So, what album do you consider their best of their brief career. There was certainly a change in their sound between Stand and There's A Riot Goin On; it was a big step further in their sound and between Riot and Fresh too but just not as big. So what do you consider is their best, oh by the way Small Talk from my perpective is very underrated album, is really a great album, it has some great songs. Time For Livin, I Can't Strain my Brain, Wishful Thinkin, Better Thee Than Me, This Is Love and Holdin On. For me their best album is probably There's A Riot Goin On. Stand would be one of the most perfect albums in the history of humankind if its tracklist included Everybody Is A Star, Hot Fun In The Summertime and Thank You, then you will have the most perfect album ever.

Stand. Stone cold classic.

Greatest Hit - (Sly and The Family Stones) (1970)

Fresh is the shit for me, so cold funky and less played out than the hit-laden sets.

There's A Riot

Thoroughly a great listen with so many surprises. Even more fascinating when you read about its recording history & the stories surrounding it.

HardcoreJollies said:

Fresh is the shit for me, so cold funky and less played out than the hit-laden sets.

I've always thought that both of "Fresh" and "Riot" could easily fit into a double album. They share the same mood.

Tie between "Riot" and "Fresh". But "Small Talk" , "High On You'" and "Remember Who You Are" are great too.

For Me, "A Whole New Thing" (1967). Breakbeats GALORE, and the source 4 the FAMOUS "Mama Said Knock You Out" sample ("Trip To Your Heart")!!!! George Clinton called this Sly Album "The Homo-Erectus of Funk"!!!

That is a difficult question to answer because each album had a level of greatness that would require a triple set to appreciate. Their Greatest Hits and Theres A Riot Goin On are at my top however, the most underrated has to be High On You. All of their albums except for the last one when he was with Warner Brothers had shown a progression that was inovative and influential to artits such as EWF, Prince ,Rick James, The Time ,Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and of course Graham Central Station not to mention the hooks and beats used by rap artists today. " src="http://prince.org/i/s/icon_biggrin.gif" />

Hamad said:

HardcoreJollies said:

Fresh is the shit for me, so cold funky and less played out than the hit-laden sets.

I've always thought that both of "Fresh" and "Riot" could easily fit into a double album. They share the same mood.

Not, their sound is different, somebody know what he's talkin about in the song In Time. I have read that Miles Davis was fascinated with this song

214 said:

Hamad said:

I've always thought that both of "Fresh" and "Riot" could easily fit into a double album. They share the same mood.

Not, their sound is different, somebody know what he's talkin about in the song In Time. I have read that Miles Davis was fascinated with this song

Fresh and Small Talk fit more.

My rankings:

Stand = 5 classic singles

Riot

Fresh

Small Talk

Dance

Life

A Whole New Thing

Missed Me

LittleBLUECorvette said:

214 said:

Not, their sound is different, somebody know what he's talkin about in the song In Time. I have read that Miles Davis was fascinated with this song

Fresh and Small Talk fit more.

My rankings:

Stand = 5 classic singles

Riot

Fresh

Small Talk

Dance

Life

A Whole New Thing

Missed Me

Yes they fit better, i would love that between Stand and Riot was the album intended to be instead of the Greatest Hits.

Greatest Hits because it includes their best song "Thank You (falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"

214 said:

Hamad said:

I've always thought that both of "Fresh" and "Riot" could easily fit into a double album. They share the same mood.

Not, their sound is different, somebody know what he's talkin about in the song In Time. I have read that Miles Davis was fascinated with this song

Could be

grab the first 4 albums and take it from there

Stand! is their masterpiece

Not really that into them. Prince fandom or not. I don't really hear Prince in their music, beyond the soul comparison.

2freaky4church1 said:

Not really that into them. Prince fandom or not. I don't really hear Prince in their music, beyond the soul comparison.

Wow, I can say that even Prince has admitted that the band was a major influence and inspiration of his music. The architech of funk is Sly Stone. Listen to "Housequake" as an example.

madhattter said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Not really that into them. Prince fandom or not. I don't really hear Prince in their music, beyond the soul comparison.

Wow, I can say that even Prince has admitted that the band was a major influence and inspiration of his music. The architech of funk is Sly Stone. Listen to "Housequake" as an example.

Or The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

2freaky4church1 said:

Not really that into them. Prince fandom or not. I don't really hear Prince in their music, beyond the soul comparison.

IMO - Sly and the Family Stone/ Graham Central Station taken together make one of the Holy Trinity of P's funk influences, along with James Brown and P-Funk. Sly/ GCS are all over P's music, esp on a lot of the funk stuff from Parade, Dream Factory/ SOTT and again on Emancipation and New Power Soul. No Sly, no Camille .

I like/ love all of Sly's albums (less keen on 'Life', as it always sounds too speeded up to me) and feel that he did some excellent stuff beyond Fresh as well, if not as consistently.

'A Whole New Thing' really ripped my head off when I first got into it a few years ago. VERY impressive for a debut album and underrated in their catalogue.

[Edited 7/15/15 13:52pm]

High on you definitely slept on. Title track, crossword puzzle, he was still bringing it big time.

as far as sly's influence on prince, immeasurable not just musically but also the whole aesthetic in dress, look, vibe and multi racial and gender band in the revolution.

"Forever In My Life" sounds like an ode to Sly Stone's music to me.

The voice of Prince is so similar to Sly's voice and his gimmicks

everything from the look of the revolution to the music in Prince's peak years were SLY STONE & Jimi Hendrix!

2freaky4church1 said:

Not really that into them. Prince fandom or not. I don't really hear Prince in their music, beyond the soul comparison.

My Favourite Sly is the Fresh Outtakes!

"Strange Relationship", "Make Your Mama Happy", the opening riffs to "Shy", the guitar licks in "Data Bank"..There's a LOT of Sly in P's music. Ever hear "Love & Money" slowed down?..unreal..Sounds like Sly from 1972. It was on the internet a few years ago but the "purple police" took it down.