Mothership Connection is the fourth album by American funk band Parliament, released on December 15, 1975 on Casablanca Records. This concept album is often rated among the best Parliament-Funkadelic releases, and was the first to feature horn players Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, who had previously backed James Brown in the J.B.'s. Mothership Connection became Parliament's first album to be certified gold and later platinum. The Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2011, declaring "The album has had an enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music."
I was not ready for these levels of Funk. My Funkometer EXPLODED and I got Funk particles (Funkocules) all over my room.
This album! I think a person either has to be not into funk music at all or just dull as dishwater to not like this album. It is 38 and a half minutes of pure fun from start to finish. Blasting this in the car yesterday turned a normally frustrating traffic-filled drive into a joyous trip where the usual bad drivers around me couldn't even remotely get under my skin. THAT is the power of funk!
A story problem: If a Parliament record averages 100bpm, and has a runtime of 38 minutes, how many involuntary head bobs will the listener experience? (The answer is 7600, because you'll listen to the whole thing twice). My personal enjoyment: 4.5/5 Did it belong on this list: 5/5
Funk just does something to me that no other genre can do. 15 seconds in and my erection was bursting out of my shorts. 2 minutes in and I was wanking at such a rate that I thought I was going to catch fire. By the end of the album I was broken, crying with happiness, exhausted, delirious and totally overwhelmed. 5 stars and a raging boner for this one. Amen brother!
Incredible album. It feels like the music is unfolding in real time not necessarily as a live show, but as an all encompassing experience. George Clinton's futuristic vision is pervasive and engaging. The personnel on this album are the very best at what they do. This might be the definitive funk album.
George Clinton makes a type of funk that is explicitly a character of the genre. It is exaggerated compared to the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Sly & The Family Stone. Parliament brings phatter beats, wonkier bass, and an explosive personality to the vocals. It's so good! Of course, we have to pay respect to Bootsy Collins in the band for bringing awesome bass skills to this funk. This carries over from his significant work with James Brown, making for a truly funky sound. Also worth noting Bernie Worrell's work on the synthesizers, who would go on to work with the Talking Heads on Speaking in Tongues and live album Stop Making Sense. Clearly, a star-studded lineup coming together brought together to just record some fun songs. And they are great! Okay that's it. Go listen :)
Extraordinary, extraterrestrial, talented musicians (the drums are particularly superb) play toe-tapping funk jams with a unique style and swagger. Ingenious.
Now, this is more like it. Stuff like this is the reason I started this. Never head of the band, never really listened to much in the genre and it's certainly not what I'd ever have picked out to listen to. Absolutely loved it. From the opening bars this was just great to listen to. It's opened up a whole back catalogue to me - perfect. Obvious 5 stars. First one yet.
If youβre not rating this 5 starsβ¦what are you even doing with your life?
Fun, fun, fun (or should I say funk, funk, funk?). The only track I disliked was "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" because there was some weird deep warbling synthesizer sound that was making my stomach twist. Aside from that, this was just freakin' fun to listen to, particularly Mothership Connection (Star Child), which I've heard sampled a ton ("Swing down sweet chariot, stop, let me ride"), and of course Give Up the Funk which is an awesome classic. Favorite line of the album: "Can you imagine Doobie in your funk?"
i am positively blown away! i wish i could have experienced how groundbreaking this album was in 1975. this album takes you on a delightful journey, starting with introductions in "p-funk". i can't get over how many genres and instruments they crammed into seven songs. the amount of fun contained in this album... i just had so much fun listening, and i listened to this album a lot today. i can't wait to listen to it again. let us also take a moment to appreciate this absolutely funkadelic album cover. it is so seventies but i don't care. love those platform wedges.
Funktastic voyage for sure. I now get why George Clinton is an oft-cited musical influence. I can hear everything from the Commodores to Bruno Mars in this album. A little too decadent at times but some cool stuff. I found myself laughing at the storyline and personas within P-Funk (like listening to the Ladies Man narrate a song). Sometimes that got annoying later in the album. The underlying beats on both Mothership Connection and Unfunky UFO were super cool. Sometimes it felt like the album blended together too much, but I wonder if he/they were going for seamless.
I really dislike funk but parliament are undeniably good at making it. Itβs repetitive and thereβs all this chat in the songs. Itβs a great example of a classic from my second least favourite genre. I danced a bit during the first track, despite myself.
Now this is the definition of funk. If you're not movin' and groovin' to this album, your pulse should be checked. Apparently based on Geoge Clinton's vision of the future where black astronauts interact with alien worlds. The names of some of these songs alone make this album great: "Supergroovalisticprosifunstication", " Night of the Thumpasorous Peoples." The Library of Congress added this album to the National Recording Registry for its enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music. Just in the short time that I've been doing this 1001 challenge, I've heard the influence of Parliament and particularly this album in every hip-hop/rap album that I've listened to. Not only there, a few of these songs reminded me of the late 70's/early 80's Talking Heads. Not to mention the soon-to-be disco era. I'm sure I'll hear it in other areas as I go along. For me, it's Bootsy Collin's bass which really lays the groovy and funky foundation for Parliament songs. But, there is a lot more going here on with horns, keyboards, synthesizers, multiple singers and psychedelic, jazzy-sounding guitars. Of particular note, are the synthesizers/keyboards which add weird sounds, noises and a backdrop which definitely solidifies the whole outer space album concept. Not a bad song here. 7 altogether. To me, some of them stray into jam band territory with their extended jams. The album also has their most recognizable song "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)." This was a lot of fun.
Incredible. Very rarely can an album be all over the place yet thematically consistent. As for this listener, whether one pays attention or not, Mothership Connection and its tractor-beam appeal invokes the sort of positive indifference that may in fact resemble a perfect album. Fun, energetic, yet brilliantly executed, there is just something about this record that balances tongue-in-cheek silliness along with intelligent blink-and-you-miss-it profundities.
https://youtu.be/ccvB00h6EnI
Yes a great album. Fun. Skillfully played. Non pretentious. Relentlessly groovy. There's just not a single misstep. Totally cool album. 5 stars
That was the perfect amount of funk
Mothership Connection forces me to examine what it is to be locked in a groove. This is a party record that has guests nervously looking at each other as they dance, each wondering if they're still on the same song, and if that song is ever going to stop. There's a lot of laughter, a tremendous bowl of punch, and gallons of helium going around, but there's this hovering fear that these garrulous hosts have locked the front door, and you can't help but notice that the chairs have been taken away, and new hosts keep entering from hidden entrances, usually with a bizarre keyboard or brass instrument. That it manages to contain seven endless songs in just over 40 minutes is sorcery, or induced hallucination. Colossal rhythms and hypnotic melodic repetition disguise the fact that much, maybe most of each track's tracks are populated by odd voices and instruments music worthy of a residency at your local chin-stroking freak jazz parlour. When the voices sing yeah yeah yeah, they give me the feeling they're telling us they're not listening to whatever we have to say. Yeah yeah yeah, not leaving this groove, mate. This review may have been influenced by my watching our newly toddling do repeated circuits of our home's ground floor for most of the first runtime. Simon, I can send you the video. I'm exhausted - goodnight!
9.75/10 - GOATed album, quite literally defined the pinnacle of funk & ahead of its time. The songwriting & musical ability of George Clinton & Bootsy Collins is fully on show
I think this is the most fun album that I've gotten on here. I don't even have a ton to say about it, but it's just 40 minutes of ridiculousness and fun funk music. Right from the beginning you get this goofy outer space radio intro thing, and then they kind of keep up with this concept throughout. I guess these guys were part of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective that released a bunch of albums over the years. The driving force seems to be the lead guy George Clinton, who sang a few songs on here and produced the album. There's just so much to like here. "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" gives us the line "If you hear any noise / it's just me and the boys" that inspired the famous Dave Parker Pirates t-shirt, and "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker" is an iconic beat. The beats are good, it doesn't feel like it drags on at all, it influenced a bunch of later stuff, just an awesome album. Funk music can be a bit of an odd one on here because it just feels like it represents such a distinct moment in time, but this one really feels iconic and fun and a bit timeless in what it's trying to do. I didn't really expect to have a 5-star funk album, but this one deserves it for sure. Favorite song: Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) Other: P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up), Mothership Connection (Star Child), Unfunky UFO, Handcuffs 1/18/25
It's George Clinton introducing Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, and it oozes cool. On this album you'll learn that we want the funk, it's gotta be that p funk and if you give the people what they want when they want they'll want it all the time. Clinton is such a cornerstone of this music scene this has got 5 stars for that alone.
ΠΊΠ»Π°ΡΡΠΈΠΊΠ° ΡΠ°Π½ΠΊΠ°, ΠΎΡΠ»ΠΈΡΠ½ΡΠΉ Π°Π»ΡΠ±ΠΎΠΌ.
I mean it is funky, no false advertisement here.
Shut the funk up
The grooves. The fun. Absolute joy to listen to. 5 stars.
This album was so so so so fun to listen to that it just deserves a 5. Will 100% be listening again. Funk just hits on another wavelength that other genres donβt
this album was alot fun. its wild how many times this album would go on to be sampled in 90s hip hop.
P-Funk! The Allstars? Georgeβ¦Clintonβ¦andβ¦theβ¦Parliamentβ¦. Funkadelic?!?!! Extraordinary, extraterrestrial, masterful musicians all, but hats off to Bootsy Collins on bass and Maceo Parker on horns! A funkalicious party jam from beginning to end! 5βοΈ
Hard to be in a bad mood listening to this absolute funk masterpiece.
Too many classics and famous samples galore.
A sonic vision of a better intergalactic world with the Afrofuturism vibe. Such a fun album. Sci-fi sounding funk is something I always forget I need. It oozes cool, was groundbreaking, and musically tight as fuck. You can see its influences throughout the decades following. Love the voiceovers, the synth, the baselines, the guitar funk riffs. It's fun to listen to, sounds fun to have made, is sexy, is cool. Fits a bunch of different moods. It just has so many of funk's features and does them all so well across the songs. Wouldn't say funk is a core genre of mine but this is a brilliant album.
This album got me FUNKED UP!
Pure P-Funk Power. Kick back and digg. Thanks Lollipop Man.
Day 4: This album was amazing, I thought I was being too harsh with previous reviews but, an album or genre will just click. This deserves every right to be in must hear albums.
A few weeks ago, I heard Funkadelicβs βOne Nation Under a Grooveβ and thought it was one of the best parties captured on record. It turns out that George Clinton wasnβt even matching his own efforts from three years earlier. βMothership Connectionβ is a rip-roaring, all-singing, all-dancing and by all accounts seminal album in the evolution of funk. Iβm ashamed of not having heard it until now, but Iβm making up for lost time by repeating it againβ¦ and again. The best party tracks are the most famous: βP-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)β and βGive Up The Funkβ are both so impeccably put together. Iβd heard much of the music across the record sampled in Dr Dreβs βThe Chronicβ (where they were the highlights) so it was a great experience hearing them all in full. The sci-fi overtones are brought in throughout as a campy way without ever feeling trite or forced. Thereβs just the right amount of synth lines in the mix without letting it feel too dated or kitsch, and the rest is just pure horny goodnessβ¦ In βUnfunky UFOβ, the band channel Sky and the Family Stone with a slightly harder-edged riff, and a delectable βyeah yeah yeahβ refrain beaming its way down the minor scale. βNight of the Thumpasorus Peoplesβ closes on an amazing nonsense singalong refrain. Even βHandcuffsβ, bearing perhaps the most questionable lyrical content, has a killer accompaniment which itβs near-impossible not to enjoy. If you arenβt bopping along, youβve been funked all the way into a black hole. Itβs early days but each time Iβve listened to this album, itβs been impossible not to be grinning away, with the sense of experiencing a true classic.
Always been a huge fan of Give Up the Funk, what an epic TUNE! So nice to hear the whole album, it's wall to wall bangers. Really enjoyed listening today! I'm sure this album had a huge influence on a few different areas of music, I could hear this in a lot of dance music. It's such good vibes. I love that they were trying to shock people by "putting Black people in outer space" it's a great statement but sad that this was considered shocking at the time.
We want the funk. Give up the funk. Best track: Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)
This is why I started going through this list. Killer album Iβve never heard of in a genre I never listen to. Such a fun listen
First album down (5th June 2025). Man does this thing GROOVE. Iβve never listened to much funk before outside the RHCP and I donβt know why because this album is the epitome of sex appeal and Iβm getting jiggy with it. Note to self: listen to funk more. 8/10, too much funk for its own good. I got funk-saturated.
Funkalicious grooves from the mothership, baby!
I funking love this one. I saw these guys in the 90's with a gigantic mothership on stage. What a great show! This is a fun album that no doubt influenced later Westcoast hip hop. It doesn't get funkier than this, unless you're talking about another Parliament, or Funkadelic album. I saw a recent documentary about this group, and I lost a lot of respect for George Clinton. He's basically a big piece of shit, and he screwed all these great musicians out of money. Crack is wack. I give this a funky 4.
Grew on me after 2 listens 7.5/10
TIL Jemaine Clement var en ung mand med sprΓΈd stemme i 1975. Det her album er en objektiv banger. Super funky!
Thoughts before listening: I don't know what's on this album but I'm sure it's great. I know this is one of Parliament's most celebrated records so I'm excited to listen. Review: Yep...this is awesome. This is the definition of funk music (as they remind you over and over again) and a lot of it is very recognizable since its been sampled so many times in hip hop songs. Mothership Connection and Give Up the Funk are the best songs, but I enjoyed the whole album. Some of the talking was annoying and there is definitely a lot of repetition to the songs, but this is still a fantastic record.
Amazing funk album. The space theme really suits George Clinton's music. Not a single boring moment throughout the thing except maybe the skit parts. Also album cover is great
Kalle: 1. Paska joo vittu meta biisi 2. Damn tâi loppuosa tÀÀ alkaa olla iha decent 3. Vktuttaa ei enÀÀ vktuta tÀÀ genre En jaksa rate jokainen biisi mutta toi Night of the thumpasorus peoples hauska toi lead instrumentti 3:14 miten sitÀ voi seurata ilman seuraamatta mitÀÀn muuta, koska se kaikkimmuu on soinut kokoajan samana The Bumps Bump siisti moni instrumenttinen alku Handcuffs Best lyrics
While I deeply respect funk music for its contributions to music as a whole and how innovative and important it is in music history... I just really don't like it personally. Give up the funk is a fun song, I just don't need an entire album of it. But it wasn't bad, I just don't love it
None of these songs should be more than 3 minutes long.
It is the embodiment of a party and a good time. I was very amused to learn that the motif of aliens coming to Earth to bring up the funk dates so far back. A lot of 'danceable' tracks.
This was too funky for me. I suspect it is objectively too funky. I almost didnβt have a good time.
Groovy
Nr. 134/1001 P-Funk 4/5 Mothership Connection 3/5 Unfunky UFO 3/5 Supergroovealistic 3/5 Handcuffs 4/5 Give Up The Funk 3/5 Night of the Thumpu 3/5 Average: 3,29 Funky and soulful record. For me more background music, than something I would actively listen.
Can't say I'm a fan, but sometimes you can't deny the funk. It's upbeat, fun and infectious, so why not?
Yeah, it had some cool songs on it. Was over very quickly.
Best Songs: (The whole thing's a groove) Listen Again: Probably
Cool, catchy funk to start the week. Good listen, ended sooner than I expected.
Another one I'd never get around to listening to if it weren't for this website. Really enjoyable when it was on, managed to get a lot of work done! Not sure I'd choose to listen again, but it's good I can identify some Dr Dre samples from their origins. Creative and fun if not particularly indelible.
Funky but very repetitive. Not my style of music.
Day567 - in the car,at work and chilling at home this is good vibes. side note:i always wondered how a band with so many could make any money
It's fun, funny, undeniably funky and a great listen.
Loved it
Funkin' hell this is good!
funky AND fresh!
Kind of perfect.
Legendarisk plate
Holy crap I LOVED THIS ALBUM. Absolutely brilliant and funky beyond words. I was fairly certain it was gonna be a 5 star before the end of track 1. Cannot find a single fault with it. Top Track - Give Up The Funk, belter of a song
Always a good time
This was so much fun.
An amazing album itβs no wonder why so many hip hop artists sample them.
All timer. Never a bad time to listen to this album. Itβs like an instant good mood.
SupercaliSkronkaFunkaLICIOUS Sunglasses obliged whilst listening to this album How can anyone not enjoy this?
real ga ga goo ga music
IF YOU HEAR US MAKING NOISE ITS JUST ME IN THE BOYS!!!!!!!! Classic, classic, classsssiccccccccc record right here. Reminds me of my mother and I will be rocking to this with her next time I see her!
Awesome funk album, impossible not to enjoy.
Greatest Funk album of all time and it's not even close.
It has not, will not, and cannot get any funkier than Parliament. Here we have on display, the deepest of pockets in the drums, the squiggliest popping on bass, resulting in a group that is LOCKED in, exploring the great beyond.
The lifeblood of all that is good and groovy within this world pulsates throughout the Mothership, propelling our Earthly bodies to surrender completely to the irresistible call of pure, unfiltered funk, ya dig?
Iconic. Easy to draw a line straight to Outkast, and a bunch of other artists have sampled from this album. Clear influences from Black church scene.
Damn!
One type of music i have discovered on this journey is funky, I think it's great
Afro-futurism in the form of ass shaking. Beam me up Bootsy!
maravilloso
βLet me put my sunglasses on so I can see what I am doingβ
BANGER
"Funk not only moves, it can re-move, dig?" It's good for what ails you.
Amazing album. P-funk at its best.
Hot damn! Were there any funkier MFβers on earth or beyond in 1975 than Parliament? I think not! I had no idea so many classic hiphop tracks owe their samples to this seminal album. George Clinton is a genius.
I felt the funk. "P-Funk" sets a great tone for just how zany the lyrics could be all while the music does some incredible, forward-thinking things. The title track kinda feels like one big party with amazing one liners like "If you hear any noise it's just me and the boys" or "doing it in 3D". "Give Up The Funk" is so memorable and timeless that I cant imagine too many people have lived their lives without hearing this track. "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples" is so goofy that you have to meet it where it's at and just have fun with it. Kinda sneaks up on you considering Maggot Brain has potentially even more historical cult praise but this is a 5/5. Innovative, extremely fun, with songs that are memorable, songs that are a bit experimental, and a perfect run time!
super funky, head bopping awesome for an afternoon drive, drums are amazing, i really didn't expect for it to be that good
Perfect album
5 The history of Parliament/Funkadelic is like the tea leaves spelling out the future applications of Funk. It still has James Brown's stomp, Sly's filigrees, and the body-moving syncopation from New Orleans. Fused together into one endless groove here, it might as well be our Voyager silver record to a distant solar system. When you listen, go outside and maybe a sweet chariot will come down and let you ride.
This was Suave.
Bootsy! Macro! βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ
bliss euphoria freedom aspiration dreams dreams dreams dreams dreams. george clinton could orchestrate a soundscape like no one else, everything ends up in exactly the right place with no visible effort or constrictions. the funkadelic material ive heard ranges from utopian to apocalyptic, but the parliament material ive heard is just pure floating joy...if ur not dancing to it, u better at the very least be lying down and imagining that ur flying. the first time in this project ive restarted a record Immediately after finishing it...some feelings u just dont want to end!
Make my funk the p-funk
Fucking love p-funk, so good, loved supergroovalisticprosifunkstication, give up the funk, mothership connection
Damn, this is so funky off the start. I think I've heard a lot of funk that does the instrumentals really well, but these guys also have some fun harmonized vocals that really add to it. Highlight: give up the funk
That's a big chunk o funk. But I liked it. Nit normally a fan of electric music, this somehow works.
Wow! I wish this was played on the family AM radio station in my house in 1975!