This is FUNK. The dinosaur-stomping bass lines of Mark Adams are enough to wake the dead, and the bumping beats and slashing guitar work of Mark Hicks were second to none. Steve Arrington's arrival in 1979 really added some extra funky weight to the outfit and his vocals truly make the Slave outfit rock. Vocalist Starleana Young also is thrust into the limelight here along with Curt Jones, and both sparkle, absolutely at home between the aggressive slap bass, thumping bass and party atmosphere. No prisoners are taken on this album and if you, like me, love the Funk then you were happy to offer no resistance. I only wish that groups of this standard and caliber were around today who could equally serve up soulful ballads, midtempo numbers and slam-dunking funk.This is a solid album from start to finish. Starleana is a beautiful Lady and shines this quality throughout he vocals. take the single, "Let's Spend Some Time", and you'll hear this woman's excellent soul pedigree. The brilliant, synthy, "Feel My Love" follows on as does the excellent downtempo "Starting Over", complete with a slight Bar-Kays feel. These are great, but the jam that even gets me off my lazy backside is the blindingly good stomper, "Watching You"...check of the slap bass! Steve Arrington really crowns this track magnificently. "Dreamin'" is a funkier, spacey effort and I have to say I absolutely adore the scratchy guitar funk of "Never Get Away". The album closes on a real BIG! NOTE! with the raucous heavy funk of "Stone Jam"; a killer track weighing in at nearly 7 minutes, this is a song that definitely takes no prisoners! I LOVE this! Nearly 30 years on this is still quality! The album was reissued by Rhino and features 3 bonus singles mixes -and iTunes also hosts this and may others from their catalogue. Why not make February an extra funky one?
