Track Listing:
Crush It
{G Clinton, W Collins} 3:51 lyrics
Trombipulation
{G Clinton, W Collins} 4:34 lyrics
Long Way Around
{G Clinton, Walter Morrison} 5:40 lyrics
Agony of Defeet
{Ron Dunbar, Donnie Sterling, G Clinton} 6:23 lyrics
New Doo Review
{G Clinton, Ron Ford} 5:55 lyrics
Let's Play House
{G Clinton, W Collins, W Morrison} 3:39 lyrics
Body Language
{G Clinton} 5:57 lyrics
Peek-A-Groove
{G Clinton, R Ford} 7:48 lyrics
Personnel: (Here goes.)
"Crush It"
Bass, Guitar, Drums: Bootsy Collins
Keyboards: David Lee Chong
Vocal Arrangements: George Clinton, Bootsy Collins
Horn Arragements: Fred Wesley
"Trombipulation"
Bass, Guitar, Drums: Bootsy Collins
Keyboards: David Lee Chong
Vocal Arrangements: George Clinton
Horn Arrangements: Fred Wesley
"Long Way Around"
Oberheim Bass, Synthesizer, Acoustic Piano: Bernie Worrell
Drums: Bootsy Collins
Vocal Arrangements: George Clinton, Walter Morrison
Tenor Sax Solo: Michael Brecker
Trumpet: Randy Brecker
Horn & String Arrangements: Tony Camillo
"Agony Of Defeet"
Lead Vocals: Ron Dunbar, Donnie Sterling
Bass: Donnie Sterling
Guitar: Tony Thomas
Drums: Lonnie Green
Percussion: Larry Fratangelo
Keyboards: David Lee Chong
Vocal Arrangements: Ron Dunbar
Producer: George Clinton, Ron Dunbar
"New Doo Review"
Bass: Lige Curry
Guitar: Michael Hampton
Drums: Bootsy Collins
Keyboards: David Lee Chong and Michael Hampton
Vocal Arrangements: George Clinton, Ron Ford, Garry Shider
Horn & String Arrangements: Tony Camillo
"Let's Play House"
Alternating Lead Vocals: Junie Morrison, Garry Shider
Jerome Rodgers, Bootsy Collins (rap)
Bass, Guitar, Drums: Bootsy Collins
Keyboards: David Lee Chong, Bernie Worrell
Percussion: Carl "Butch" Small
Harmonica: Aaron "Little Sonny" Willis
Sax Solo: Bootsy Collins
Vocal Arrangements: George Clinton, Walter Morrison
Horn Arrangements: Fred Wesley
"Body Language"
Bass: Donnie Sterling
Guitar: Gordon Carlton
Drums: Tyrone Lampkin
Percussion: Larry Fratangelo
Keyboards: David Lee Chong
Vocal Arrangements: George Clinton
Horn Arrangements: Fred Wesley
String Arrangements: Tony Camillo
"Peek-A-Groove"
Bass: Jimmie Ali
Guitars: Gordon Carlton and Jimmie Ali
Drums: Kenny Colton
Keyboards: Manon Saulsby and Ernesto Wilson
Synthesizer: David Lee Chong
Vocal Arrangements: Ron Ford, George Clinton
Horn Arrangements: Larry Hatcher, Greg Thomas,
Darryl Dixon, and Bernie Worrell
String Arrangements: Bernie Worrell
Horn Players: Fred Wesley, Larry Hatcher, Bennie Cowan, Greg Thomas,
Maceo Parker, Richard Griffith, Darryl Dixon, David Taylor,
Barry Taylor, Barry Rogers, Danny Cahn, David Tofani, John Mical,
David Majali, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker
Vocals: Dr. Funk, Garry Shider, Ray Davis, Michael "Clip" Payne, Lige Curry,
Jerome Rodgers, Larry Hatcher, Robert Johnson, Ron Dunbar,
Jeanette McGruder, Dawn Silva, Sheila Horne, Mallia Franklin,
Shirley Hayden, Janice Evans, Jeanette Washington, Gwen Dozier,
Cheryl James, Ron Ford, Patty Walker, Andre Williams, Stevie Pannell,
Kevin Shider, Tracey "Trey Lewd" Lewis, Tony Davis, Philippe Wynne,
Jessica Cleaves, Donnie Sterling, Tony Thomas, Lonnie Greene,
Nina Hoover, Linda Shider, Larry Heckstall, Dawn Driver, Ronni Faust,
God Momms
Rating: GZ ***1/2 RC ***1/2 MM ***1/2
Comments:GZ: Highlights: "Agony of Defeet" is a great cut that should be better known.
RC: The final Parliament album has more spark than Gloryhallastoopid, but it once again suffers from too many musicians and too little musical coherency. Bernie Worrell's spark is definitely missing on many of the arrangements and tunes, allowing some of the songs to languish in mediocrity. Despite the general lack of new ideas and the focus on too many dance tracks, there are a lot of good things to say about this album. The Sir Nose saga is played out to a satisfying conclusion, with Sir Nose Junior promising to always keep the funk after his dad finds out that his people were the original Cro-Nasal Sapiens, the original keepers of the funk. `I was jivin' before Piltdown, I am the missing link.` Bootsy's influence is strong on the first couple of theme-related tracks, and he has a truly outstanding dance track as well. Bootsy's strong presence on bass is also quite welcome after hearing how far down the bass was buried on Gloryhallastoopid, if it wasn't replaced by a bass synth altogether.
"Crush It" is a fun track, featuring some classic Bootsy bass, a great horn arrangement, and some hilarious lyrics. Puns abound on the nose theme, as Sir Nose Junior promises that he will dance. This ties directly into "Trombipulation". The song title refers to the use of a nose or trunk to pick up objects, like an elephant. This track is also classic Bootsy, and both have more of a Rubber Band feel than Parliament. But it also features classic Parliament lead-swapping and a great Sir Nose appearance. More great puns appear, this time on old Parliament lyrics, "It ain't what you nose, it's what you feel." "Long Way Around" is a P.Funk ballad that sounds like it might have come off the Chocolate City sessions. Strings contrast with a heavy bass sound to create a mildly interesting tune that is a nice change of pace. Ron Dunbar and Donnie Sterling provide their greatest P.Funk moment with "Agony Of Defeet", which basically exhausts every podiatric pun imaginable. But it's a very amusing dance track that is completely irresistable, driven mostly by great drumming and keyboards. "New Doo Review" is one of the most forgettable Parliament songs, with a wasted Sir Nose appearance. Sounds like filler. "Let's Play House", on the other hand, is one of the great unheralded Parliament tracks. This is another almost all-Bootsy production, with weird keyboard effects at the beginning, great breathy vocals from Garry, catchy back-vocals, and a clever idea. More Rubber Band-like horn arrangements add to the fun. 'I am the music. Sheet music, to be precise.' "Body Language" is another odd keyboard-driven track with a strange but engaging rhythmic feel and effective use of percussion. "Peek-A-Groove" is a very disco-ish track that simply sounds like more filler that could have appeared on any P.Funk project of this time.
No new ground was broken on this one, though the talents of some great musicians still provided a few nice moments. Still, only "Agony of Defeet" and "Let's Play House" are essential, so I might recommend one of the greatest hits packages if you don't want to collect every album. Overall, it's a pretty good listen, and much less commercial sounding than their previous effort.
MM: "Agony Of Defeet" is great--has a similar feel to Funkadelic's "(Not Just) Knee Deep" ("Knee Deep" is superior though.) "Let's Play House" is good as is the strange "Body Language". "Peek A Groove" is pretty bad.