The definitive
Parliament
-
Funkadelic
album,
Mothership Connection
is where
George Clinton
's revolving band lineups, differing musical approaches, and increasingly thematic album statements reached an ideal state, one that resulted in enormous commercial success as well as a timeless legacy that would be compounded by hip-hop postmodernists, most memorably
Dr. Dre
on his landmark album
The Chronic
(1992). The musical lineup assembled for
is peerless: in addition to keyboard wizard
Bernie Worrell
;
Bootsy Collins
, who plays not only bass but also drums and guitar; the guitar trio of
Gary Shider
,
Michael Hampton
, and
Glen Goins
; and
the Brecker Brothers
(
Michael
and
Randy
) on horns; there are former
J.B.'s
Fred Wesley
Maceo Parker
(also on horns), who were the latest additions to the
P-Funk
stable. Besides the dazzling array of musicians,
boasts a trio of hands-down classics -- "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)," "Mothership Connection (Star Child)," "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" -- that are among the best to ever arise from the funk era, each sampled and interpolated time and time again by rap producers; in particular,
pays homage to the former two on
(on "The Roach" and "Let Me Ride," respectively). The remaining four songs on
are all great also, if less canonical. Lastly, there's the overlapping outer-space theme, which ties the album together into a loose escapist narrative. There's no better starting point in the enormous
catalog than
, which, like its trio of classic songs, is undoubtedly among the best of the funk era. ~ Jason Birchmeier