There's music before Sly, and music after Sly, thanks for covering him

1. There's a Riot Goin' On - 5 2. Fresh - 5 3. Stand! - 4.5 4. High On You - 4 5. Small Talk - 4 6. Dance to the Music - 3.5 7. Life - 3.5 8. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back - 3.5 9. Ain't But The One Thing - 3.5 10. A Whole New Thing - 3.5 11. Back on the Right Track - 3

As the 60s turned into the 70s, the giant musical icons shaped the things to come (Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown) - but even they were all looking at what one man and his band were doing and eagerly licked it up to incorporate his ideas into their new sound. It is almost impossible to imagine what music after 1969 would even have been like without Sly! For me, nothing represents the light and dark aspects of my youth, the black and white (not focusing on skin colour here), the love/peace versus war/assassination better than Sly. I was a happy girl in a save environment and my "problems" were very small compared to what the world was all about. Sly took me higher and higher and from that elevated view he told me to look around and see - there were riots and other things going on. Spoiler - I have only one 5 star Sly album and it will not be listed - it is 1970's Greatest Hits and is one of those compilations that really works as an album on its own rights. All his other albums by their very nature and intent have flaws, even if many of them are essential. (In that aspect, Sly and the Family Stone resemble Velvet Underground, their impact and influence are so much larger than their records seem to to be.) 11. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back 2,0 (Yes, I missed him but No, he was not even there any more...) 10. A Whole New Thing 3,0 (The "new thing" was still more intention than reality, a dress rehearsal for things to come.) 9. Back on the Right Track 3,0 (At least half of the album was on the right track.) 8. Ain't But the One Way 3,0 7. Small Talk 3,0 (Married father Sly slows it down and cooks on smouldering flame, but still with more fire than anyone else - except maybe George Clinton.) 6. Dance to the Music 3,5 5. Life 3,5 4. High On You 4,0 (#101 in 1975) 3. Fresh 4,0 (#87 in 1973, feeding Doris Day back to the establishment seems like an even bolder statement than Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey.) 2. Stand! 4,0 (#54 in 1969, the excessive Sex Machine is the flaw on an almost perfect album.) 1. There's a Riot Goin' On 4,5 (#18 in 1971, The revolution was never televised - it was zero seconds long.)

One of my all time faves. Great show guys. Sly was loved by Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Prince among others, and you can't overstate his impact on popular music in the 60's and 70's. To me, he's one of the greatest American songwriters to have ever lived.

Great vid gents. I adore Fresh, Riot and Stand!. Apparently for the cover of Fresh, Sly isn't actually kicking in the air. They say he was so out of it he's actually face down on glass, with the photographer underneath, shooting up at our star. Bless him.

So I’m super hyped for Cocteau Twins because they’re my favorite band. But at the same time I don’t think I can emotionally handle anything negative being said about them. That’s how much I love them and every note they ever recorded.

Thank you TLM for devoting a week to this great band. (Nothing below 3 stars for me. Even though there was the inevitable dip in quality in the later years for various reasons, there's is always something that kept me engaged on those records) My Sly and Family Stone Album Ranking 11. Ain't But the One Way 3 stars 10.Back on the Right Track 3 stars 9. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back 3 stars 8. Small Talk 3 stars 7. The Whole New Thing 3.5 stars 6. Dance to the Music 4 stars 5. High on You 4 stars 4. Life 4.5 stars 3. Fresh 4.5 stars 2. Stand 5 stars 1. There's a Riot Going On 5 stars

10. Ain't But The One Way (1982) 2/5 9. Back On The Right Track (1979) 2.5/5 8. Dance To The Music (1968) 2.5/5 7. Life (1968) 3/5 6. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976) 3/5 5. A Whole New Thing (1967) 3.5/5 4. Stand! (1969) 3.5/5 3. Small Talk (1974) 3.5/5 2. There's A Riot Goin' On (1971) 4.5/5 1. Fresh (1973) 4.5/5

Anyone who loves There's a Riot Goin' On should check it out on vinyl. I've been listening to it on CD for over 30 years and just picked up a heavy-duty vinyl (expensive) copy and there are levels of instrumentation I never knew existed. It's a mind blower. Also, if you haven't seen it, check out Sly and the Family Stone on the Summer of Soul documentary. So damn cool.

Sly & The Family Stone Ranked, Rated & Reviewed 1. Stand! [1969] (10) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Family Stone in full bloom. Just killer track after track and his strongest social statement album 2. There's a Riot Goin' On [1971] (9.8) ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Probably artistically his best. A bit more jazzy than any of his other work. Near perfection 3. Fresh [1973] (9.2) ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ A quick return to more dance soul flavor of the first four albums. Maybe as strong as the two previous, but still a solid listen. 4. Life [1968] (9.0) ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Part DTTM II, part a preview of Stand, but a solid transition album *Sly Stone - High on You [1975] (8.2) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ More solid funk than the final real Family album and far cry better thar the Family in name only albums* 5. Dance to the Music [1968] (8.2) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Side one definitely shows what the. Family Stone would become, side two slides back into safer soul territory 6. A Whole New Thing [1967] (7.5) ⭐⭐⭐ More of James Brown clone than a whole new thing, ut a nice intro to the band. "Underdog" though gives a slight peek at their trajectory. 7. Small Talk [1974] (7.3) ⭐⭐⭐½ The final real Family Stone album, feels a bit all over the place compared to the three previous 8. Back on the Right Track [1979] (7.0) ⭐⭐⭐½ My favorite of the Family in name only albums mainly because I like the late 70s dance funk sound, but it's not trying to break any ground. 9. Ain't But the One Way [1983] (6.5) ⭐⭐⭐ I don't think the 80s production helped his sound, but not a bad listen over all. 10. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back [1976] ⭐⭐⭐ (6.2) Very generic almost educational TV approximation of 70 funk. Second half fares better than the first.

10. Ain't But the One Way 9. Back on the Right Track 8. Heard Ya Missed Me 7. Small Talk 6. A Whole New Thing 5. Dance to the Music 4. Life 3. Fresh 2. Stand 1. There's a Riot Going On

01 There's a Riot Goin' On 02 Fresh 03 Dance to the Music 04 Stand! 05 Life 06 Small Talk 07 A Whole New Thing 08 Back on the Right Track 09 Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back 10 Ain't but the One Way

Love Sly’s music, personally think he is one of the most underrated talents of that era- under appreciated as a composer, an arranger & a producer. And what a band. My favourite is Fresh, I think their best is Stand or Riot, all either 5stars or near enough. Love the debut, Small Talk, High on You, all 3.75-4 stars. Dance to the Music & Life around 3.5-3.75. Ain’t But the One Way is way more fun than it should be, 3 stars. Back on the Right Track’s okay but not crazy about Heard Ya Missed Me, 2.5. Thank you all for recognising that the supposedly “terrible” later period is mostly fine- what are music critics on about? And thanks for all the vids, always enjoy watching ✌🏼

Good to see you guys exposed to a ‘new’ artist not heard before. His music has been in my regular listening for a few decades and it’s fantastic. Rivals Stevie even

There was a two-year gap between Stand! and Riot. That was a very rare occurrence in those days. It was almost as if Sly had retired. (However, Greatest Hits--the best hits collection ever, by anyone--did a lot to keep Sly in the spotlight, with Hot Fun in the Summertime / Thank You an absolutely incredible double A-side of new songs.) So the contrast in mood was all the more remarkable when Riot appeared, and perhaps even more remarkable was how successful it was: #1 in Billboard, with "Family Affair" #1 pop for three weeks, at a time when the competition on the charts was fierce. This was arguably the weirdest, most extreme, least compromising music ever to achieve that degree of commercial reach.

One of my 6 or 7 favorite catalogs - happy you did it! Wish you knew more about those times - there's more going on that you guys missed, although Joe was catching on. The racial and sexual politics were DEEP. "Chicken," for instance, was about how young people were being pushed to doing dangerous things* - drugs, crime, sex. When Cynthia sings, "call me what you want," but you know the pressure to "put out" is heavy. *I know - like they are now. "Que Sera, Sera" is a loaded song. "Will I be pretty?" - guys, we did not even see black people on TV back then. Black folks have a saying - "Black is beautiful." It took a damn long time for that to be recognized in popular culture - even Serena Williams had to fight that battle during her career. Sly snarls, "What will be, will be." He's hedging his bets. On another song, he screams, and says, "If I had to do it all over again, I'd still be in the skin I'm in." If he felt any differently, he'd be going insane. And maybe he did... That first album is incredibly sarcastic. Not "Underdog" - again, listen to the bitterness of the lyrics under the uplifting music. "You're the underdog, and you have to be twice as good." "Turn Me Loose" is Sly making fun of Otis Redding's " "You Can't Turn Me Loose" - no grits in Sly's music, as a producer he rejected Grace Slick's band because they couldn't rock hard enough. "Plastic People" borrows the chorus to "Eleanor Rigby" to take shots at the middle class. Then there's brutal hard truths of "Family Affair." "Blood's thicker than the mud" - has a man ever sounded more conflicted about standing by his own? Musically, they were often as much rock as they were soul - they had white drummers and bass players in their funky sound! Dance to the Music came out in November 1967, so yes, Sly influenced the Temptations and Stevie Wonder. The first album's "Trip to Your Heart" was sampled for LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" - does anyone honestly believe "Trip" sounds like any other song anywhere? C'mon.... I hope you guys go back to the run of albums up through Fresh. Emotionally loaded, stylistically diverse. Not doing a full ranking, but "There's a Riot Goin' On" is in my All-Time Top 10, and the first 30 seconds of "Luv'N Hate" are the greatest album opening ever. Thanks, gentlemen!

My Top 5 Sly & The Family Stone albums are # 5 Small Talk # 4 Dance To The Music # 3 There's A Riot Going On # 2 Stand & # 1 Fresh .. Sly had a nice run but excess took a quick toll on him. Sure did influence Prince ..

My top 10 Sly &The Family Stone albums are (1). Fresh, (2). Stand, (3). There's a riot goin' on, (4) Life, (5). High on you(even though it's a Sly solo effort)(6). Dance to the music, (7). A whole new thing, (8). Small Talk, (9). Ain't but the one way, (10). Back on the right track.

My 2nd time watching this. All 3 of you guys have incredible insight on this discography

The albums are hurt by the absence of my two favorite songs by them - "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Again)." All three of you got the number one wrong. It's Riot - definite 5 stars, definitely top 15 in the unbeatable 1971.

Wow, I had no idea you guys were going to do the Family Stone this week. What a coincidence. I watched the Woodstock documentary last week and I started listening to their albums because I was blown away by their performance of "I Want to Take You Higher" at the festival. Fantastic band. Very underappreciated nowadays, and extremely influential on R&B, soul, funk and hip hop that would appear in the future. You barely hear any of their music, at least in Australia where I live. And at the time they were groundbreaking for being one of the first truly integrated hugely popular mainstream rock/pop/R&B bands. Their sound which appealed to both the R&B/soul audience and the roc audience netted them huge hits in the late-60s/early-70s My ranking would be: 1. Stand! (5/5) 2. Fresh (4.5/5) 3. Life (4.5/5) 4. Dance to the Music (4/5) 5. There's a Riot Goin' On (3.5/5) - I know this might seem low, but it's a bit too fragmented and avant-funk for my taste. Still a really good album. "Family Affair" is incredible and the production on this album is fantastic. 6. Dance to the Music (3/5) 7. Small Talk (3/5) 8. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back (2.5/5) 9. Back on the Right Track (2/5) 10. Ain't But the One Way (1.5/5)

Heck, why not… 1. Stand! 2. Life 3. Small Talk 4. Fresh 5. Dance To The Music 6. A Whole New Thing 7. There’s A Riot Going On All of ‘em outstanding, except you gotta be in the mood for Riot with Sly being quite out of it at that stage. Not familiar yet with High On You, Heard You Missed Me… and the later one, but that will change. Needless to say, Anthology from 1981 is a necessary compilation for non-album singles. Awesome week, guys, THANKS!!!! 😎

what a day my favorite trio about my favorite artist SLY ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD 1969 -1973

Fresh has this really particular sound cuz the basics were recorded over that Maestro beatbox, a really early drum machine with that woodblock sound like on those old Lowrey organs. And the drums were recorded later, over top of the drum machine. Which kinda makes this a very early example of recording to a click track, cuz everything was layed down to... well, pretty much a metronome. There must have been some drift in tempo, and of course tape stretches and never quite plays the same way twice, but still a it's a different feel playing to something that doesn't move. Part of the vibe of that whole record. And Andy Newmark plays drums in a different way cuz he's playing TO time not holding down time himself.

Loved this guys! Huge sly fan. Thanks!

I've only listened to Riot and Stand all the way through, but this video inspired me to take a deeper look. Really enjoyed this one guys, always good to have you back in the 70s.

Sly is amazing. So many great songs. He had his own sound and it was music with a message.

Sly is a legend

Good on you Joe for rating A Whole New Thing so high. I listened to it once a long time ago, not very closely. Recently I listened to it again and was blown away. Really revolutionary funk & psychedelic soul debut. Absolutely amazing this came out in 67 - Sly Stone invented 70s (and beyond) black music here!. Dance to the Music feels more commercial and less interesting to me, though still groovy.

1.Fresh 2. Riot 3. Small Talk 4. Life 5.Stand

They were the soundtrack of my summers 69'-74' Jr High(Middle)School and High School. On the radio constantly 👍🏻💯😎 Hot fun in the summertime 👍🏻😎😁

The most I've been excited for months since Pulp

This is your best ranking since your X ranking - it helps that Sly and X are two of my all time favorite musical acts. I'm impressed that you managed to rank the 70s and 80s album(s), because until the late 1990s, only FOUR Sly albums were still in print, believe it or not! They being " Stand ", " Greatest Hits ", " There's A Riot..", and " Anthology ". For the others, I personally had to find out about them by reading up, this being before Wikipedia, and scouring flea markets and used record stores. Now one can also enjoy bonus tracks on all the original albums in re - release. At their best, The Family Stone are unparalleled - " Woodstock " being a fine example but other vintage live performances have been obtainable on video. Most people relegate The Family Sound to the optimistic ubergroovin' " Stand " era and the hungover realism of " Riot ", abandoning Sly to his bad reputation for not being able to keep it together. But his music and found performances from well into the 70s and 80s show that Sly is right up there with Marvin and Stevie.

Huge props for covering Sly in your rankings!!!!! Their biggest hits were in the 60's but " There's A Riot Going On" is when the funk began . A top track even though not the top album ""The Same Thing (that makes you laugh.makes you cry) Whenever I suggest Sly, James Brown , Curtis Mayfield, P- Funk to reaction channels literally crickets. It wasn't on our radar as kids and the majority never veer off what they know. Thanks for doing it!!!!!!!

1. Stand! (1969) 5/5 2. There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) 4.5/5 3. A Whole New Thing (1967) 4/5 4. Life (1968) 4/5 5. Fresh (1973) 4/5 6. Dance to the Music (1968) 3.5/5 7. Back On the Right Track (1979) 3/5 8. Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976) 3/5 9. Small Talk (1974) 2.5/5 10. Ain't But the One Way (1982) 2.5/5 CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: 4.0 A Whole New Thing (1967) 3.5 Dance to the Music (1968) 4.0 Life (1968) 5.0 Stand! (1969) 4.5 There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) 4.0 Fresh (1973) 2.5 Small Talk (1974) 3.0 Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976) 3.0 Back on the Right Track (1979) 2.5 Ain't But the One Way (1982) Talk about a crossover group. Right out of the gate, 1967's A Whole New Thing establishes Sly & Fam's combustable mix of soul, rock, funk, and pop music. That album fades towards the end (last 4 tracks) but almost everything up 'til then is memorable. "I Cannot Make It" and "Trip to Your Heart" exemplify their early sound. Dance to the Music (1968) is a worthy follow-up and tends to get overlooked despite containing their first big radio hit (the title track.) Life, also from 1968, sprouts a handful of career highlights, most notably "Fun," "M'Lady," "Life," "Jane is a Groupee." I understand why some people rate 1969's Stand! less than 5 stars (because "Sex Machine" drags on interminably) but I think the rest of that album is so amazing it renders "Sex Machine" irrelevant. It's the same way I feel about "Moonchild" vis-a-vis King Crimson's debut (another album from 1969 I rated 5 stars.) Most people see their next effort, 1971's There's a Riot Going On, as a dark, exigent masterpiece that captures the post-hippie disillusionment of the early 1970s. Other people see it as a meandering, self-indulgent "solo Sly" project made while the band was fractured by drug use and infighting. Personally, I consider 'Riot' to be a unique piece of art, I just can't quite get to 5 stars on it. I love most of the songs but the long jams feel undercooked and lack the intra-band collaborative spark of their previous material. Fresh (1973) caps off their classic period with tasty morsels like "If You Want Me to Stay" and "Skin I'm In." After 1974's lackluster Small Talk the band broke up, though Sly continued to record what were basically solo albums under the "Sly & the Family Stone" name. Those later LPs are decent but they sound more like the artists Sly influenced- e.g. George Clinton, The Temptations, Al Green, Earth Wind & Fire- than they sound like "classic period" Sly. All told, this band is one of the most important in music history and a no-brainer for my "top 100 artists" list. Sly & Fam are responsible for so many innovations, from slap bass to infusing black music with psychedelia. The story of 20th century music can't be told without them. MY RATING SYSTEM: 5.0 = major classic (consistently great *and* stratospheric highs) 4.5 = minor classic (consistently great *or* stratospheric highs, but not both) 4.0 = great (a clear majority is worth revisiting and it's an essential record for this artist/style) 3.5 = seriously good (at least half is worth revisiting) 3.0 = nominally good (less than half is worth revisiting) 2.5 = decent (competent but uninspired - not worth revisiting) 2.0 = poor (difficult listen) 1.5 = awful (can't finish it) 1.0 = historically awful (musical apocalypse) ▪︎"Consistently" does not mean "flawlessly." I allow for a few duds if the rest of the songs are good enough. "Stratospheric highs" refer to albums that either feature iconic songs or have a highly influential sound. (Note: Albums that I consider to be "perfect" can also reach 5 stars, even without containing iconic songs or being highly influential.) ▪︎I don't go below 1 star because once I'm in the realm of the truly terrible I don't care to differentiate anymore. ▪︎Anything I rate 3.5 stars or higher is an album I'm enthusiastic about and would likely revisit at some point.

Love me a bit of Sly, another excellent episode guys. My fave is Stand but i think their best is Riot. Prince definitely owes a lot to Sly.

" i think people will be disappointed that i didn't get higher than 4 stars". Jason, it's all good...you just keep doing you mate..that's why we love you guys....just finished watching. great review, great effort. Much appreciated by your devoted fans/patrons

Your reviews are making me want to check out his post-Fresh albums. I also suspected a precipitous drop, but hearing your positive comments, I’m curious now.

1. There's A Riot Goin' On 2. Life 3. Stand 4. Fresh 5. Dance To The Music 6. A Whole New Thing 7. Small Talk I have to admit to not having heard anything post Small Talk. Based on the comments I'm gonna have to give High On You a listen. But I consider the first six albums all essential, ranging from merely good ( A Whole New Thing, Dance To The Music) to great ( the next four). And Small Talk isn't as bad I had always been led to believe. I could flip Riot and Life on any given day, depending on mood, weather and what I've been smoking. Sly fans should also check out Listen to the Voices: Sly Stone in the Studio, a bunch of stuff Sly did earlier in his career, some as a performer and some as producer. Side note: When I was a Long Island kiddie there was a local hair salon called Family Affair; they used the song on their ever-present radio spot on the popular Top 40 FM station. I can't help but think of that commercial, and what Top 40 radio was like in the 70's, when I hear that song. And I would love a Funkadelic video, at some point. Or a Parliament video. Or a Parliament-Funkadelic...um, their discographies can be problematic.

Sooooo excited for next week!!! 😄

I was looking forward to you all covering them! My ranking: 11. Back on the Right Track (1979) 10. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back (1976) 9. Ain’t but the One Way (1982) 8. Small Talk (1974) 7. A Whole New Thing (1967) 6. Dance to the Music (1969) 5. High on You (1975) 4. Life (1968) 3. Fresh (1973) 2. Stand! (1969) 1. There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971)

My college roommate turned me on to Sly. In 1989 I heard Riot, Fresh, Stand and the singles. Had all of it on cassette, but eventually settled on this killer, 2-disc compilation called The Essential Sly & The Family Stone. The same roommate also introduced me to George Clinton and his band(s) Parliament-Funkadelic. Anyway tomorrow's 10 songs will be difficult

The best album that most people haven't heard is the Stone Flower singles compilation that came out on Light In The Attic a few years back. Sly and the Family Stone play most of the instruments and Sly produces every track. Unmissable.

Nice show. I am truly appreciative of your foray into funk. I'd love you to dive deeper--go all in with a P-Funk week. But Sly and the Family Stone are great for now. My top 10 is strangely similar to Kramzer's. Weird. We never see eye to eye on anything. I any event, my list" 1. Stand! 2. Life 3. Fresh 4. Dance to the Music 5. A Whole New Thing 6. There's A Riot Going On 7. Ain't But the One Way 8. Back on the Right Track 9. Heard Y'all Missed Me 10. Small Talk

Top 3 Sly tracks for me 1) Thank You For Talking to Me Africa 2) Poet 3) The Same Thing ( that makes you laugh makes you Cry)

I never listened to their albums either. . .until now. Right now I'm listening to Stand, and when Sex Machine came on, I realized that I heard that main riff before. To me, it sounds like the main riff that Joe Walsh later used on Rocky Mountain Way. It sounded like you guys had a great time with this discography, and based on that I'm going to take a deep dive into the catalog.

Wow! I've just seen it, I love sly and the family stone, see you in a bit for the ranking, it's about sleeping time here in Italy

Love Sly can’t wait to watch this rn!

Their Greatest Hits album because of the songs Everybody Is A Star, Hot Fun In The Summertime and Thank You should be included in your rankings and it's an obvious 5 star ranking and the album High On You had most of the band playing on it and it's rated at number 6 out of 12 albums and IMO it's the last of his great albums. My rankings are: 1. Greatest Hits, 2. Riot, 3. Stand 4. Fresh 5. Life, 6. High On You, 7. Dance To The Music, 8. Back on the Right Track, 9 Small Talk, 10. A Whole New Thing, I1. Heard Ya Missed Me, 12 12, Ain't But The One Way

This is my ranking of the Sly & The Family Stone's albums I've listened to : 1.There's A Riot Going On. 9.25 2.Stand! 9 3.Fresh. 8.25 4.Dance To The Music. 7.75 5.Life. 7.25 I'll be checking out your views to see if I'm missing something

1. Fresh (fantastic production) 5⭐ 2. Stand! (love all the songs, even the longer "Sex Machine") 5⭐ 3. High on you (joyous, unbridled, melodic later album, why not rating it too ?) 5⭐ 4. Life (shows every facets of the band) 5⭐ 5. There's a riot goin'on (harder for me to get in, today I love it, dense and catchy) 4,5⭐ 6. Dance to the music (party album, contagious in a good way !) 4⭐ 7. Small talk (highs and some lows but highs are very high and a great addition to their sound with these violins) 4⭐ 8. A whole new thing (a very good start, "underdog" is my favourite, not a fantastic album as a whole but they will find their unique sound with the next one and the addition of Rose). 3,5⭐ Don't listen to the 3 remaining albums. I know some songs but for me, golden age is over.

i only know Stand, Fresh and Riot. And the hits. And i played M'Lady in a band. Seems like i've got some homework to do listening through more Sly. i really do love their blend of soul and rock'n'roll and psychedelia. Along with James Brown and Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone is a cornerstone of the sound that becomes funk, overshadowed a bit by those 2 titans, but where would Prince be without Sly Stone? But also that blend of rock in their, which Jimi comes to from the other side... putting the groove into the rocking out. And it all gets kinda divided after them, even though it's so natural to NOT divide it.

nice to see you go through their discography. i always liked them. Besides hard rock and metal, funk and 60s/70s soul is among my very favourite things. however, somehow I never realised they had so many albums -- thought they'd stopped in the mid-70s. There's a Rio Goin' On is my favourite. Maybe critics didn't like them but as far as I know they've always been well respected and liked by listeners and musicians.

Do the Kinks!

That's not a babies sound effect. That's his infant son Sylvester Jr on the song ""Small talk".

This is great..you get exposed and you largely find your way to the truth Bravo!

The ‘sameyness’ that Jason and Kram mention may change with repeated listening as you do appreciate subtle differences with multiple listening. New albums sometimes do that.

He has like 3 or 4 albums where the title is essentially ‘hey im not getting wasted anymore, really’. I need to give them more of a chance. I probably like fresh the best Also you should hear the alternate working mixes of fresh. Most of them are superior and weird as shit ‘My world’ from high on you is also excellent

What a band!!!

A best of does it for me although I had There's a Riot... way back when. I did see them live back in 1968, great live show of course.

Family Affair was #1 on the pop and the r&b charts.

1. There's a Riot Goin' On (5 stars) 2. Fresh (4.5 stars) 3. Stand! (4.5 stars) Heard Small Talk, not ready to rate but like it. Have also heard Greatest Hits, from this and other instances not sure the earlier stuff will be as much my thing.

Now you're in church (or school). Really apreciate this episode. Now take the full run and do some P-Funk and, even more important, The Meters, greatest backing Band in history.

Hi guys, I found out about them not so long ago, I've been listening to their albums quite often in the last few years, I would stick to my top 5 at the moment: 1) there is a riot going on 2) Stand 3) Life 4) Fresh 5) Dance to the music

One of my.favorite bands here

Earth, Wind & Fire would be cool to see at some point.

This is one I been waiting for - thanks guys - insightful analysis- my 2 go -to records are definitely Fresh and Riot - Stand however is probably their artistic peak - best funk track of all time however is Thankyoufalettinmebemiceelf - not on an album just a single but IMHO the best SATFS track ever - why no mention of this track in an honorable mention?

Joe gets the win for ranking Life at #1 (an album that actually almost made my top 5 of 1968) but solid rankings and commentary overall. 1. Life - 4.5 2. Stand! - 4 (close to 4.5) 3. There’s a Riot Goin’ On - 4 4. Fresh - 3.5 (close to 4) 5. Dance to the Music - 3.5 6. A Whole New Thing - 3.5 7. High on You - 3.5 8. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back - 3 9. Ain’t But the One Way - 3 10. Back on the Right Track - 3 11. Small Talk - 3

Good show

How about doing the Grateful Dead?

Now we' re talking !

are you guys planning on doing Funkadelic?

SLY!!! BRING IT ON!!! 👍🤩 (List follows later)

I definitely prefer their earlier stuff with that rawer soul sound. They got too funky for my taste, but apart from their last three albums I don't think it was unlistenable or anything. Stand! was close to five star, but 14 minutes of Sex Machine was just too much. 10. Back on the Right Track (1979) ★½ 9. Ain't But the One Way (1982) ★★ 8. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976) ★★ 7. Small Talk (1974) ★★½ 6. Fresh (1973) ★★★½ 5. There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) ★★★½ 4. A Whole New Thing (1967) ★★★★ 3. Dance to the Music (1968) ★★★★ 2. Life (1968) ★★★★ 1. Stand! (1969) ★★★★½ ★★★★★ - Masterpiece ★★★★½ - Really great ★★★★ - Great ★★★½ - Really good ★★★ - Good ★★½ - OK ★★ - Bad ★½ - Really bad ★ - Awful ½ - The worst

I've wanted to see this one for a while. Pleased to see it win the poll and get the TLM treatment! 1. Stand! - ★★★★ (8.5) Phenomenal highlights. Would be a 4.5 if not for the jam of Sex Machine, which is well-performed but long and hurts the flow. 2. Dance to the Music - ★★★★ (8.0) Continues from the first record's sound while packing the classic title track and a monster medley. 3. A Whole New Thing - ★★★½ (7.5) Poppy and funky from the start. Solid debut. 4. Fresh - ★★★½ (7.5) The grooves of Riot and the tight package of Life makes for a pretty good mix. Held back by not quite having past records' highlights. 5. There's a Riot Goin' On - ★★★½ (7.5) Great grooves throughout and Family Affair is fantastic, but elsewhere we lose some of the pop elements that I adore. 6. High on You - ★★★½ (7.5) A bit of a surprise in the catalogue. I thought the vibe maintained quite well pretty consistently throughout. Only lacking a huge highlight to put it over the top. 7. Life - ★★★½ (7.0) An underwhelming start, but it ends pretty well. Benefits from a tight runtime that moves fast. 8. Back on the Right Track - ★★★ (6.5) I can really get behind albums being this short! Punchy, nice listen - they still sound very good. Again just lacking some distinct highlights. 9. Small Talk - ★★★ (6.5) Solid overall. Nothing really wrong with it. Not overly memorable overall, but a couple of changeups in a sea of slow funk. 10. Ain't But the One Way - ★★★ (6.5) The slightest touches of more period production. Not essential, but enjoyable. 11. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back - ★★★ (6.0) Gets a little silly at times, but it's actually still a pretty easy and catchy listen for what it is.

stand should be their greatest work because of the 12 songs making up their greatest hits 5 were featured on it from that lp. then they released riot the year after the greatest hits and a few years later fresh which took the genre in a totally different tangent. sly is a genius songwriter for sure but that band were a fine collective of players and inspired p-funk, rick james and prince. there's your proof.

The comments here are wonderful ❤. Sly and the Family Stone is one of those bands that makes me wish I was born 15 years earlier.

You guys best to worest 1. Kram( perfect man just perfect 2.joe( you had fresh alittle low to me but still great list. 3.jason( love your love for these guys man but yeah your number 2 pick and like Joe fresh alittle to low for me.

Joe rocks! 🙂 My #1 is Life.

Great video! Love your channel Fellas!! Check out the Isley Brothers catalog.

🤠 Riot. Six stars.

By the way, I'm cool with your theme music now. I got used to it.

Just in time!! Stand -4.5 stars (9.5) Riot - 4 stars (8.5) Dance to The Music - 4 stars (8.3) Small Talk - 4 stars (8.2) Ain’t But the One Way - 4 stars (8) High on You - 3.5 stars (7.5) A Whole New Thing - 3 stars (6.4) Fresh - 3 stars (6.3) Life - 3 stars (6.2) Back on the Right Track - 2.5 stars (5.8) Heard ya Missed Me - 2 stars (4.7)

RIOT FOREVER GREETINGS FROM POLAND I LOVE YOU GUYS

Damn, album titles not listed during the video. 😞

I know all the hits and they're great,but just two must have albums for me,Stand! and There's a Riot Goin'On, both 4.5 stars

My top 3 Stand There's a riot coming Fresh See how I rank you all

I had really high expectations for this discography so I think maybe that skewed how I felt about the albums a bit. I had an expectation based on singles (of which they have many S-tier selections) and the albums were quite different. I'm thinking perhaps I need a longer time with some of these albums to more properly take them in, especially earlier on in their career. Still a great experience. I don't understand why some of these have such low ratings elsewhere because absolutely none of these albums were bad. I always love when you guys cover something a little different regardless of the result so this was great. Here's where I stand right now, for what it's worth the Greatest Hits would be a 5 star album for sure. 11. Back on the Right Track - 3 (6.0) 10. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back - 3 (6.2) 9. High on You - 3 (6.2) 8. Dance To the Music - 3 (6.3) 7. A Whole New Thing - 3 (6.4) 6. Ain’t But the One Way - 3.5 (6.6) 5. Small Talk - 3.5 (6.8) 4. Life - 3.5 (7.4) 3. There’s Riot Goin’ On - 4 (8.2) 2. Fresh - 4 (8.5) 1. Stand! - 4.5 (9.2)

i'm with Joe on this 100%

In the late 70's Sly had a decent but combustible radio show once a week in Los Angeles. Played cool music but meandering gibberish in between the music was sad to hear. He was literally losing his mind & it was disturbing.

So when ist the Dave Matthews Band Ranking coming? The whole world ist waiting!

2nd best SATFS track of all time - 'Hot fun in the Summertime " no mention ?!?!?

I applaud you for attempting to rank Sly and the Family releases. Not an easy task. I’m 67 and been a Sly Stone fan since the beginning. It’s sort of important to know what was going on with Sly at the point right after the release of “Stand” (my favorite Sly album). “Stand” was released in 1969 (right before Woodstock). Sly was a headliner at the time, after Woodstock he become a mega-super star (as noted by his many TV talk show appearances. Mostly every one forgets that after “Stand” Sly released maybe his two biggest hits, “Thank You” and “Everybody Is a Star” as an A-side/B-side single. Expectations were high for the release of his next album. For the ‘died in the wool’ Sly fan the release of “There's a Riot Goin' On” was a terrible disappointment and it signaled that something was wrong in Sly-ville. After the release the word got out that Sly was having real troubles with COKE. For the “Sly” fan it went downhill from there. Original (important) members of the band left and the replacements were ok at best. Album releases were ok (I guess) but not to the level of “Stand” or “Thank You”.

A good show could be best back to back albums ala Stand and Riot and say GD Working man’s Dead and American Beauty

Hi can you do a Neil Diamond albums ranking. I love is musuc. I have more tgan 35 vinyl LP records of Neil Diamond. Im from Sri Lanka

There is really bad albums like Van Halen III or John Norums Slipped into Tomorrow but I think critic can be way to hard on many albums. 1 / 5 for a totally decent album? I remember when Sonic Highways from Foo Fighters came out and I was very disappointed. It made my interest in the bands future much smaller but it's not that bad. I would never rate it 1 / 5 only because I didn't like it very much. Like some who give 5 / 5 to a lot of albums there seem to be those who just give 1 / 5 way to easy.

Imagine not liking Stevie Wonder's harmonica tone...

If you haven't sat with the first three albums you can not fully understand Stand, Riot or anything later. Much like the Ohio Players, we didn't really experience them by the time they got their deal. What we have of The Family Stone on wax pales to what clubs and festivals (before Woodstock) got of them. Riot and Stand we're more dark times for Sly and Stand is the beginning of the blues for him. It's really not happy album and neither Riot. Riot was a lamenting of sorts, part lament part cry for help. Not having really reaped the benefits of the work and the message you attempted to spread not showing up in folks lives makes one feel defeated. All you can do is eat of yourself and ask "what is this? What is Stardom?"

Don’t ever disrespect Larry Graham like that ever again lmfao

Funkadelic were better and mother's finest more rock oriented Prince was definitely influenced by the above bands As regards sly it's probably the first 3 albums for me