SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE — There's a Riot Goin' On (review)

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE — There's a Riot Goin' On album cover Album · 1971 · Funk Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
dreadpirateroberts
Sly and the Family Stone's 'There's a Riot Goin' On' is a funk classic that's marred by Sly's overdubbing (which eroded the quality of masters) making for a murky production that's unsatisfying overall.

The songwriting shines through, and it could be argued that the dim production suits the dark subject matter, but for the early seventies, much clearer recordings were certainly achievable - 'What's Goin On' or 'Curtis' anyone? In particular, much of Sly's vocals are buried in the mix and are basically muffled so that he becomes, at times, illegible. The rest of the instrumentation fades in and out of clarity, drums probably suffer the most and guitar and bass will probably cut through most of the time.

But this doesn't detract too much from some of the fantastic songs present. Much of the album is said to be performed by Sly alone, with overdubbing by other band members one at a time. If so, it's probably Graham that has tracks with more slap-bass, and his playing in particular is right on the money - 'Just Like a Baby' comes to mind.

Number one single 'Family Affair' is quite a dark duet, its weariness echoed in much of the rest of the album, but contrasted nicely by more upbeat moments like '(You Caught Me) Smilin' (despite a poorly recorded lead vocal) or 'Running Away.' Sly and the band incorporate blues, rock and soul into their funk, only occasionally stretching out like on the reasonably directionless 'Africa Talks to You...' and the most excellent closer, 'Thank you for Talkin' to me Africa' (a reworking of an old single.) It reveals Graham's trademark bass sound (sounding very much like he would on, for instance, Betty Davis' debut or his other work) in a cathartic song that also manages to strut.

This album bears repeated listens, and probably deserves four stars but for the poor production and a few songs that don't match up to the rest of the record, I don't feel I can go any higher. For anyone interested in a dark version of funk, this is worth a look. It's a landmark album that takes its cue from Gaye and Mayfield but trades in (sonic) clarity of message for an almost nihilist-produced sound that almost derails proceedings.
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dreadpirateroberts wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Thanks, John! I was pretty hard on the production, hahaha. Apparently there was a certain amount of intentionality to it all, but it still bugs me even if it was purposeful. That 8-track must be rare?
js wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Great review, yeah the volume is so low on LPs that it is barely louder than the record's surface noise, but you should hear it on 8-track, it sounds great.

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