Search - Funkadelic :: Uncle Jam Wants You

"All right, you mugs! So, you think you can dance?"

finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 11/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A loose (and I do mean loose) concept album about rescuing dance music from "the blahs" (which demands destroying disco). Leading us on this noble quest is Uncle Jam, whose theme song is a funk anthem that's a laugh a minute - in other words, ten laughs! Actually, it's much funnier than that - think three or four laughs a minute. George Clinton was funny and funky! "(not just) Knee Deep" was massive dance hit, and it's very funky. One of Funkadelic's best dance tracks, too. And do the lyrics about the freak being the only dance that got the narrator horny, while other dance crazes from the past are mocked, mean that this also ties into the concept? I don't know, but I've been told (I don't know, but I've been told) the U.S. army's really old (the U.S. army's really old). So, right. Those two are easily the best of the album. Not only that, it's probably the best twenty-five minute stretch on any Funkadelic record other than Standing on the Verge of Getting In Your Pants (which is the best thirty-eight minute stretch of any Funkadelic album, period. Then there are four other songs. Two of 'em (jam "Freak of the Week"; guitar solo "Field Maneuvers" - I think they're the "maneuvers" that will be used to save dance music) are quite good, though they can't beat the "(not just) Knee Deep"/"Uncle Jam" pairing. One ("Foot Soldiers (Star-Spangled Funky)") is a strange song that is neither good nor bad, it's just weird - again, it follows the concept. One ("Holly Wants to Go to California") has nothing to do with saving anybody's dance music. All it does, in fact, is suck everything that possibly could be sucked. Take that how you see fit. It's another Funkadelic weepfest. Skip riiiiight over it..."