steppin' on down!

you better bet i'm feeling good when i write about these wonderful brothers from cincinnati, ohio. this is one of the best comps out there dealing with funk this damn phat! the lead-off track, "showdown" proves this. to me, marvin isley is one of the most underrated bass players of all time. not that there ain't any other bass men out there, but marvin's bass playing has a style of its own. just listen to the bass pops on tracks like "i wanna be with you", "take me to the next phase", "the pride", and "tell me "when you need it again". high, phat, and funky is all it is. and let's not forget ernie isley's scorching solos on his fender strat! damn, this mother can jamm! his solos on "liquid love", "hope you feel better love", "who loves you better", and "climbing up the ladder" just blow the speakers out! in other words, all 14 songs kick major glass, and i'm not talkin' about the plastic kind, either.

The Isleys ROCK!

Never a weak track, this baby funks all the way. High energy funk throughout with the guitar effects the Isley Brothers were fameous for in the 1970's. You listen to this and say to yourself, why don't I listen to this more often? It doesn't have the Top 40 hit tracks of some of their other CD's but it has the most consistently powerful music all the way throught. You will groove on this.

If your kids come up to you and ask, "Dad, what is funk?" reach for this CD first. No words can explain it, but this music will.

Whatevers Goin Down...!

I'm on the case. I bought this anthology about 3 years ago and I still am amazed at how underrated the Isleys upbeat funk is. They are much heavier than the Commodores or the Gap Band and Ron Isley has one of the most distinctive voices in black music history, but it is the ensemble palying that makes this joint the sho shot. Check out the guitars on Climbin up the Ladder, or the lewd and nasty bass and keys on Liquid Love. Everyone always talks about their slow jams and they are spectacular but the fact that this is a basically a rock band probably started to turn many radio DJs away from them towards the end of the 70s. Rediscover one of America's best bands.