Artist: Sly & The Family Stone Title: The Collection Year Of Release: 2007 Label: Epic / Legacy [88697 06434 2] Genre: Funk, Soul, R&B, Rock Quality: FLAC (tracks+scans) Total Time: 6:27:54 SLY & THE FAMILY STONE 'THE COLLECTION' CONTAINS ALL 7 DELUXE REISSUES OF THE SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE ALBUMS 'A WHOLE NEW THING', 'DANCE TO THE MUSIC', 'LIFE', 'STAND!', 'THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON', 'FRESH' AND 'SMALL TALK'. 7 CLASSIC ALBUMS REMASTERED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME FEATURING PREVIOUS UNRELEASED TRACKS AND RESTORED ART. Sony. 2007. First, a sigh of exasperated relief--exasperation because it's taken a needlessly long time to get Sly and the Family Stone's catalog remastered and properly reissued. From the band's 1967 debut, A Whole New Thing through their 1974 swan song, Small Talk, the shifting band indulged everything from the long horn lines, fast rhythms, and quickly unmistakable urgent delivery of "Turn Me Loose," with its rapid, jerking funk rhythms and quick, sharp horn blasts, to the chilled groove, string backing, and slinky guitar on "Say You Will." In between there's an embarrassment of riches: The 1968 one-two punch of Dance to the Music's title track and "Higher" introduces a gleaming exuberance; everyone wants to get higher and dance, but slowly the tune titles and funky whimsy of tunes like "Chicken," "Love City," "Fun," and the sheer musical cheer of "Harmony," show that Sly's bridge from hard-hitting funk riffage to more rock, more pop got mixed up with significantly new commercial heights (and larger narcotic appetites) and, simultaneously, more instability and simmering fury. By 1969, Sly's newness was transformed, with Stand!'s "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" snarl and droning organ and wah-wah guitar aplenty. The full-on blast of harmonica, fuzz guitars, and horns that opens "I Want to Take You Higher" just cemented the claim: Music would unite and fight and kick and get you high. The mega-hit "Everyday People" almost seems an anomaly in this company, a breezy harmony vocal backing, simple piano framing, reaching horn lines, and a churchy chorus. It's the biggest hit here, a true pop gem. Then there's "Sing a Simple Song" and its scouring, wordless shouts, a heavy beat backed by multiple voices half-atop each other, horn riffs jetting across guitar riffs, and an abrupt, scrambling end. It's a tight and tough embrace, an open door. It's 1969. Then a dystopian haze turns full-force for There's a Riot Goin' On. By 1971, Sly had his Hollywood mansion and legions of droppers-by laying down parts of Riot. The result is entrancing, backed often by an austere, early drum machine and featuring dope-glazed vocals, paranoid shadows and, of course, a stewing funk groove. Horns are here, thinned out so they jab harder, and the keyboards gleam and shimmer and icily coat the beats, which sound in today's parlance simply lo-fi. And the beats, they've slowed menacingly, with voices dropping in, dropping out. Drugs were flowing freely by this point, complicating Sly's sound, inadvertently making an album that matches its maker's psyche-in-time indelibly. Once 1973's Fresh emerges, the austere, haunted glaze happens beneath slow-stewing grooves, as on the seemingly frivolous "Frisky," where the drums and keys and horns are enmeshed tightly, showing barely any sonic separation. The great bassist Larry Graham had left the Family by now, replaced by Rusty Allen, whose bass pops up as framing, while the vocals go lean and languid, turning to moans and melismatic blurs as the groove stirs. "If You Want Me to Stay" is a highlight, and the album is deeply funky even while reaching across the divide toward pop (rather than the '60s albums bridges to psychedelic rock, which proved itself pragmatically limited for the more intensely rebellious public as the Vietnam War and Watergate sent long social shadows). As for Small Talk, it's the least ambitious, most settled session. The sounds are gorgeous in the new remastered form, making a new case for Small as a worthy bookend on your Sly shelf. Yes, he burned brighter and hotter and more furiously. It's still the same nervy mix, dramatic and intense. --Andrew Bartlett Tracklist: Disc 1 - A Whole New Thing (57:48) 1. Underdog (03:57) 2. If This Room Could Talk (03:10) 3. Run, Run, Run (03:05) 4. Turn Me Loose (01:55) 5. Let Me Hear It From You (03:33) 6. Advice (02:20) 7. I Cannot Make It (03:19) 8. Trip To Your Heart (03:41) 9. I Hate To Love Her (03:30) 10. Bad Risk (03:04) 11. That Kind Of Person (04:25) 12. Dog (03:02) Bonus Tracks 13. Underdog (Single Version) (03:04) 14. Let Me Hear It From You (Single Version) (03:28) 15. Only One Way Out Of This Mess (03:51) 16. What Would I Do (04:05) 17. You Better Help Yourself (Instrumental) (04:19) Disc 2 - Dance To The Music (45:36) 1. Dance To The Music (02:59) 2. Higher (02:47) 3. I Ain't Got Nobody (For Real) (04:25) 5. Ride The Rhythm (02:47) 6. Color Me True (03:08) 7. Are You Ready (02:49) 8. Don't Burn Baby (03:13) 9. I'll Never Fall In Love Again (03:24) Bonus Tracks 10. Dance To The Music (Single Version) (02:57) 11. Higher (Unissued Single Version) (02:53) 12. Soul Clappin' (02:38) 13. We Love All (04:30) 14. I Can't Turn You Loose (03:33) 15. Never Do Your Woman Wrong (03:33) Disc 3 - Life (43:07) 1. Dynamite! (02:44) 2. Chicken (02:13) 3. Plastic Jim (03:29) 4. Fun (02:23) 5. Into My Own Thing (02:13) 6. Harmony (02:51) 7. Life (03:01) 8. Love City (02:43) 9. I'm An Animal (03:21) 10. M' Lady (02:46) 11. Jane Is A Groupee (02:49) Bonus Tracks 12. Dynamite! (Single Version) (02:07) 13. Seven More Days (03:24) 14. Pressure (03:44) 15. Sorrow (Instrumental) (03:19) Disc 4 - Stand! (57:58) 1. Stand! (03:07) 2. Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey (05:57) 3. I Want To Take You Higher (05:22) 4. Somebody's Watching You (03:20) 5. Sing A Simple Song (03:56) 6. Everyday People (02:21) 7. Sex Machine (13:46) 8. You Can Make It If You Try (03:38) Bonus Tracks 9. Stand! (Single Version) (03:08) 10. I Want To Take You Higher (Single Version) (03:01) 11. You Can Make It If You Try (Unissued Single Version) (03:38) 12. Soul Clappin' II (03:26) 13. My Brain (Zig-Zag) (Instrumental) (03:18) Disc 5 - There's A Riot Goin' On (01:05:00) 1. Luv N' Haight (04:02) 2. Just Like A Baby (05:11) 3. Poet (03:01) 4. Family Affair (03:05) 5. Africa Talks To You "The Asphalt Jungle" (08:45) 6. There's A Riot Goin' On 7. Brave & Strong (03:29) 8. (You Caught Me) Smilin' (02:54) 9. Time (03:04) 10. Spaced Cowboy (03:58) 11. Runnin' Away (02:57) 12. Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa (07:16) Bonus Tracks 13. Runnin' Away (Single Version) (02:42) 14. My Gorilla Is My Butler (Instrumental) (03:10) 15. Do You Know What? (Instrumental) (07:14) 16. That's Pretty Clean (Instrumental) (04:12) Disc 6 - Fresh (55:13) 1. In Time (05:47) 2. If You Want Me To Stay (03:00) 3. Let Me Have It All (02:56) 4. Frisky (03:11) 5. Thankful N' Thoughtful (04:40) 6. Skin I'm In (02:54) 7. I Don't Know (Satisfaction) (03:52) 8. Keep On Dancin' (02:23) 9. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be) (05:22) 10. If It Were Left Up To Me (01:58) 11. Babies Makin' Babies (03:38) Bonus Tracks 12. Let Me Have It All (Alternate Mix) (02:18) 13. Frisky (Alternate Mix) (03:26) 14. Skin I'm In (Alternate Mix) (02:46) 15. Keep On Dancin' (Alternate Mix) (02:42) 16. Babies Makin' Babies (Alternate Version) (04:20) Disc 7 - Small Talk (49:24) 1. Small Talk (03:22) 2. Say You Will (03:22) 3. Mother Beautiful (01:59) 4. Time For Livin' (03:17) 5. Can't Stand My Brain (04:08) 6. Loose Booty (03:45) 7. Holdin' On (03:38) 8. Wishful Thinkin' (04:24) 9. Better Thee Than Me (03:34) 10. Livin While I'm Livin' (02:57) 11. This Is Love (02:53) Bonus Tracks 12. Crossword Puzzle (Early Version) (03:47) 13. Time For Livin' (Alternate Version) (03:59) 14. Loose Booty (Alternate Version) (02:05) 15. Positive (Instrumental) (02:14)