The Deal: The Grandfather of Funk goes back to his N.C. roots for an album of soul covers.
The Good: You can’t say that Clinton didn’t rally his friends for the new album – Sly Stone, Carlos Santana, El DeBarge, Kim Burrell, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and a handful of P-Funk stars all make appearances. The 15-track album (four bonus tracks included) kicks off with “Ain’t That Peculiar,” which lets you know right off the bat that it’s a different side of Clinton. He’s trying his hand at soul, but does a lot more talking than singing. The reworked “Mathematics of Love” is incredibly different than the version on T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. — this one, originally written for Michael Jackson, is slowed way down into a soul song with none of the funk. The Chili Peppers help out on a mediocre remake of “Let the Good Times Roll.”
The Bad: A lot of the voices are digitized – I don’t see any mention of T-Pain though – and Clinton’s never been the best vocalist, instead getting the masses going through big-funk anthems. His vocals aren’t terrible, but they just seem out of place at times.
The Verdict: I’ll give a brief round of applause to Clinton for trying something different and going back to his doo-wop roots before the days of funk. However, while the album’s not terrible, he needs to keep funking it up instead.
This article appears in Oct 7-14, 2008.
