Tracks : 01 Nappy Dugout (4:33) G Clinton, Garry Shider, Cordell Mosson} 02 You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure (3:03) G Clinton, Sidney Barnes 03 March to the Witch's Castle (5:59) G Clinton 04 Let's Make It Last (4:08) G Clinton, Eddie Hazel) 05 Cosmic Slop (5:17) G Clinton, B Worrell 06 No Compute (3:03) G Clinton, Garry Shider 07 This Broken Heart (3:37) W Franklin 08 Trash A-Go-Go (2:25) G Clinton 09 Can't Stand the Strain (3:27) G Clinton, E Hazel
Personnel : Keyboards & Melodica, Strings on 'Broken Heart':Bernard Worrell Bass:'Boogie' Mosson Percussion:Tyrone Lampkin Lead & Rhythm Guitar:Gary Shider Lead & Rhythm Guitar:Ron Bykowski Guest Funkadelic Maggot: Tiki Fulwood, Drums on 'Nappy Dugout'
Reviews :
1 With each successive release, Funkadelic was streamlining its sound, a process culminating in such early '70s classics asCOSMIC SLOP.The
group's acid rock-heavy early work had metamorphosed into straight-up,
party hearty funk, with lyrics that alternate between the serious (the
title track) and the humorous ("No Compute"). It may not be as
awe-inspiring as their masterpiece, MAGGOT BRAIN, but, more than any other Funkadelic album, COSMIC SLOP stresses the importance of the almighty groove.
The album opens with one of Funkadelic's funkiest tracks ever, the largely instrumental "Nappy Dugout." It's clear from the start that Funkadelic,
despite a revolving cast of characters, is one of the tightest bands
around. The aforementioned title track is perhaps the group's best
known number. It tells the downhearted tale of a young single mother
who has to turn to the shadier side of the streets to support her
family, but the music has obvious pop leanings. Other highlights
include the vicious Led Zeppelin-esque rocker "Trash A-Go-Go," the
album-closing soul ballad "Can't Stand the Strain," and the
brokenhearted "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure."
~Amazon.com
~@~@~ 2 One of our favorite early Funkadelic
albums -- and a real turning point for the group! Gone are the trippier
guitar solos of earlier days, and in their place is a tighter approach
to funk -- one that has the band grooving hard and soulfully on shorter
tracks that perfect the dark vision hinted at in the Maggot Brain
years! The tunes are shorter, funkier, and catchier -- and the vocals
are especially great -- so much so than on the title cut "Cosmic Slop"
has harmonies so great you'd swear you were listening to late-Motown
Temptations! Other tracks continue with a great soul-based focus.
~DustyGroove.com
~@~@~ 3 With
a much more stripped-down version of the band, if the credits are to be
believed (five regular members total, not counting any vocalists),
Funkadelic continued its way through life with Cosmic Slop. A slightly
more scattershot album than the group's other early efforts, with
generally short tracks (only two break the five-minute barrier) and
some go-nowhere ballads, Cosmic Slop still has plenty to like about it,
not least because of the monstrous title track. A bitter, heartbreaking
portrait of a family on the edge, made all the more haunting and sad by
the sweet vocal work -- imagine an even more mournful "Papa Was a
Rollin' Stone" -- the chorus is a killer, with the devil invited to the
dance while the band collectively fires up the funk. Elsewhere, the
band sounds like it's more interested in simply hitting a good groove
and enjoying it, and why not? If introductory track "Nappy Dugout"
relies more on duck calls and whistles than anything else to give it
identity, it's still a clap-your-hands/stomp-your-feet experience,
speeding up just a little toward the end. As for the bandmembers
themselves, Bernie Worrell still takes the general lead thanks to his
peerless keyboard work, but the guitar team of Gary Shider and Ron
Bykowski and the rhythm duo of Tyrone Lampkin and Cordell Mosson aren't
any slouches, either. George Clinton again seems to rely on the role of
ringleader more than anything else, but likely that's him behind
touches like distorted vocals. Certainly it's a trip to hear the deep,
spaced-out spoken word tale on "March to the Witch's Castle," a
harrowing picture of vets returning from Vietnam -- and then realizing
that Rush ripped off that approach for a song on its Caress of Steel
album a year or two later!