Parliament

Parliament affects a studiedly bizarre persona. Graham Central Station on downs, if you
will, or the Temptations with a token affection for S&M. "Testify," a remake of the mid-Sixties
minor classic the group cut in safer days, flaunts a mélange of several separate, stoned
voices in search of a groove but is carried along by characteristically close harmony and
rhythm work once the pretense can be dealt with. The professionalism of the b... More >

What seems to distinguish this mysterious alternate version of Funkadelic (same personnel, different label) from the original is that it's more politic. Its excesses don't offend. Gone is all the scabrous talk of holes and bitches, and gone too are the politics themselves--the nearest this comes to social criticism is to praise the brain. But what's left is damn near a (musical) revolution. The material George Clinton has amassed over the years--the harmony-group vocal chops, the Jimi H. guitar, the James B. horns and rhythms--is here deployed in yet another audacious deconstruction/reconstruction of black pop traditions, and this time it works. All of the voice arrangements skew the original "I Wanna Testify" (which is reinterpreted for comparison) the way those of Big Star do, say, "Run for Your Life." The horns and guitars weave and comment and come front. And the title cut kicks and jams. One more riff like that and they'd take over the world. (Grade: A-)