1972's America Eats Its Young is a disparate, schizophrenic record. Despite Clinton's efforts to produce a record that would have a better chance at crossover appeal than the first three Funkadelic records, like many double LPs, there's simply too much material, and too many conflicting directions to really make this seem anything other than a Frankenstein production. Of course, it has its classics: "Loose Booty" and "A Joyful Process" are the two of the best pure funk songs the band ever did, while "If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Cause", "Biological Speculation", "Everybody Is Going to Make It This Time", and "Miss Lucifer's Love" are great evidence of the band's strong pop bent even as their chosen subject matters could range from dark to disturbing to sci-fi.
Tunes like "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Balance", and "Philmore" even hark back to the more rock-oriented stuff of the first three records. However, it's hard to hear "We Hurt Too" (a maudlin ballad about the hidden tenderness of men) as anything but a joke, and the title track, similar to Maggot Brain's title cut, is a bit heavy on the huffing and panting. I think of this record as Funkadelic's White Album, containing too much great stuff to dismiss, but by almost anyone's standards, containing more than it needs.
by Dominique Leone, August 3, 2005
Tracks
1. You Hit The Nail On The Head (Bernie Worrell, Fuzzy Haskins, George Clinton) - 7:11
2. If You Don't Like The Effects, Don't Produce The Cause (Garry Shider, George Clinton) - 3:44
3. Everybody Is Going To Make It This Time (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton) - 5:55
4. A Joyful Process (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton) - 6:14
5. We Hurt Too (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton) - 3:50
6. Loose Booty (George Clinton, Harold Beane) - 4:41
7. Philmore (William Earl Collins) - 2:33
8. I Call My Baby Pussycat (Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel, George Clinton) - 5:09
9. America Eats Its Young (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton, Harold Beane) - 5:51
10. Biological Speculation (Ernie Harris, George Clinton) - 3:07
11.That Was My Girl (George Clinton, Sidney Barnes) - 3:46
12.Balance (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton) - 5:30
13.Miss Lucifer's Love (Fuzzy Haskins, George Clinton) - 5:55
14.Wake Up (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton, Harold Beane, James Wesley Jackson) - 6:29
15.Loose Booty (George Clinton, Harold Beane) - 2:55
16.A Joyful Process (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton) - 3:15
Musicians
*Al Stanwyck - Trumpet
*Albert Pratz - Violin
*Arnie Chycoski - Trumpet
*Bernie Worrell - Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Melodica, String Arrangements, Vocals
*Bill Richards - Violin
*Bootsy Collins - Bass, Vocals
*Bruce Cassidy - Trumpet
*Clayton Gunnels - Trumpet, Vocals
*Cordell "Boogie" Mosson - Bass
*David Van De Pitte - Steel Guitar, String Arrangements
*Dianne Brooks - Vocals
*Eddie Hazel - Guitar, Vocals
*Frankie "Kash" Waddy - Percussion, Vocals
*Garry Shider - Guitar, Vocals
*George Clinton - Cover Design, Producer
*Harold Beane - Guitar, Vocals
*Josef Sera - Violin
*Ollie Strong - Steel Guitar
*Peter Schenkman- Cello
*Phelps "Catfish" Collins - Guitar, Vocals
*Prakash John - Bass, Vocals
*Ramon Tiki Fulwood - Percussion
*Randy Wallace - Alto Sax, Vocals
*Ronald Laurie - Cello
*Stanley Solomon - Viola
*Steve Kennedy Vocals
*Tyrone Lampkin - Percussion
*Victoria Polley - Violin
*Walter Babiuk - Viola
*Zachary Frazier - Percussion
Thanks very much, Marios.
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