours, and that worked spectacularly for the rest of my work afternoon - so this album was a good gateway!

2.5 rounded up.

It's interesting to me that this is apparently generally considered their best; I enjoyed Stand! a decent bit more. I still dug this, however, and perhaps it will reveal itself to me more on subsequent listens.

3.5/5

EDIT: On second listen, yeah, I “get” it much more. Still inferior to Stand!, but pretty damn great.

4.5/5

Only just noticed the cotton American flag on the cover. Emblematic of the whole thing.

I am very smart.

3.54

I liked it well enough. Nothing particularly stood out though.

This album was funky, It was OK but nothing more. It couldn’t keep my concentration and became a background sound. This is not one I would listen to again

Favourite song: Family affair
Least favourite: The instrumentals towards the end of the album
Album artwork: American

Slow burning deep groove funk with a dark minor key feel to it. Angry, uplifting, sensual, it's a whirlwind of feelings. The guitar is riding the wah wah pedal like a madman, the bass is powerfully in the pocket, the organs give an extra bit of energy and texture. It's a loose freeform band, but all working in support of Sly's lead vocals, but the album gets kind of unfocused and sprawling.

Good vibes

Music was enjoyable, but every song sounded the same. Became a bit repetitive and too long sadly

3 ⭐️

Lots of funk, lots of fun

really good