Review Summary: A Masterwork Soaked In Drugs And Ambiguity, Sly And The Family Stone's Landmark Album Finds The Ultimate Texture Of Modern Funk.
Years ago, I was in search of the album that expressed the best the struggle of Afro-American music to enter in our conscience, to feel like an movement of universal value and total confidence. Of course, "What’s Goin’ On" may be the answer to all this search, due to its social context and the arrangements’ mastery, but I felt attracted more by another creation that expressed the political stormy decor with a defining musical substance. "There’s A Riot Goin’ On" proves to be the most ardent expression of social tumult, presenting a chaotic music that has a definitive suggestive power. Although it is a sinking in the universe of drugs, "There’s A Riot Goin’ On" gives an accurate portrait of the beginning of the seventies from an Afro-American point of view, its value surviving over decades of perspective changes and conceptual differences. Even if the lyrical value isn’t so meaningful, the album gives a lively portrait of a society and style, contouring the beginning of the modern funk.
Above all, "There’s A Riot Goin’ On" feels riotous and unleashed, without any creative border. It wants to experiment, to amplify textures and to find an original way of expression. This approach gives a sort of universality to the music, the album presenting the idea of a lush revolt, of a socio-political commentary (which isn't so fluent due to the band’s excesses) dressed in fructuous textures.
At the time of recording, Sly Stone was in the downward spiral of heroin use. As we all know, he made multiple mixing attempts, wearing out the tapes and getting a stuffy sound that differed from the previous albums which presented a somewhat coherent mix between experiment and socially charged lyrics. Here, the band rewrites its own set of rules, leaning toward a heavy-funk sound punctuated by monotonous rhythms and daringly dissonant vocals that are emphasized by the lo-fi aesthetic. With this approach, Sly and the Family Stone find a unique sound suggesting the complexity of their original funk, a funk that is strongly connected with the word's literary meaning. The result is an energetic, rough style evidencing an unmannered way of communication. So, "There's A Riot Goin' On" honors the definition of "funk," creating a music full of substance imposed with a harsh sound. It’s a pure quest for essence, totally different from the Afro-American pop creations released until then.
As for the album’s composition, the whole set of songs forms a unity, the lo-fi sound giving a further depth to the strange bond established between the moments. "Luv 'N' Heigh" shows a musical breath which continues with the soulful "Just Like A Baby". The introduction from "Poet" opens for a couple of seconds the charged atmosphere, only to fall into the same funk patterns that marked the previous two songs. "Family Affair" adapts the free-form character to a single’s structure without denying the hermetic approach expressed before, showing the multitude of Sly Stone’s musical conception. Appealing to a profound rhythm and to a flashy keyboard succession, "Family Affair" will have a definitive resonance in the hip-hop and rap, emphasizing an infectious beat spread over a dialogue of voices.
"Africa Talks To You" contours a dizzying atmosphere that combines all the structural elements of the band’s style, feeling like an exercise in rhythmic structure and free-form discourse. Tracing inspiration from jazz and soul, the song presents a hypnotic variation over a repetitive theme, an element which drives the entire climate to an ambiguity born from an echoic monotony. After "Africa Talks To You," there’s a silent moment which shares the album’s title. I cannot say I fully get the joke, but it may be a part of Sly Stone’s deviant conception (or simply a novelty).
The vinyl’s side B begins with "Brave And Strong", a funk interpretation of a soul-inspired melodic line. It’s more accessible than the previous songs, having a well-contoured character. "(You Caught Me) Smilin'’’ again stresses a concise structure, being followed by the smooth "Time". "Spaced Cowboy" presents a more accessible approach, the yodel refrain being one of the moments that constitutes one of the album’s charms, its enchanting beauty being continued by the highly melodic "Runnin’ Away". Until here, it’s clear that side B is easier to pervade and more concise than side A, showing an accessible part of the band’s style that saved the album from a commercial failure. Also, the initial vibration will be splendidly reconstructed on "Thank You For Talkin’ To Me, Africa," a reinterpretation of an older hit. Strikingly different from the original, the new "Thank You" finishes the album in the same muddy style as the beginning, giving a long-lasting impression of musical revolt. Interestingly, the last moment may be an invitation to compare the band’s previous releases with "There’s A Riot Goin’ On" and to appreciate the new predilection for atmospheric soundscapes and exuberant textures.
Finally, the idea of revolution is mainly expressed by the musical composition and by the chaotic interpretation. So, this approach establishes a force of universal suggestion. Even if the lyrics are constructed over social ideas, the music reigns over the literary content, the album presenting a rapacious feeling of artistic and political revolution. That made me categorize "There’s A Revolt Goin’ On" as the essential Afro-American album, because it is a record which returns to the meaningful essence of the music, opting for a fully accomplished musical structure. That makes the album a part of our musical conscience and a cultural turning point. His muddy rhythms and acid melodic lines create a new musical concept that will have a significant impact on the entire rock décor. Because of this way of primal communication, the record will be praised by artists varying from Herbie Hancock to Iggy Pop, musicians who appreciated its ability to speak in the soulful language of deep and rowdy funk. .
