Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove

You're in recovery mode. Yesterday you were subjected to the riotous antics of 15 preschoolers celebrating their cohort's 4th birthday. Now, the bouncy house is gone. The balloons are drifting aimlessly, hovering inches above the pavement - their ability to rise leached away overnight and matched only by your inability to get out of bed. Blue icing from a Cookie Monster cake has stained your patio and probably all those kids' bowel movements. You have to clean up this mess. You have to do your job. You lack the energy. You lack motivation. You need a shot in the ass.

This is your Rx.

Simply the finest funk to ever come from the Clinton menagerie. If Free Your Mind and Maggot Brain were slam dunks, then One Nation is the half-court, over the shoulder, no-lookee at the buzzer. They just make it seem so easy.

It grooves. It funks. It rocks. It beats you like a red-headed step-child til you get up off your ass and move. You don't hear this, you don't just "listen"; you absorb it like sponge until there is more of it in you than "you".

Spin it up. You've got things to do today and this is your little helper.

Oh, and if the title track alone doesn't do the trick, you might as well just pull that sheet up over your head - you're dead anyway.

allmusic:

One Nation Under a Groove was not only Funkadelic's greatest moment, it was their most popular album, bringing them an unprecedented commercial breakthrough by going platinum and spawning a number one R&B smash in the title track. It was a landmark LP for the so-called "black rock" movement, best-typified in the statement of purpose "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!"; more than that, though, the whole album is full of fuzzed-out, Hendrix-style guitar licks, even when the music is clearly meant for the dancefloor. This may not have been a new concept for Funkadelic, but it's executed here with the greatest clarity and accessibility in their catalog. Furthermore, out of George Clinton's many conceptual albums (serious and otherwise), One Nation Under a Groove is the pinnacle of his political consciousness. It's unified by a refusal to acknowledge boundaries — social, sexual, or musical — and, by extension, the uptight society that created them. The tone is positive, not militant — this funk is about community, freedom, and independence, and you can hear it in every cut (even the bizarre, outrageously scatological "P.E. Squad"). The title cut is one of funk's greatest anthems, and "Groovallegiance" and the terrific "Cholly" both dovetail nicely with its concerns. The aforementioned "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!" is a seamless hybrid that perfectly encapsulates the band's musical agenda, while "Into You" is one of their few truly successful slow numbers. The original LP included a three-song bonus EP featuring the heavy riff rock of "Lunchmeataphobia," an unnecessary instrumental version of "P.E. Squad," and a live "Maggot Brain"; these tracks were appended to the CD reissue. In any form, One Nation Under a Groove is the best realization of Funkadelic's ambitions, and one of the best funk albums ever released.

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