Parliament - Tear the Roof Off: 1974-1980

"We shall overcome! We got to shoot them with the Bop Gun!" The Parliament end of George Clinton's '70s empire provided him with a wide screen on which to purvey a vision so, well, visionary, that the use of 3-D sunglasses was practically mandatory. Preaching free thought, warning against the effects of the Placebo Syndrome, hijacking NASA concepts in the interest of black empowerment, and alluding to T.S. Eliot before Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On inner-sleeve quote ("Once I was a hollow man, in which a lonely heart did dwell"), the crew did it all with a musical panache that included jazzy horns, layered vocal harmonies, and, of course, beats at once hefty and bouncy. Tear the Roof Off condenses nine albums into a rich two-and-a-half-hour ride to a spiritual Chocolate City. --Rickey Wright

A Review:

I always dug me some P funk but, George songwriting comes with so many deranged subliminal messages until writing a sound review on their work is as challenging as listening to it. It would take a Havard Scholar to uncode the hidden messages of his lyrics. You know what, I ain't mad at all because their music is so uncompromsingly good that figuring out their lyrics becomes as fun and engaging as playin' a board game. But this ain't Mr. Monopoly- these some funky terresial brothers here to liquidate your restrictions and make you lose it on the mothership. And 30 plus years after the bomb dropped, Parliament's music still has the explosive energy that will make any weapons of mass destruction look like a fireworks show on ABC.

Essentially, Parliament was an anti-establishment group like Funkadelic. Where as Funkadelic's rebelliousness was aimed towards the decline of social harmony, Parliament targeted the bland sameness and predictability of more commercial oriented R&B of it's time. Gamble and Huff's once invincble formula had now become the status quo and so did James Brown raw funk. And "mainstream" disco was already beginning to water down and cheapen the genre for record sales. So Parliament's rise to prominence was perfect timing to provide the remedy to an "Endangered Species" quickly losin' their souls to the souless capitalism of society. That attitude primarily provides the premise for many of their songs. Wheater they're poking fun at radio DJ's by creating thier own radio station; WEFUNK "P-FUNK (wants to get funked up)" or havin' a funky mad scientist who's responsible for creating Starchild and the "Children of Production" to deprogrammed all of these so unfunkiful dancin' squares! "Dr Funkenstein" These jams prove that Parliament and P funk was more than just a group. It was a state of mind and subculture that had its own politics and culture (much like a country or a continent). Their lengendary status was not only cemented by it's legion of followers, but also by the sci fi concept that was used as its foundation (which was appropriate because their music was out of this world!). What makes their music great is that unlike many anti establishment groups, their music doesn't have a bitter or angry tone to it. Instea,d they use their self created subculture to invite to free their restricted minds and cut it loose!. They also played it smart by letting their subculture be influenced by their contemporary environment of the 70's- therefore giving their concept motive, realism, and validity. Those elements also made easier for listeners to relate to their music. Greg Tate's extensive notes ices the cake by providing deep insight into George's and Parliament's creative process.

Despite a few clunkers that pop up here and there ("Party People" and unecessary live versions of "Let's take it to the Stage" and "Children of Production") Tear the roof off is more than essential listening. Also the same problem with this anthology is the same one with Funkadelic's "Motor City Madness". Since their albums came with a specific concept, those vibes are missing with a best of type of anthology. Still, once Parliament tears the roof off, it's gonna rain on your head!