Up for the Down Stroke Parliament Artist

Kicking off with one of prime {|funk|}'s purest distillations -- the outrageously great title track, with a perfect party chorus line and uncredited horns (presumably {|the Horny Horns|} were involved somehow) adding to the monster beat and bass -- {... Read more

Kicking off with one of prime {|funk|}'s purest distillations -- the outrageously great title track, with a perfect party chorus line and uncredited horns (presumably {|the Horny Horns|} were involved somehow) adding to the monster beat and bass -- {|Up for the Down Stroke|} finds {|Parliament|} in rude good health. As was more or less the case through the '70s, {|Parliament|} took a slightly more listener-friendly turn here than they did as {|Funkadelic|}, but often it's a difference by degrees. Just listening to some of {|Bernie Worrell|}'s insane keyboard parts or {|Bootsy Collins|}' bass work here is enough to wake the dead. As always, {|Worrell|} in particular can suddenly surprise with his delicacy -- the soft, understated flow of {|I Just Got Back|} may have lyrics that could be sung by {|Jon Anderson|}, at least at points, but the piano lines have subtle, dreamy grace, the antithesis of {|Rick Wakeman|}'s masturbations. For that matter, {|Peter Chase|}'s whistles are downright delightful, goofy, and sweet all at once. Slightly more oddball is {|All Your Goodies Are Gone,|} which has a bit more upfront bite and some downright strange lyrics, delivered with a stoned, breathless tone and backed by unearthly choir arrangements. {|Eddie Hazel|} is still listed as present and contributing, though unfortunately not for long after, with {|Ron Bykowski|}, {|Gary Shider|}, and {|William Nelson|} also chipping in as needed. {|Hazel|} co-writes two of the songs; it's a pity {|The Goose|} runs out of steam toward the midpoint of its nine minutes, but it makes for pleasant background music if not {|Parliament|} at its unfettered best. In the meantime, {|Clinton|} and various familiar voices like {|Fuzzy Haskins|} and {|Grady Thomas|} keep the weird wigginess of the lyrics flowing. In a nod to the group's past, {|(I Wanna) Testify,|} here simply called {|Testify,|} gets a 1974-era work over. ~ Ned Raggett Less