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| | Up for the Down Stroke | | | Music Artist : | | Parliament | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Island / Mercury | | Release Date : | | 2003-04-08 | | Store Price : | | $11.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $11.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Up for the Down Stroke
2. Testify
3. Goose
4. I Can Move You (If You Let Me)
5. I Just Got Back (From the Fantasy, Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands)
6. All Your Goodies Are Gone
7. Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good
8. Presence of a Brain
9. Up For The Down Strokes (Alternate Mix) (Bonus Track)
10. Testify (Alternate Mix) (Bonus Track)
11. Singing Another Song (Previously Unreleased) (Bonus Track)
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 A pleasant surprise!!!
Submitted on: 2009-05-08 |
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| I waited forever and a day for this album to arrive and it was a pleasant surprise, and WORTH the wait! " I Can Move You" is probably my favorite song on this album. Eddie Hazel's guitar can really 'move' a gal!!! The pleasant surprise was learning that Clinton wrote that great song, "Testify", remembered that song from elementary school as a oldie but goodie!!! If you want to listen to classic Parliament before the drugs and insanity took over, this is one of the best albums! |
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 Got up for the down stroke
Submitted on: 2009-02-11 |
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| This is the second comming of parliament as I knew it, and boys and girls it's funky.Get this cd and start with the original version then go directly to the Alternative version then start the whole thang over again. It's worth it!! You know the band was getting to roll. I love this disc. It sets the tone for the mothership and everything that would follow. if this isn't in your archives your just to finicky for the funk. It wasn't meant to be perfect like a showroom car. It's just good to your earhole. Dance around the house or kick back on it. A little side note... My favorite track is "All your Goodies are Gone" people that really know the funk,know it as the "Loser seat". Am I telling my age? yeah and who cares. Enjoy the Original funk/Rap/Dance crazy band. Yeah, I said it, "The first Rap band". Not Run D.M.C. Sorry!!! |
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 Just buy the first two tracks as MP3's
Submitted on: 2008-06-01 |
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By the time of this album, P-Funk had been recording for a while under the Funkadelic name, but "Up For The Downstroke" was their big relaunch as Parliament. Unfortunately, after two absolutely essential songs - "Testify" and the title track - the album proved to be a dud in my opinion. Other decent tracks include "The Goose," "All Your Goodies are Gone," and "Presence of a Brain." However, the first two's intriguing ideas are held back by a lack of refinement, and the last is good but not great. Elsewhere, "I Can Move You" is an entirely forgettable funk song, "I Just Got Back" is a bland stylistic detour with cheesy whistling, and "Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good" has the same hard-to-place amatuerish feel mentioned earlier.
By all means, get the first two tracks (either by Amazon MP3 or via Best Of albums), and don't rule out investigating the other okay tracks I mentioned. However, this truly isn't a competitive album, either with later Parliament or the excellent albums Funkadelic was releasing around this time ("Standing On The Verge," "Let's Take It To The Stage," etc). 3 stars. |
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The Mothership Before it Took Off
Submitted on: 2007-11-17 |
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First off, I'd like to say this: The single mix of "Testify" is MUCH better than the album cut. For one, they made a good call by repeating the opening riff an extra couple bars, because I could just listen to that riff all day. For another, the single mix has some great ensemble, Sly Stone-like vocals that the album take is sadly missing. Those vocals really make the song - the album mix is still a good track (it's still "Testify", after all), but the single version is superior in every way.
Getting on with it, Parliament's major-label debut is an okay album, but nothing at all like the heights they would hit on later discs. Like the next album, Chocolate City, there's no overriding concept here. The lyrics do mostly share a common theme, though - quick, just by looking at the titles, find me the common theme of "The Goose" ("that laid the golden egg"), "I Can Move You (If You Let Me)", "All Your Goodies Are Gone", and "Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good"! I think I know what you're thinking, and I'm pretty sure you're right. Out of those, "The Goose" really cooks (no pun intended), a nine-minute jazz-funk jam similar to the record's amazing hit title track, with sweet stop-start drumming during the bridge. For whatever reason, "The Goose" failed as a single. But it is just awesome. Seriously. "All Your Goodies are Gone" is second-best of those songs (and third-best overall). Its stoned, druggy atmosphere makes me think of Parliament's compatriots Funkadelic. I'm not too fond of either "I Can Move You" or "Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good" - the first is rather dull stereotypical R&B; the second seriously makes me think of arena-rock. And hey, whaddaya know, there are only two songs left! They're decent, but not brilliant - "I Just Got Back" is perfectly listenable but nonetheless pointless soft-rock (not kidding, it's really soft-rock from Parliament. Confused? So am I), and "Presence of a Brain" at least has some nice lyrics and nicer Latin piano going for it. Really, I'm not so sure what to say about this, but it can kick some butt when it feels like it. |
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WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE R&B AND FUNK
Submitted on: 2007-01-09 |
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| This is one of the best and most creative and musically stimulating albums in existence. If you're looking for something to move you, to make you think, and to make you feel music completely differently, YOU NEED PARLIAMENT. All I can say is try it, and if it isn't for you, YOU AREN'T READY YET!! |
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