FuNkeNsteiN said:

I agree with this. Greatest Hits compilations and the funk don't really go together. I would always choose the original album for the reason Funkenstein stated. As for a good place to start i would also agree with some of his choices. Here are some of mine(one album per artist!)

Ohio Players - Honey(theyve made several great albums this is my fave)
Funkadelic - Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On(It smokes!)
James Brown - There It Is(some prefer The Payback, i really love this album)
Parliament - Mothership Connection(truly a classic)
Rick James - Street Songs(like the above, you cant live without this album)
Sly And The Family Stone - Stand(This transcends genres, its perfect)
Zapp - Zapp( terrific fun!)

magnificentsynthesizer said:

Oh,this is a forgotten classic.Junie's masterpiece!!!
/peace Manki

Others that I recommend:


I know this one has been mentioned, but I love it to death

Anything from Rick James from the beginning of his career until 1983.

Anything from The Barkays from the 1970s and early 1980s.

Anything from Lakeside.

Anything from Cameo from the beginning of their career until 1982.

Anything from The Gap Band through 1982. Their 1983 album had one or two good tracks but was much weaker than the earlier ones.

Midnight Star's "No Parking On The Dance Floor" and "Planetary Invasion" albums.

Slave "Stone Jam"

Roger and Zapp from 1980-1984.

The Isley Brothers from the 1970s through the early 1980s.

The Dazz Band's "Keep It Live" and "Joystick" albums.


Hell, I can't tell you too much as far as albums go. Those are the albums I didn't hesitate to buy back in the day because I knew beforehand that they were going to be good. However, I bought a lot of 45s and 12 Inch Singles. I wasn't going to take a chance on too many albums because I would get them home and they would have too many damn slow songs on them, which were the type of albums I didn't want.

He's bad ain't he? He makes me proud.

vainandy said:

Stop ruining the boy, cottammit

He's WAY too young to be cynical. You're 40 years old dude, you had your fun, mofo
[Edited 6/23/08 14:34pm]

He's way more advanced than me by looking for other types of music other than the current bullshit that's dominating. I may have only been 18 when Shitney first reared her ugly head and ruined popular R&B forever with her influence. However, there was still a little bit of funk left over in the late 1980s (even if it was watered down by artists trying to crossover) so I didn't give up current music until years later. And I also had the current underground at the time to explore such as house music. I at least had other options. I didn't listen to older music exclusively until the mid 1990s when house music turned to acid, trance, or whatever the hell it became.

I was in my mid 20s when I just totally started shitting on all current music so Funkenstein's got me beat as far as having good sense at such a young age. Or maybe Funkenstein just doesn't have any other choice than to check out the funk of the past. In today's music, there is no other options to get away from the bullshit except checking out the past. Anyway, he brings back memories of a young Andy at age 18 hearing all the adult contemporary artists on R&B radio that followed Shitney and just cursing them for everything they were worth. I'm getting all misty eyed

vainandy said:

You and you damn rants

FuNkeNsteiN said:

But it would be helpful if would clarify. So which ones would get specific albums of rather than a greatest hits collection?

FuNkeNsteiN said:

I didn't want to slam their advice quite THAT strongly, but that's the same thing I was saying. When we promised to "Funk The Whole Funk & Nothing But The Funk" it didn't mean "Greatest Hits" or compilation CD's, lol.

True Funk told a story, if you skip chapters; you'll only be faking the funk. In which case you better watch out, cause your nose will grow!

vainandy said:

SUPRMAN said:

Well, I'd get regular albums from everybody rather than 'Greatest Hits', but that's just me

Anyways, all of the albums I listed are good from beginning to end, so those are a good start if you want to look for great funk albums. Also, I picked stuff that I know is on CD, cause I have no idea whether or not the thread starter is into wax

vainandy said:

SUPRMAN said:

If you have to get best of compilations here are the very best ones(admittedly these are pretty awesome overviews)

Zapp - We Can Make You Dance
Ohio Players - Funk On Fire
Bootsy Collins - Glory Be The Funks On Me
Cameo - Anthology
Funkadelic - Motorcity Madness
Parliament - Tear The Roof Off

Funny thing is all these are 2disc compilations. I know theres 2cd overview of Slys career too. I mean why not get one studio album of each artist and if you're not too keen get a GH instead?!

WildheartXXX said:

You missed an excellent one: the 2-CD Gold by Gap Band. It's the one I was specifically thinking about when I said it can be the only way to get some great songs on CD. Unfortunately, it does have some radio edits, but you aren't going to find jams like "Disrespect" or "Jam the Motha" another way without spending outrageous amounts of money.

Sly & the Fam - Fresh
James Brown - Hell

That should get you through the weekend

_

I am shocked none of you mention the original remix album - James Brown "In a Jungle Groove" I LOVE this album LOVE it!
My other picks have been mentioned already. I also wanna throw in Jesse Johnsons Revue for the win. TIGHT from the first to the last joint

You guys are great...I should have said "excluding Prince albums" , but this list is a real good one.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

There are LOTS of "musicologitst" in this group. Some are good (Alexdeparis) and some are just opinionated (VainAndy...not saying he's not good...because he knows his stuff. He just doesn't like anything past 1985)

daPrettyman said:

Everyone adds their own flavor. VainAndy is funny and informative. Just don't bring up Whitney Houston

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Or shit hop...
or artsy fartsy stuff...
or rhythmless bullshit...
or anything too slow to shake your ass to...

did i miss anything?

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Rhino is a good example sometimes putting out horrible greatest hits.
Slave's definitely could have been better. I would recommend getting
their individual albums. Rhino also fugged up the best of mass production
by totally ignoring argubably their best album three miles high. Hopefully
they will get some of their stuff out on cd but i think the funkateers on
the org did a good job of recommending the best stuff to get.

MajesticOne89 said:

Nah...you got everything! VainAndy would be proud

phunkdaddy said:

I have bought one "best of compilation" for funk and felt the flow was out of sync. It would jump from one tempo to another, but never felt right. I actually would prefer the real album/CD recommendations since to truly appreciate an artist, you need to hear there art in its true form.