Sly & the Family Stone - Fresh

Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. Album Description

Funk, funk and funk . . . oh, and FUNK

Sly moving the Family Funk more towards James Brown, using a more angular approach than he had been doing combined with interesting drum/bass sounds. Plus the scratch tracks before the metamorph gives us a look at the "before & after." BONUS! April 29, 2008

Sly Stone (not Dunbar) in Dub

The story here is that at the conclusion of the original album, there are some great remixes. Not a lot of effects, but some echo and lots of subtracting of instruments to make this very much "X-Ray Music", like classic Jamaican Dub. Who mixed these and when? The liners don't say but these bonus cuts do a great job of drawing the listener further into Sly's music. This album also contains what I consider to be the pinnacle of Sly's wonderfully idiosyncratic organ playing. February 7, 2008

Cool record

I'm a big fan of seventies music. Among the tremendous musical diversity born in that period was funk. This is one of its finest examples. Most importantly it's just great, original music made extra special through the remastering process. July 30, 2007

Always Fresh!

One of the greatest funk recordings ever.The above review has it right: the 'alternate mixes' are in fact alternate takes. This is my third CD copy of it and it sounds the best of all by far. BTW My first CD copy is signed by the drummer Andy Newmark who I was lucky enough to do a recording session with a few years back. July 21, 2007

4 1/2 stars-- cooled off.

After the dark, claustrophobic masterpiece of "There's a Riot Goin' On" and following the departure of bassist Larry Graham, Sly Stone turned his band's attention to a bit of a cooled off sound. This could have been in response to the demise of the powerful rhythm section of Graham and drummer Gregg Errico, who had left prior to 'Riot', but I think in some ways it was a response to the overwhelming nature of its predecessor-- "There's a Riot Goin' On" is an experience to listen to, making it must have been extraordinary.

This isn't to say that "Fresh" is light pop fare. On the contrary, it's a fantastic record, dark in its own way, but it's really quite a bit less intense then its predecessor. At its best, it finds a midtempo, loping sound over which Stone can wail out full of passion and the band can form a swirl around him, single and standout "If You Want Me To Stay" is a fine example of this-- the bassline provides a graceful drive, Stone is passionate in his lead vocal, and the horns cascade around him. By and large, the album sticks to this midtempo funk, driven by the basslines and at times angular guitars ("In Time") or swanky horns ("Skin I'm In"). Stone does develop a tendency to mumble and ramble here and there ("Frisky"), but by and large the great on this one manages to blindingly overshadow the bad and Stone proves stunningly inventive, even taking a schlock Doris Day pop song and making it into a fantastic soul/gospel number ("Que Sera Sera") and survives a remake of hit "Dance to the Music" as a chilled funk number ("Keep on Dancin'", which proves to be quite engaging).

This reissue has been remastered and adds a handful of alternate mixes as bonus tracks as well as including new liner notes. The bonus tracks here are interesting-- Sly Stone had tinkered substantially with the mix on "Fresh" before settling on its released version, although at some point in its early CD release history, alternate mixes for some of the record leaked out (and were quickly recalled by the label). Some of these are actually quite superior to the original mix, illustrating significantly more space and occasionally benefitting from a lack of overdubs-- "Let Me Have it All" is the best example of this, without the layers of vocal overdubs, Sly's vocal really shines. The remastering on this is equally top notch, the record sounds great throughout.

"Fresh" is always going to be thought of as the album that followed "There's a Riot Goin' On"-- it's not quite as good as its predecessor (or as "Stand!" before that), but truthfully this came at the end of a window where Sly Stone could do no wrong. "Fresh" is a fine record in its own right. Highly recommended. May 16, 2007

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