Reviews (page 2 of 9)
Insane recording. Ridiculously mixed. Great songs, mostly.
The only thing that can be a drag with these albums is that some of the songs just seem to drag on a bit, but those are still great.
Just superb. Funk with a conscience and a real groove and it’s not even my favourite of their albums. Genius.
A decent listen, but I didn’t hear much that would indicate a reason for inclusion on the list.
Nah. Not feeling it.
Chill funk is what I'd call this , loved it I know the band but had never heard this one it's so funky this is one I'd listen to again
This album sits solidly at a 4. I always enjoy it. It also makes me a little sad when I think of the later life of Sly Stone. I think in many ways, this is the highest height of his life, the point he was always trying to return to as he battled drug addiction and the vicissitudes of fame. 4 Boolean:True
Solid from beginning to end. What a wonderful ride.
Absolute classic in funk, I cannot believe the grooves on some of these, I was imagining an impeccable band playing this but was surprised to learn Sly did a lot of the instruments himself. Thank You For Talkin To Me, Africa, best song. Nasty groove. Worst song is the title track, rip off of 4'33.
didnt wow me but some good bangers
4.5/5
It was fine nothing crazy
Album molto divertente e funky, piacevole all’ascolto. Mi è piaciuto
First listen - pfft, what is this dusty old snoozefest Second listen - huh, this is pretty funky I guess Third listen - holy shit. This is a masterpiece. A seering indictment of and piercing portrait into the tormented collective psyche of a culture.
Soulful, dark and tense. This album is a perfectly crafted collection of banger after banger, each more funky than the last. I've heard Sly and The Family Stone before, mostly through my dad, but it was such a treat to take a trip through their sound over a very groovy hour. Very nice indeed.
Review - never dove into full Sly albums before but this is really good. Family Affair of course an all time classic but songs like Just Like A Baby and Runnin' Away were great too. It's an odd listen. In so far as it's funk, it's inherently upbeat. But the production and song writing can be quite dark. Fun mix but idk what mood I'd have to be in to reach for this. Enjoyed it though, even if few songs stuck out to me. Score - 7.5/10 Need to listen? YES
Its a bit of a mess. No-ones in charge and every instrument is played at the same decibel. I say this as a fan of their music generally.
Not really my genre, but this was still a fun listen. Solid.
I don't know if I was just not in the correct head space, but I didn't enjoy my time with this album. It seemed disjointed and a little all over the place. I like my funk with a touch of joy and a little happiness and this album was missing both of those at most times. It's probably just me. I was left disappointed.
Much preferred the other S&TFS album in the book, Stand!. This started out very strongly with a real swagger to it and some dirty basslines, but it dipped too much into meandering lift music territory after that. It's certainly less optimistic in scope than Stand!, and therefore a far less inviting listen, with much more of a drug-addled paranoia hanging over this one and a grimier urban production job where some of the instrumentation kind of merges into an indecipherable ball of sludge.
There's still a riot goin' on. Evergreen.
Nice, repetitive, fine. Works as background music.
I quite like some Sly & The Family Stone tracks, but this album was a bit more downtempo and improvisational than what I normally enjoy about them. Rating: 2.5
No brilliant
buenillo
Several songs are no more than a nice groove, but I love the warm fuzziness of the degraded tape. It wouldn't exist without the chaos and crashing comedowns its soft haze obscures. It's an album whose atmosphere might be its strongest asset.
So far, kinda minimalistično in the lyrics department. Bl k nek funky jamming, z občasnim petjem. Kar v bistvu da filing nedokončanosti. K ideja, k ni do konca razvita, ampak ostane pri svoji prvotni minimalističnosti. Alpa je sam very to the point. In kljub temu, da preberem ozadje albuma, preprost ne morm totalno ponotranjit konteksta of the time. "Family Affair" poznam. Ha, "Brave & Strong" zveni familiar, v smislu, da je moral bit sampled v nekem rap komadu, ki ga poznam (mja, najverjetneje Beastie Boys, mogoč tud Wu-Tang Clan). Mja, zmer k naletim na album k je for some reason universally acclaimed, men se pa zdi bl mid, začnem dvomit v vse. Pač men se ne zdi, da je tole tok insanely dobr, kokr folk trdi. (Glede na reviews na 1001 album appu, sm v manjšini.) V bistvu mi je tazadnji komad ("Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa") še najljubši do zdaj.
Vähän sekavan outoa menoa. välillä ihan kivaa mut välillä tylsintä ikinä
Onpahan taas löysää menoa. Ei lähde mikään biisi lentoon, tai edes lähelle.
Iha hyvää fänkkiä ja semmosta.
Aika pornahtavaa menoa. Ihan jees.
Very few kyrics for such long Songs. Repeatetive. Nice Rythem tho
# There's a Riot Goin' On: A Portrait of a Dream Deferred Sly & The Family Stone's *There's a Riot Goin' On* is not an album you put on to feel good. It is a document of collapse—the collapse of the 1960s ideal, the collapse of a band, and the slow unraveling of its visionary leader. Released in November 1971, it arrived two years after the band's triumphant performance at Woodstock and their run of exuberant, unifying hits like "Everyday People" and "Dance to the Music." What it delivered instead was a murky, exhausted, deeply unsettling masterpiece that turned funk inside out. ## Music and Production The most immediate shock of *Riot* is its sound. Where *Stand!* was bright, tight, and kinetic, *Riot* is viscous and hazy—a thick fog of electric piano, bass, and muffled drums. Sly Stone largely abandoned the live-band interplay that defined his earlier work. Instead, he recorded piecemeal, often playing most instruments himself, bringing in musicians one at a time for overdubs and frequently erasing their contributions. Billy Preston, Ike Turner, and Bobby Womack appear, but the communal spirit of The Family Stone is largely absent . The rhythmic foundation is crucial to the album's character. Sly replaced drummer Greg Errico's thunderous backbeat with a primitive drum machine, one of the earliest prominent uses of the technology in popular music. The result is a mechanical, hypnotic pulse that feels less like groove and more like a heartbeat under sedation. "Family Affair," the album's only #1 hit, rides this drum machine with a somber, electric piano-driven arrangement that sounds like a slow-motion dream . The production is deliberately muddy—vocals are often buried, instruments bleed into one another, and the whole thing sounds like it's being broadcast through a wall. This wasn't a limitation; it was the point. As *The Wire* noted, "distortion was always a major part of the Sly & The Family Stone sound, and it's wonderful to hear an expensive album breaking up in this way" . ## Lyrics and Themes The album's title is a direct response to Marvin Gaye's *What's Going On*, released five months earlier. Where Gaye asked questions with tender urgency, Sly offered a shrug. The title track itself is famously zero minutes and zero seconds long—a silent joke, a negation. Sly later explained: "I felt there should be no riots" . The gesture encapsulates the album's ethos: exhaustion, withdrawal, the refusal to even perform outrage. The lyrics, when decipherable through the murk, are fragments of disillusionment and paranoia. "Luv N' Haight" satirizes the Haight-Ashbury counterculture that had once embraced the band, its title a bitter play on the neighborhood's name . "Africa Talks to You 'The Asphalt Jungle'" stretches over nine minutes, a sprawling meditation on fame's isolating effects. "Runnin' Away" captures the album's central emotional state: a person so disconnected from their own life that escape feels like the only honest response. The personal context is inescapable. Sly was deep in drug addiction during the sessions, increasingly isolated from his bandmates, and reportedly recording much of the album while lying in bed . The music reflects this: it sounds like someone making a funk record from the bottom of a well. Themes of addiction, isolation, and political despair permeate the album, but they are never announced—they simply saturate everything, like damp . ## Influence The album's influence is difficult to overstate. *Rolling Stone* ranked it #99 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, calling it "implosive, numbing, darkly self-referential" . *Down Beat* wrote that it "opened new dark corridors for funk and anticipated hip-hop and neo-soul" . That anticipation is literal. The album's murky textures, mechanical rhythms, and fragmentary vocals became foundational source material for hip-hop production. De La Soul sampled "Poet" on *3 Feet High and Rising*. J Dilla and Madlib—two of the most influential producers in hip-hop history—cited *Riot* as a foundational influence in shaping their chopped, sample-heavy soundscapes . The album's willingness to let songs drift, to prioritize atmosphere over hooks, and to find beauty in decay became a template for generations of artists across funk, soul, hip-hop, and alternative rock. Prince, in particular, seems to have absorbed the album's lessons: the fusion of funk and introspection, the willingness to sound damaged, the idea that a groove could be a vehicle for unease rather than release. ## Pros and Cons **Pros:** - **Unmatched atmosphere:** No other funk album sounds like this. The murky, druggy, exhausted production is a singular aesthetic achievement that perfectly matches its themes . - **Historical importance:** It is a crucial document of post-1960s disillusionment, capturing the moment when the optimism of the civil rights and counterculture movements curdled into something darker . - **Innovative production:** The early use of drum machines, the unconventional mixing, and the fragmentary recording process anticipated decades of studio experimentation . - **Emotional honesty:** For all its opacity, the album is brutally sincere. It refuses to perform joy it doesn't feel . **Cons:** - **Inaccessibility:** The muddy mix and buried vocals make many tracks difficult to penetrate, especially on first listen . - **Uneven pacing:** The album's languid tempos and extended jams can feel sluggish, particularly "Africa Talks to You" and the closing "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa" . - **Context dependency:** Appreciating the album often requires understanding its historical moment and Sly's personal circumstances. Without that context, it can simply sound like a poorly recorded funk record. - **Limited replay value for some:** Its bleakness makes it an album to admire more than to casually enjoy. It's not a record that invites repeated, carefree listening . *There's a Riot Goin' On* is a great album precisely because of its flaws. The murk, the exhaustion, the sense of a genius unraveling—these aren't defects to be overlooked but the substance of the work itself. It is the sound of a party ending, of a movement fracturing, of a man retreating into himself. It is not an easy listen, but it is an essential one.
It's fun and funky. I love it.
yk it was decently alright tbf
Pretty solid
Dark, hard listen. Chill in parts.
i like the funk, not so much the soul. high 3/5
Funky, jammy, raw, and groovy! Rating: 7/10 Favorite Song: Thank you for Talkin' to Me, Africa
Brilliant funky music, although I'd leave yodeling to a New Zealand's Top Twins! Spaced out cowboy or not.
Funky but samey. 3/5
It’s fine for what it is. I dunno. I went to a dinner tonight where only fish was served. I hate fish. That doesn’t mean the fish was bad or that the chef was unskilled; the chef used fun and interesting flavors. Everyone else was over the moon. But I still hate fish. The meal was not good to me, solely because I hate seafood. Further, I’m a terrible judge of fish dishes and my opinion should probably not be considered when evaluating fish, because again, I don’t like it at the outset. That’s what this feels like, and I’m annoyed that my whole night equates to tolerating things I don’t like. But beyond that, I’m not a good judge. I don’t really care about funk or fish. This might be excellent, but I’ll never know. 6/10
There’s a Riot Goin’ On is not a perfect album, and it is not even Sly and the Family Stone’s most immediately pleasurable one. It is too murky, too repetitive, and too dependent on atmosphere to earn a higher score. But it captures something almost no other major funk album captures: the moment when music built on joy, unity, and movement begins to feel haunted by its own collapse. The album’s roughness is not incidental. It is the message. A damaged masterpiece—and perhaps the most convincing funk album ever made about the disappearance of hope.
The mixing is a disaster. Sounds like somebody passed the whole recording through a harsh distortion. Vocals aren't compressed properly, and the overall listening experience is unpleasant. Further, the music itself is predictable, energy deprived and repetitive. A punishing listening.
Sick grooves. This record never fails to let me down.
Poor. It has ‘Family Affair’ and nothing else that stands out. Formulaic funk. Boring background music. ‘Spaced Cowboy’ is quirky cool, but that’s it.
meh. it's alright i guess. I do tend to not have a lot of patience for this boomer hippie fist in the air fight the man stuff. Especially now in 2026, when the boomers are still "fighting the man" while also being "the man" keeping all subsquent generations down. Key tracks: Family Affair
Vare8hka :"/
It’s solid soul music but unfortunately I’m not feeling anything special at all throughout the totality of it
Funky goodness
My review is not reflective of the quality of the album, but only of my personal preference of it.
Great album, got everything you need from this genre. Slow, chilled and groovy mellow songs. And songs that make you wanna boogy. 5/5 Best Song: Running Away
He was the weirdest and coolest guy in music for a while, and it shows a lot, he could right some bangers
I always love Sly and the Family, but I am also surprised when I get their albums that I don’t love them more. Still this is a 4 for me. 4 Boolean: True
Hard to square this with the triumphant and expansive jams I know Sly better for. It's also way too far out of my experience to really appreciate culturally or personally. Does it move me though? Sure does.
Apart from quite a nice live feel to things, a fairly pedestrian soul funk album. Felt like it was missing about of the disco feel of other soul albums and that gave it a bit more substance but as I'm not a fan I'd rather it be light and breezy. Can't remember the other sly album way back when in the 100s, but I gave that a 2 and I'll give this a 2.
Family Affair has some incredible funk going on, loved the song anyway, but the rest is largely pleasant background music. From what I gather, the band (Sly in particular) were off their nut on various drugs throughout the development and recording; I can sort of it hear it in the lyrics. Ultimately no worse, nor better, than the other album we had a while back.
Pretty funky. Enjoyed it largely. Recognised family affair. Not as good as the previous album of theirs we had though. Still worth a 3 probably
Good album. I like the funk.
Enjoyed that alot. Funky, groovy, dark, experimental and even included a yodelling cowboy. Loose and baggy in a very good way.
There’s A Riot Goin’ On I used to love this album, I think it was a purchase from one of those record fairs at Dunelm House, but I’ve not listened to it in a long time. Listening now reminded me how great it is, its dense, murky relentlessly overdubbed sound reflecting the intraband tensions, but also the tensions of the post hippie early 70s period, and an excellent contrast to the optimistic dance and self empowerment of Stand from two years before. The grooves are relentless and slightly unsettling, mining similar tempos with the drum machine poking through the murk occasionally, with guitars added short sharp accents and the bass to the fore. From time to time sunniness penetrates the heaviness and their melodic skill shows as on Family Affair, You Caught Me Smilin’ and Runnin’ Away. But the more paranoid, heavy, muggy tracks are the ones that stay with you, Luv N’ Haight, Poet and the superb twin stand out epics of Africa Talks To You and Thank You for Talkin’ To Me Africa. They both have an unforgiving and hypnotic feel, aided by the inconsistent production, they are simultaneously addictive and slightly uncomfortable. It’s been great revisiting and being reminded what an album this is. 5. 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 Playlist submission: Africa Talks To You
I'm not sure what happened in between 'Stand!' and this, but this has a world-weariness, maybe drug addiction, maybe depression, maybe ennui, that feeds into the music. It's a superb study in apathetic funk. 'Family Affair' really stands out as the peak melody, female vocals smooth as silk, Sly sounding like he just woke up, and a great funk track behind it. Fantastic. Like the Women's Institute, it can rely on jams with less character - primarily 'Thank You for Talking to Me, Africa' which is too repetitive and stagnant. Yet it's still in keeping with the overall thrust of the record and cannot detract from what is an outstanding record.
hee hee hee hee
What a record. Every Sly record is a treasure. There's so much going on in the music, the bass is driving everything, but he's doing so much with the production. Mixing and experimenting with weird sounds. He's playing with emotions and feelings. Its sex, its chaos, its excitement. Its beautiful.
Funky. Larry Grahm
Such an interesting funk album, it's way less cathartic than most albums of the time, almost being the definition of chill funk, or equivalent to that, in the 70s. It also is heavily influenced by blues, which justifies the slow paced tone and energy, the spatial sound and production is all up there though, with great rhythm, vocals, variety and composing. The most impressive part of the album is how modern it sounds, many times while I'm listening, I'm thinking "this could be any 80s fusion record and it would be just as cool as it was in the 80s"
It was good but not as on spot as Stand. A bit all over the place.
Sugar Dunkerton/Downtown Funkystuff Malone/Coffee Black looking ass
Sly & the Family Stone were the masters of socially conscious funk but never take themselves too seriously either. Great stuff!
It’s fine.
Not what I was expecting. Decent. Wanted more from it though
Jamais écouté avant. Si Stand! était l'aboutissement festif et exubérant du psychédélisme des années 1960, There's a Riot Goin' On en est la descente, le constat d'échec, un retour sombre et brutal à la réalité. Ce qui n'en fait pas un moins bon album, ni même un album moins funk, mais sans doute un album moins facile d'accès. Plus lent rythmiquement, plus froid mélodiquement, plus réaliste et engagé dans les textes. La faute aussi à ses conditions d'enregistrement chaotiques, particulièrement perceptibles sur la voix de Sly Stone, brumeuse et grésillante, et sur les batteries et boîtes à rythme, très métalliques. Des défauts qui, paradoxalement, font toute l'identité de There's a Riot Goin' On, une identité dont l'influence colossale dans les années qui suivront, et notamment sur le hip-hop jusqu'à aujourd'hui, est évidente. Top : Africa Talks to You ("The Asphalt Jungle") Flop : Spaced Cowboy
3.5/5 funky fresh
Not Sly's best album, but I enjoyed the funk out of it.
I am full of admiration for this album. It pushes funk to the very boundaries of listenability and comes out as a pop record. So much weird shit going down on these tracks it's hard to know where to start. So I won't.
mid 3 a bit disappointed in this. too many jams, not enough songs
Another banger. 5
Sunday, 23 August, 2026 Amazing funk/soul record. It is a busy record, but you can hear the tension in the recording. A perfect protest response to Marvin Gaye’s question: “what’s goin’ on?”
Album #254 Sly and The Family Stone: There’s a Riot Goin’ On I think the most surprising revelation that I’ve had whilst listening through this list is that I actually really like funk. I’m not sure why I never thought to listen to it, since I’m a big fan of a lot of funk-inspired music, such as the whole zolo post-punk scene with bands like Talking Heads, XTC, and Oingo Boingo. But I guess the idea of funk that I had in my head was over the top, cheesy 70s afros and leather suits singing maniacally about sex and funk; well, I was actually kind of right about that in some cases, but it is really a lot better than it sounds. There’s a Riot Goin’ On, however, does not fit into my predisposed notion of what funk music sounds like. Unlike other funk frontmen like George Clinton and James Brown, Sly Stone takes a far more reserved style, often seemingly like he’s trying to relax you rather than light a funk within you. There’s a Riot Goin’ On is one of the coolest and suavest-sounding albums that I’ve heard; each song just introduces a groove and then lets you float on through it as if you were on the lazy river. Some of these tracks are incredibly ahead of their time for 1971, with Runnin’ Away in particular sounding like a song from the 2000s. I think the biggest accomplishment of the album is on Spaced Cowboy when Sly somehow manages to make yodelling sound cool as fuck. All in all, though I don’t think There’s a Riot Goin’ On reaches the same heights as Maggot Brain, it is still a magnificent album, and one that I should no doubt be returning to in my future. Best Songs: Family Affair, Spaced Cowboy, Runnin’ Away Worst Song: Time Score out of 10: 8
Love these funky grooves. A bit muddy mix though
Funkadelic
Very funky
Was excited for funk but left disappointed.
Literally struggling under the weight of Stone’s ambitions and perfectionism, compressing and blowing out sounds and throwing off the mix, but still, to hear what he managed to achieve with that and in his own spiralling to struggles is wild. Comparing this with the first Funkadelic album from the year before is wild, because the amount of songwriting and incredible sound this manages to find while still hitting at a deeper, darker and steadier funk to go into the new decade. I don’t think it’ll be one of my favourite funk albums because it feels spiritually heavier than I’d go to generally, but damned if it ain’t good and damned if Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa being a cooler and sludgier half-speed version of a song from Sly’s previous era doesn’t hit artistically.
Not too riotous
Soul, jazz funk, and even some yodelling thrown in. Family Affair is familiar, much of the remainder not. Enjoyable enough but a bit repetitive after a while.
I can’t score this equal or better than Stevie. All a bit meh.
A few stand-out tracks, but quite a lot of rambling (ed:drug fuelled?) stuff that's hard to lock in to. A disappointed 3*
Ahhhhh
High 4, felt like some cool variety on this
I liked this but I was honestly expecting more. 3.5
Bit too much funk for me
Mid tabke
It's funny, it's sexy, it's groovy. It's also dark and masterful and powerful. I really enjoyed this!
Some great songs on this album as the music was certainly funky. But it didn’t love it as much as I was expecting. Great album but nothing blew me away Family Affair was my favourite song
Good moments, but meh
Classic rock and roll. Great album.
Very good - though the yodelling was unexpected.
Soul and funk are not really my jam but I can see the appeal here
ar vusmendi
Sly and the Family Stone — There's a Riot Goin' On I genuinely don't understand the enormous reputation surrounding There's a Riot Goin' On. For an album so highly regarded in funk and soul, I found it astonishingly lifeless. What I hear is a collection of half-formed ideas drifting past one another, with very little sense of purpose, momentum, or payoff. The production doesn't help. The vocals are buried so deeply in the mix that they often feel almost incidental, and the lyrics don't provide the substance I expected. I went into this expecting sharp social commentary, powerful observations, or some kind of meaningful statement about the turbulent period in which it was made. Instead, I'm left with a jumble of slogans, phrases, and fragments that rarely connect into anything coherent or particularly insightful. The album's two side closers are probably the closest thing to worthwhile listening: extended funk jams that run around eight minutes each. But even those feel like missed opportunities. They meander without developing into anything especially exciting, inventive, or memorable. There's no great groove that locks you in, no particularly compelling musical idea, and no sense that the extended runtime is being used to take the music somewhere interesting. Maybe there's something historically important here that I'm simply not connecting with, but judged purely as a listening experience, There's a Riot Goin' On was a huge disappointment. I kept waiting for the album to reveal the brilliance that its reputation promised, and it never happened. Instead, I heard a murky, subdued collection of underdeveloped ideas that rarely come together as songs. For an album that is so frequently celebrated as a landmark of funk and soul, I honestly find it difficult to understand what everyone else is hearing. I'm at a loss for words as to how poorly this album comes across to me.
Wow, gotta say I really enjoyed this album. Funky, soulful, easy to listen to and the instruments and voices are top notch. Loved it!
Groovin’
According to this site, funk is my favourite genre. However, I can't really get on with this slower, more laid back style. There's a Riot Goin' On is nice enough, but it doesn't do much for me.
Not really my vibe, I was pretty bored with it
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 (rounded up because surely I could come to like this, or perhaps because I refuse to let go of Sly and the Family Stone’s intrinsic perfection) Alright, fine, I’ll be the poser this time—this is nothing like “Stand!” and I oughta booze up and riot about it. Look, I’m usually the one defending departure albums, stylistic shakeups, tonal shifts and the like, because often they bring imagination and experimentation with them. I also am always down for sinister sounds, obviously, which Apple Music’s review promised I was in for. Knowing this was a supposedly more bitter, cynical Sly and his Family Stone this go-around, I knew it wasn’t going to be as happy as the songs I knew and love, but I was still expecting to have fun, is that makes sense, or have funk—you know, get into a groove, feel playful even if the mood was lower. So, yea, my middling feelings aren’t because “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” got a little bit more serious with its subject matter—they’re because it doesn’t even feel like a Riot Goin’ On! If anything, these vague grooves feel more like a poorly organized demonstration where it’s too hot and everyone’s just milling in the park—not even standing in the roads, man! More generously, I’d describe this one as really loose and kind of easier listening than the title suggests—not all that dark, musically, at least not in a way I’m receiving. Maybe “Runnin’ Away” had a nice balance of the sort of melancholy-peppy sound that like that I suppose the Apple Music description was alluding to, but if that’s the case, “sinister” was a poor choice of words. Honestly, this is more like that thirteen-minute sex song on “Stand!” that doesn’t really funk hard enough to earn its title, and there are many cases here where I can say the same: “Brave & Strong” and “Spaced Cowboy” are kind of interesting or even fun, but not very becoming of the title. I also perked up hearing the “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf)” motif appearing on “Thank You for Talkin’ To Me, Africa,” but the contrast between this version and the actual song really illustrates exactly why I’m not vibing with this one. I can imagine myself eventually becoming accustomed to and being able to identify most of these mellow grooves, but I’m not sure the overall impression of the album would draw me back enough to do that. Maybe if this was any other middling soul album I wouldn’t find this so meh, but knowing this is Sly and the Family Stone is what sort of shocks me. They all have such strong vocals, but everything is murmured here. They all have such explosive passion, but everything is sort of exhausted here. Maybe I missed something in the lyrics—I know someone just gonna roll their eyes when they get to this part, but uh, I was on a plane when I listened to this and wasn’t getting all of the words—but come on, man, should the music not also speak? I’m certain the exhaustion is supposed to reflect a political mood, but even that isn’t embodied, which is what I’ve come to expect from Sly. Man! What a bummer. Such strong vocals usually but most everything is sort of murmured here 1: Bad | 2: Below Okay, No Desire to Revisit | 3: Good, Conditionally (OR Inconsistent Mix of Qualities) | 4: Great (OR Technically amazing but missing the sauce emotionally) | 5: Amazing
I enjoyed this, but there was definitely a shadow to it. I read that Sly Stone was really in the throes of substance abuse for this album and most of the others after it, and it does have moments of eeriness and paranoia, as I saw it described on the album's Wikipedia page. It didn't make me feel paranoid, it made me sad. BUT there are also so many fun rhythms and catchy melodies that I really enjoyed! I appreciated the complexity here and may return to a few songs.
As hipsters rediscover Sly and The Family stone and declare that this is now hip again, I would say, meh? This is the product of heavy drug use resulting in a sound only drug addicts comprehend - a sludgy mess of slurred words uttered by a thoroughly fucked up cynical mind. Sure it’s honest but it also is a murky lifeless piece of shit. The dubious dubbing experience would be a better title for Riot. The outright copping of Marvin Gaye-isms and use of a drum machine with a live drummer (really when you have a drummer let them just play - machines sound like shit) compound the misery this album elevates. Perhaps Elevated misery is a better title. Kids - don’t do drugs. Your records will sound like shit. I get this influenced a number of individuals years in the future. But as first experiments go, this is a shit show. There are flashes of good amidst the musical carnage but not enough to make this sad affair enjoyable. 2/10
Luv n' haight - 3 Just like a baby - 3 Poet - 3 Family affair - 3 Africa talks to you (the asphalt jungle) - 3 There's a riot goin' on - na Brave & strong - 3 (You caught me) smilin' - 3 Time - 3 Spaced cowboy - 3 Runnin' away - 2 Thank you for talkin' to me africa - 3
Muffled vocals, clear vocals, feel-good critiques of America, down-in-the-dumps negativisms, all this & the best psychedelic funk e'er produced add up to one of our great records that combine indulgent aesthetics w/ the v hard art of statement-making. 'I'm a songwriter, yeah, a poet.' Said just 2 years before the official birth of hip-hop, this presages that consciousness, & I so admire its forward-thinkingness, but Sly at his best (Stand, There's A Riot, Greatest Hits) is (for real) inimitable. That not-to-be-replicated style culminates on 'Family Affair,' a track that may just be THE song of the 70s, but the whole record is a crystalized vision. You marvel at the audacity as much as you're in disbelief in re the formality. Quintessential; unrivaled; ✌🏾.
Bored
Really enjoyed this album, but that’s not surprising. “Family Affair” and “Thank You For Talkin’ To Me, Africa” were my favorite songs, but it’s solid from top to bottom. Definitely a reason this is considered in many sources to be one of the best albums of all time.
Created "during a period of escalated drug use and intra-group tension." Has a musical group ever been sober and kind to each other?? Questions questions. Good just kinda whatever. Nothing's really sticking out to me. Ok I read the background and I like it more now. The context makes it better. Very funky very groovy. Why's he yodelling. Do cowboys yodel? Runnin away to get away. Would imagine that's the case. Really liking the guitar. Favourite: Time Least favourite: (You Caught Me) Smilin'/Runnin' Away
Creo que la primera impresión es muy buena de este álbum bastante interesante, movido el bajo es muy bueno tiene momentos donde es muy repetitivo, pero en general bastante interesante
Was fine, okay for background music.
8.5 / 10
Yesterday I had Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ which was released only a few months apart from this album. To begin with I wondered how my review could manage to be much different; 60s dream long gone, an America world-weary and living under a Nixon presidency. But then the difference became obvious. While Neil Young was already having to write a song like “The Needle and The Damage Done” as he began losing friends to drugs, ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ is a first hand report from inside the mind of an addict. Sly was in such a state, he could no longer be relied on for shows or to turn up for recording. Instead, the album was created using a makeshift recording facility, Sly overdubbing furiously whilst in a semi-reclusive position. Listening to the album you can hear how he practically wore out the tape recording and re-recording take after take. The whole sonic picture is muddied and intimate to the level of claustrophobic, Sly’s vocals croaky, wheezy and yet somehow still not broken. In fact unlike The Family Stone group itself, nothing here sounds quite broken yet. Previously one of the most day-glo experiences you could come across, Sly & The Family Stone had been a living breathing embodiment of 60s positivity and inclusiveness. Notably multi-racial, they delivered bright bursts of soulful funk that made few missteps in promoting good times and treating one another well. Moving into the 70s however, the world was changing, and there are few better examples of that in musical form. ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ is dark. There are still more hooky melodies than you could shake a stick at, and there is still plenty of funkiness to spare but the atmosphere is gritty and grimy. You can almost smell the recording sessions particularly during the twin extended repetitive groove workouts that close either side of the record. Even the three singles, each on the surface outrageously pretty, do little to hide their undercurrent. And yet, with so much working against it (it’s a miracle it came into being at all) the album we were delivered managed to present itself as a piece of monumental beauty. Their other albums are beautiful too but they are Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and ‘Riot’ is his Starry Night, the turbulent vision of someone halfway to crazy who still manages to craft something wondrous; dark but heavenly.
Sorry I just can’t stand soul and funk.
Less of a riot and more of an extended, drunken stupor with a bad hangover. Occasionally sparks into life with a funky bassline, but it's mostly a mess, a scattershot blend of styles and moods, none of which I really like very much, and from which no individual tracks stand out. It doesn't help that it's unnecessarily long.
Ight
Enjoyed the listen. Several song stand out, others are mid. I’d say 3.5 overall, but I’m rating down to a 3.
revolutionary
It’s all vibes and lost momentum in this album. While the music is great, the structure is doing it a disservice by making the whole thing feeling dragged out
Good funky record, but it got a bit monotonous. I liked it, didn't mind it.
I really like Sly and the Family Stone. This album always had a more menacing vibe for me. I enjoy it less than the others, probably because it’s a bit more serious. I’ve not listened to it in maybe 15 years and hearing it again was good
4.5
mucho ambiente muy 70s, divertido de escuchar pero pesado en un punto
I think I need to listen to this one again. Cursory 4.
Ok'ish
3.5
3.5
It probably needs more listens. I can see how it was seen as important in the day.
3.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/sly-and-the-family-stone/theres-a-riot-goin-on/ I'm not a funky guy, so this rating should be taken with a grain of salt. I expected to dislike it a lot more than I did. There's a good groove (obviously) and quite some songs are actually truly cool. I might even enjoy this even more if I give it some more chances.
Good stuff. Like this 70s music.
Pretty good. Funk was ace but the moody slow stuff didn't grab me at all
Was really looking forward to this album, I thought it would be a jam befitting its title. But it was far from it. Just mostly pedestrian really.
I have heard of this band before but only their most famous songs and none of them are on this album. So the songs themselves are completely new to me. The album is pretty much what I expected, smooth funk and soul with some really good instrumental parts. The songs weren't really that catchy though, none made me want to go back for second or third listens and I would have loved a few songs that had a bit more energy to them. As a whole the album is good but not great.
Amazing album!
2.4 1x good but not my thing
I liked it. Properly named. Definitely funky. I was dancing while I vacuumed with the dogs
perfect
Me aburrió un poco la verdad, pero no es malo. 3 de manual
I was underwhelmed by listening to this after knowing of this album's reputation. "Family Affair" is the only song that I knew before pressing play, and while I enjoyed that song's relaxed vibe, I was hoping that the rest of the album would pick up the pace. I've been impressed by the funk albums that I have come across by doing this project, but this felt rather laid back and nowhere as near exciting and explosive as what you would find on a Funkadelic LP. The focus on this feel like it is on the politically charged lyrics and they seem to forget to make a record that will make you want to get your hips moving. "Spaced Cowboy" might have an excellent title, but the yodeling by Sly Stone is anything but. Album closer "Thank You For Talkin' To Me, Africa" is a repetitous tune that has been called one of the first dub tracks, but I found it most interesting that Turnstile seemed to have lifted their uplifting chant from the lyrics of this song over 50 years later. I understand how influential this was to the genre, but I felt it fell into background rather quickly.
Some nice funk on this album, although the production feels off; the slap bass in particular sounds a bit too compressed and often muddled for me, which might as well be a cardinal sin for this genre. 7.5/10.
7.5/10 I'm not particularly crazy about this album, but I did enjoy it. Always love a good funk album.
I want to give it five because it's Sly but there's too much dross. Enough moments of perfection to support a 4.3 (rounded down).
Indeed there is.
6/10
I really wanted to like this more, but the muddy mix really ruined it for me
A power house R&B album. Great to hear on a Monday morning to get into the work flow 935/1001
Now this one def surprised me. Love all the guitars instruments oh my god. Family affair and just like a baby got me feeling some typa way. Got a little boring in the end.
Ok.
Very groovy, especially "Family Affair"!
great funk, it was very easy to listen to. I think the lyrical content was dope as well. I never tried funk with this much attention so I'm glad I did.
deliciously groovy!
It’s ok
Legal
Not really my style personally. I think the music is kinda boring. I guess its ok but its not my favourite. It feels more like background music to me. There was some songs i would definitely listen to again but overall there werent really many good songs. Last song is just long for no reason. (Listened to original not extended).
Best Track - "Family Affair"
Very funky, very dark. Starts strong but loses a bit of steam before picking back up.
Classic
Vibes: 4 Instruments: 4 Production: 3 Emotional Value: 4 Storytelling: 2 Album Cover: +0 Stand Outs: Africa Talks to You, Poet Overall Rating: 3.4/5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can just feel the relevance this album has, and how it has influenced modern music.
Just another example of a sound that I really enjoy elements of when used in other and more modern music but absolutely do not like served on its own. Just too much funk for my taste and the awful production does not help either. 1.5/5
A genius at the near-peak of his powers. Damn shame that perfect mix of drugs Sly came up with only held together for a few years.
Deliciously funky. The recording still sounds like it was recorded in the way back times and hasn't been retouched.
Funky, bluesy, and...yodely? Word.
Blind album, know the artist. Generic funk soul to me. Nothing caught my attention aside from the start. Slow fizzle.
Thought I would like this one more than I did. There’s some cool, funky grooves going on here, but a lot of it felt very unstructured and unfocused. Many of the lyrics were literally repetitive, almost to the point of annoyance. The album is OK, but I felt like it could have been much better. 3/5
This was a fun one!
each song had me curious but apparently im not as funky as i thought, saved 1/16
meu deus q achado puta q pariuuuuuu
Not bad...
Fine to have on as background music
I liked this. Just funky enough.
Funky
Love this record. The soundtrack to the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. A million times better, more poignant and more evocative of its time than anything The Grateful Dead ever made.
The app takes me to the expanded edition. Not doing that. Luckily Spotify has a standard release that is a half hour shorter. No surprises here. You know what you’re getting. I wasn’t moved in either direction.
Since my all-time favorite song from Sly is on this album I thought it would be better. Family Affair is such a great funk song but the rest of the album fell a little short. It was good but I was hoping for great!
Between not living through the Civil Rights or Vietnam War era and knowing nothing about funk and soul, I don't feel qualified to review this album. I like it well enough, though not as much as it's contemporary, "Maggot Brain". Not sure what else there is to say that someone more qualified wouldn't say better.
This is some good phat funk and I am here for it!
I know this is a really well regarded album and it sounds great on a technical level. I just couldn’t get overly into it.
Never heard of them prior to yesterday, but was a great listen for just doing damn near anything. would recommend as a background Sunday vibe if you're into wyly jazz
#984. Not my favorite. Not terrible though. 3/5: fine.
Some dark and very influential funk. The title track is silent yet so powerful, just a sentence and (on CD and streaming) 4 seconds of silence. "Spaced Cowboy" may be my favorite, but the "Thank You" reworking is close with that sweet bass. Just misses a 5 due to a few weaker tracks
Good jams I’d never heard before other than a couple. Would Relisten…
groovy! not what I expected.
Groovy. 3 stars
Have I been living under a rock? Why have I never heard of this album? Loved it.
Не понравилось, скучно.
Is fine
Groovin
#168/1001 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Hearing this in my teenage years totally blew my mind. The realisation that it was so influential on the bands that i was listening at the time. Plenty of drugs were consumed in the recording process, no more so than in the yodel-fest that is Spaced Cowboy. Best tracks: Family Afair, Running Away, Luv n' Haight, Just Like A Baby, Thank You For Talking To Me Africa.
Disappointed that I found this one boring. The last Sly & The Family Stone I had was great but this one just faded into the background.
Family Affair is one of my favorite and most listened to songs, gotta give it props for that. A lot of the rest of the album is nice, but has this unfinished feel to it. A lot of songs have a groovy funky hook or beat but don't really do that much with it. Some songs on here drag on for a bit long or just aren't all that interesting to begin with. It's still really good, but perhaps not quite as good as I always thought this album was. Family Affair just really kicks it up a notch.
Groovy.
Ohhh yea. I feel like Kramer in. Pimp suit strolling through manhattan. 🔥🔥🔥
Groovy! This is some excellent funk, that probably deserved a closer listen than I gave it. Didn’t get many lyrics, for example. But very enjoyable. 8/10 Most Excellent
I think this was my third time listening to this album. Got better each time.
I like Stands better, but this is still terrific
It was a pretty decent album, not anything I was super excited about but I liked it overall.
There's a party goin' on 50 years later.
а не можна хоч шосб не американське??? шо за популізм
This was good to groove to but my attention really got spanned here
not totally my thing, though i did have a good time with it overall! i thought the pure instrumentals were a little weak and felt kind of aimlessly jammy to me.
idk what it was but this one just didn't grip me like most other funk albums do. the music is fine but didn't feel particularly groundbreaking, even after repeated listens. it's really just family affair + filler. i even thought i liked just like a baby but after hearing it a few times, it's more just annoying than anything. sorry sly favorites: family affair, runnin away
I love Sly. This didn't hit me like Stand did, but it's still masterful stuff by incredible artists.
Man, this thing is funky as hell!
Wasn't in the mood for this today, maybe I'll return in the future Playlist add: "Poet"
vinyl day! this is a good one
It's been almost a year since I listened to Stand with its empowering psychedelic funk jams. However, that optimism in Sly & the Family Stone's sound did not last long. Relationships within the band deteriorated as members partook in copious amounts of drugs and partying. Sly Stone himself became erratic and reclusive, leading to a rift between him and the rest of the band. In a way, the band's inner turmoil reflected the dark times that America was experiencing at the start of the 1970s, as the civil rights movement declined, police brutality was on the rise, and people were becoming increasingly disillusioned. Sly saw all this shit going down and decided to take matters into his own hands, recording a new album mostly alone to address that darkness. That album would be called There's a Riot Goin' On, in response to the rhetorical question Marvin Gaye posed with What's Going On. From the start with "Luv n' Haight", there's already an unsettling tone creeping in, as the instruments are layered thick from extensive overdubbing alongside a steady drum machine, while Sly and the backing vocalists sang emphatically about their inability to move from being so high on drugs. In fact, Sly himself recorded most of his vocals while lying on his bed, a reflection of his physical and mental state at the time. The fact that this song sounds as good as it does under these conditions is astounding. This sort of low-energy funk continued into "Just Like a Baby" and "Poet", as Sly desperately clung to some semblance of songwriting ability and performance over these edgy jams. They even managed to eke out some bona fide hits in "Family Affair" with Billy Preston's electric piano prominent in the mix, the surprisingly upbeat "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" as Sly tries to force some positivity in his situation, and Cynthia Robinson's strident horns opposite the chicken-scratching guitar on "Runnin' Away". Of course, with this embraced hedonism comes some genuinely striking confrontation. "Africa Talks to You ('The Asphalt Jungle')" is a nine-minute jam that Sly wrote in response to the negative backlash from estranged fans, record industry associates, and the media. The way in which he calls out these people who want to see his downfall because he's not falling in line is something to behold. This frank statement is immediately followed by another, as the title track is a brief moment of slice because Sly felt that there shouldn't be any more riots. Considering that civil unrest continues to occur to this day, amidst the injustices perpetuated by this country, I can sympathize with Sly's plight here. Finally, there's the absolute batshit on this record that Sly somehow gets away with. This includes the lowly ballad "Time", with the drum machine being noticeably prominent here as Sly wistfully remarks about how everything seems to rely on needing more time, yet he feels that's not enough. It's weirdly tender in the execution. Though it's also a bit tame compared to the outright yodeling and harmonica soloing over a drum machine on the country-funk mashup of "Spaced Cowboy", where the drug use is blatantly apparent. Closing out the album is "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa", a slowed-down, tonally murky re-recording of their hit "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", reflective on how much had changed within the span of two years. There's no hiding from the lyrics that detail the strife made through this hellscape, as clear as day. There's a Riot Goin' On managed to work wonders despite Sly Stone's addictions and inner turmoil at the time. It gave us a snapshot of what America was like at the turn of this decade, the ugly side that most people didn't want to look at, yet served as a necessary reminder of how bad shit can be and how to persevere through it.
Is the recording of this off? It almost sounds like my speakers in my brand new headphones are blown. I know it’s not the headphones in case you can’t read between the lines. It’s the high notes, specifically when the woman or the young kid is singing high. This is decent but it lacks the rush and excitement of Funkadelic.
You can smell the drugs when you listen to it. Its honestly a super depressing album but thats not what gives it three stars in my opinion. It feels like it was when the drugs ran out, and as we know, thats when things get bad. It runs on slightly too long everywhere on this record, and whilst im really struggling to word this right, it didnt sit with me. Maybe a relisten and a regrade in the future.
Funk but much slower than expected. Kind of got bored of it
Super groovy
Örlítið misjöfn en mjög margir bangerar og grúvin góð.
Pretty good album! I could groove to it
The funky souly vibe was cool, but this didn't stand out as an amazing listen.
I guess it's important and all but really couldn't dig it.
Thoughts before listening: I feel like this is Sly Stone:s most rock album, but I might be wrong about that. Regardless, I've enjoyed everything I've ever heard from Sly so I'm sure this will be great. Review: Actually, this is less of a rock album and leans much more into funk and soul styles. Lots of deep grooves going on here in these songs, but I am missing some of the psychedelic rock of the other albums I've heard. Some of the songs get a little out there, which seems to be largely attributed to Sly's drug use at the time. I'd say I like this, but it's not my favorite from Sly...or from the genre for that matter. 3-stars
funky!! solid album, no particular song stood out but it's a good listen for sure. good stuff
Very nice! I was consider a 4 to start with, but I wish the songs were a little more rememberable even at a first listen. Actually, this is extremely my shit anyway so let's give this a 3.5 technically, but a 4 actually.
I felt this was kinda un even. Some great amazing grooves and instrumation but the song felt they were missing something and lacked direction. Reading the history of the album it's understandable why, but still can't take away it's good too listen too and has some great funk and soul to it.
Not o big fun of folk album, this one was quite enjoyable 2/5
funky
This was a huge disappointment. I was ready to funk up my morning, but this was anything but. The songs are either annoying, boring or not very good at all. Reading that Family Affair was among their biggest hits was also baffling. That was an outright bad song. There's a Riot Going On? Where? Not in this album. Songs like Spaced Cowboy and Runnin Away are going on here, and it's all just a big shame.
Even if the usual warmth and joy that you'd expect from this band is absent, the music is still worth listening to, only this time it's for completely different, if not opposite, reasons.
Not really my tjing
Algo relajado, bueno para una reunión de amigos.
What riot? I didn’t hear any riot.
Pendiente de reescuchar!!
la verdad que un discaso. Por ahora la verdad todos los temas 100% disfrutables. Ademas, leer sobre el contexto la verdad que hace escuchar todo distitno, se me habia pasado 100% el hecho del tema que esta vacio. SIEMPRE ES IMPORTANTE ENTENDER DE DONDE VIENE!!! no te olvides nicole (yo)
Funky soul, is always cool, but for some reason this felt kind of underwhelming. Some very neat bass playing though
Very nice, felt quite lo-fi
I kind of expected more from an album with such status. But then again, the status it is afforded seems to be based more on its contribution to civil rights rather than it's musicality. It is a very unremarkable soul/funk album. It's alright, but it's nothing mindblowing. Once you've heard one fiddly little guitar line or horn blare then you've heard them all. So much of it sounded like filler or background music. I was completely underwhelmed and confused as to how this album had built up such a legacy. I guess what they had to say regarding civil rights was important, but they could have said it with a less monotonous, less bland album of throwaway music. The bass lines are excellent, however. It's just aside from the subject matter, the songs lack any sort of substance, it's very loose and ramshackle, it feels like the whole album was improvised on the spot with the occasional vocal ooooh or aaaahhh thrown in wherever.
4.5
I hadn't heard one of their albums all the way through before. It was a joy to listen to and it's another artist that I knew about but never got around to listening to until today.
Yeah I guess, I kind of felt nothing as I listened to this
Kind of underwhelming? I feel like it would’ve been better if I had really sat with the lyrics but on a first listen it just felt like something was missing. I did like a lot of the instrumentals though, very funky
I can appreciate what its doing but...I dont think I liked this
this is the most non-threatening riot I've ever heard they shouldn't even be allowed to call this a riot
Delightfully groovy.
Of course, Family Affair is a fantastic song. I love the funky Bass, and I really wanted to like the rest of the album. The rest of the album is kind of monotonous. It would make good background music if you were in the mood.
Not a lot of memorable tracks outside of Family Affair (except for Spaced Cowboy - I can see that one getting in my head), but they're all solid funk tracks.
Excellent album. Loved it.
Amazing album, and a vital document of the time. Recommended reading: Mystery Train by Greil Marcus.
loving this soul vibe of recent days
I can see why this album is considered important, but it doesn’t do that much for me personally. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘙𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯’ 𝘖𝘯 has a very distinctive sound — murky, weary, and almost deliberately worn down. That gives it a character of its own, but it also makes it a harder listen than I expected. There are moments where the atmosphere really works, yet as a whole the album never fully pulls me in. I don’t dislike it, and I can appreciate what it’s trying to do, but by the end I’m left more impressed by its reputation than by the music itself.
Funkay
It’s really good but I wasn’t really able to get into it
This record has "Family Affair," which of course I remember from the radio. But the rest of it was new to me, a great album of spaced-out funk. I'll definitely listen to this one again.
#370/1001. Yodelling to a funk song and pulling it off? It's a family affair. I knew Sly was flying high, but yodeling, shit he hit the Alps. I'm pretty sure whoever checked out the mic levels was pretty out there too. Sly & co have some great tunes, some of em are here, many not. Instead, many mediocre ones. Still, the groove is on.
Nice, this is what i am here for. Never heard of them before. Love this funky record!
Ya me ha tocado otro disco de este grupo y con esto confirmo que el grupo no es de mi agrado
Meh
I do like several of their songs but this album was a bad recording and didn't really grab me.
Good stuff, glad I gave this time to listen all the way through, I should probably listen to it again.
Well, I can now say I’ve listened. Nothing bad about it. It’s just not my thing.
Simply one of the very best albums. And maybe an accident. Also possibly the result of inventing the idea of smoking coke. From reading retrospective articles on it, I get the impression that no one involved has any memory of its making. But I love it so much. Very dark and weird. Listen again to Family Affair - that's one fucked up family! And the extended reworking of I wanna thank you on side two. And the straight up bizarre drum machines all over the place. But Runnin' Away is my favorite. I like to imagine that it was spawned of a random moment of introspective clarity about the multi-decade slide that Sly had only just begun. It's crazy that that much genius could have been wasted for so many years, never to be reclaimed. Depressing, but also instructive.
Nice to get another Sly & The Family Stone album in the collection, although I'll admit that it doesn't add much to "Stand!", especially without any breakout hits. On the other hand, outside of "Family Affair" the entire album was new to me, and while they're not as funk-tastic as George Clinton's various projects (especially so on this album), it's still a strangely compelling album overall despite generally muddy mixing/production. My favorites were probably "Family affair", the odd pairing of "Time" (with a painful attack on "Everyday people") and "Spaced cowboy", and "Thank you for talkin' to me Africa", the bleak riff to their earlier (and perhaps slightly more optimistic) "Thank you" single. I particularly like it that the album was renamed from "Africa Talks to You" to its current title as a reaction (and answer) to Marvin Gaye's just released "What's Going On"; I guess the increasingly strung-out, paranoid and estranged Sly didn't feel as optimistic as Gaye (or else he was just pissed at being blamed for a "riot" in Chicago at Grant Park).
The sound is more laid-back than I thought it would be. It sounds as if the riot is going on elsewhere though they're kind of pissed off about it, smoking and noodling their anger away.
Funky, groovy, but at times it does feel like some sections just go on fir the sake of going on as opposed to having something to say with the music.
Love soul and funk
Take the Time and give this a listen because There’s a Riot Goin’ On.
Cool! I would throw this on in the background to create a chill, funky and low-key atmopshere. Production felt intentional and well executed. Favorite Tracks: Luv N' Haight Just Like a Baby Runnin' Away
It's A Family Affair 1001 Albums Generator 299 (5/26/2026) Sly & The Family Stone is one of those funk greats that I've just never checked out somehow. I was surprised with There's A Riot Going On, which ditches the normal sexy lyrics I associate with this genre for lyrics fueled by paranoia. The music itself, especially the bass, is amazing. From the moment Luv N' Haight starts, the bass and drums are stealing the show and they pretty much don't stop till the record stops spinning. I was surprised how lofi a lot of the mixing is here, but I think it adds to the pessimistic, scared vibe that a lot of the music has. It also has some of the earliest examples of programmed drums in popular music, which were dubbed over with real drums to make them sound more realistic. I found some of the songs, especially the slower, more simple grooves, a bit boring, and some of the synth sounds (like on Poet) have not aged the best. Overall, There's A Riot Goin' On is a good, albiet slightly bloated album. 3.5/5, rounded up to 4. Favs: Luv N' Haight Africa Talks To You Thank You For Talkin' to Me, Africa Least Fav: Just Like a Baby
Я чув про цей альбом)
the second sly album. the whole thing is great, and this is one where the most famous cut is my favorite. “family affair” is just outstanding pop music. Alt at the top of his writing and delivery game
Remember listening to this when I was much younger and thinking it was okay but listening to it now, it's aged very well.
3.5⭐️/5 05.23.2026
Awesome
Wanted to like
This is nasty work. The bass playing is absolutely filthy. It's some really sound funk with a lot of little things added to it that really elevate it without bogging down the sound or losing their identity. Their instrumentals are really long, but I never feel tired of listening to them. It's a really incredible album to vibe to, but also to try and dig into what's actually going on musically. It also feels a little playful and funny? Like there's some moments where I actually chuckled a little out loud. This album ended up getting an instant relisten from me, partially because I was a little distracted on my first listen through, partially because I had such a fun time listening that I wanted to hear it all again. Favorite Song(s): Family Affair, Africa Talks to You
Some solid songs for sure but as a whole I thought it was just alright.
0 energy and a bit odd, but still kinda charming
Great album although Spaced Cowboy is a bit weird
It started off really strong, but all the songs felt really drawn out for me. Not for me
Day863 - make this album today and it might be an even bigger hit.
Questlove’s doc on them was illuminating. What a wonderfully talented band, and while incredibly recognizable, I feel like they were still under appreciated!
Funktastic
This was a fun vibe to have on in the background
I like
Bruh
itas okay but not for me
meh
Liked it.
production is kinda bad interesting guitar sounds weird on some tracks vocals sound underwhelmed by the instruments liked it though
One thing about Sly is he not gon subscribe to your run of the mill mechanics of a song. He's gonna build it the way he wants. Doesn't care about phrasing, doesn't care about where you think a bridge should be. Rhyme scheme doesn't matter, and he'll use whatever tools he wants when he wants. And it all works!! Highlights: Just Like A Baby, Time
will be listening later today!
2/5 Best Song: Poet Worst Song: Family Affair Weirdest Song: Spaced Cowboy Honorable Mention: None There'a a boring album goin' on. Desperately needs more instrumental solos. Not much to write home about.
#8 I am admittedly not a huge fan of funk, but I want to give everything a fair chance here. It's a genre where much of it blurs together and sounds the same to me. I was ready to write this album off after my first listen. Nothing caught my attention and it seemed to drag on. I gave it another chance later in the day, and I actually liked it a lot more. This album was a whole different experience with headphones and limited distractions. It still may be a bit too long, but there is a lot of good stuff going on throughout the album. It's quirky, dark, groovy, and has a nice touch of psychedelia. Just Like a Baby is so good. I am really surprised how much I liked this one.
Decent
If this is your genre I can see why this album is a classic, I enjoy the funkier more upbeat tracks, some of the jams are a bit long. Whilst it’s not something I would listen to much the baselines and drumming would keep me engaged. 3.6
It's ok. There are some good moments when they the band locks in to a groove. But too often goes on for too long without really doing anything different.
There's a Riot Goin' On has interesting funk rhythms, emotional songs, and a special atmosphere. However, the slow pace and muddy sound make some tracks harder to enjoy, so the album feels more important than entertaining despite its lasting influence and several memorable musical ideas throughout.
Come
Funky and soulful throughout. Not the best Sly offering, but still really good.
Funky smooth and cool. What more could you ask for? Maybe some politics and advocacy? You got it.
Not a fan of funk, but was positively surprised. Still not my favorite record but good nonetheless.
Not reallt what I expected from knowing their greatest hits type stuff. This was good.
Not my taste in music but some songs were enjoyable and bought me back to the 70s. An ok listen for me.