Review Summary: The gloomy funk soundrack of false hopes and optimism fading away.
The year was 1971 and the optimistic mood of the 1960's had ended sharply, replaced with a growing sense of pessimism, especially with the recent assassination of Martin Luther King, the civil rights movements decline and continuation of the Vietnam war. This change in attitude was especially evident in Sly Stone who, becoming more dependant on drugs, was also becoming increasingly paranoid of those around him, even going as far as hiring bodyguards to keep his 'enemies' way from him, some of whom were even other members of the band. Sly's behaviour was also becoming erratic, with him missing nearly a third of his concerts in 1970.
During the 1960's, Sly's songs had all been positive upbeat messages of peace, love and equality, with songs such as 'You Can Make It If You Try', and 'Stand!'. However, this sound would change completely in 1971's
There's a Riot Goin' On.
Unusually for funk,
Riot is constantly low-key and gloomy. Never happy with the album's sound during production, Sly brought in session musicians for some songs and played most of the music himself, overdubbing the instruments and often leaving out many of the band members. Sly constantly re-recorded over and deleted what he didn't like, most notably when he recorded several female back-up vocalists, only to delete their voices manually later when he was unsatisfied with the results.
Because of this constant overdubbing, re-recording and deleting of sounds the whole album is covered with tape hiss and has a grimy and gritty tone throughout. Even when the music should be sounding upbeat and happy, it instead sounds sludgy and gloomy, giving it a very unique sound. At any time it does manage to sound at all happy, such as the positive soulful singing of Rose Stone and melodic (though strangely melancholic sounding) trumpet of 'Runnin' Away', the music stands in stark contrast to the lyrics, which when you can hear them over the sludgy music, replace the usual Sly message of 'You can make it if you try' with lines like 'Sometimes I cry / Just like a baby / I can feel it when / You lie to me'.
Because of this, any happiness shown ends up sounding empty, sarcastic and not at all genuine, with bleak, sorrowful undertones just below the surface. However, it does stop the music from always sounding totally depressing like the first few Leonard Cohen albums, instead usually just sounding gloomy and sad.
The overall sound is fractured and unpredictable, with fragmented sounding slap bass lines and riffs being created by sudden, sharp and tense-sounding electric piano and guitar notes that almost seem as if they've been copied and pasted together. On the longer songs especially, such as 'Africa Talks To You "The Asphalt Jungle"', these notes seem to meander off in different directions. This more complex approach contrasts well with the more tightly structured songs such as 'Brave and Strong', giving the album some variety. While there are plenty of great and quite catchy melodies, they are often hidden, buried under the sludgy tone of the album. However, they become much more obvious on repeat listens, and because they're not too obvious, they don't get at all boring.
As the band's previous drummer, Gregg Errico had recently left the band, most of the drums on
Riot were created using a simplistic drum machine. However, this does not hinder the album, but the drums give a cold mechanical song that actually fits in well and manages to add to the mood and uniqueness of the album. Most of the singing is by Sly Stone who's singing is always strong, varying from powerful Soul singing to much more restrained calm and emotional singing, even though it is often quite difficult to hear exactly what he is saying due to the sound of the album.
Riot usually works best though when he is joined by Rose Stone, who's fantastic upbeat singing style compliments Sly's voice perfectly.
Overall,
There's a Riot Goin' On is an incredible album, easily one of the best of the decade and very hard to criticise. It could be argued that it is too inaccessible due to its bleak atmosphere and fractured sound, though it sounds better on repeated listens. The relative lack of energy shown, especially when compared to earlier Sly & The Family Stone albums could also be criticised, but that lazy and slow sound is what creates the atmosphere so brilliantly. It also sounds slightly dated on some tracks like 'Runnin' Away' but it's not that noticeable really. The instrumental bonus tracks aren't nearly as good or as engaging, but as far as the original album goes, it is incredibly influential, brutally honest, emotional and genuine. One of the best albums ever.
