Sly & The Family Stone Life

LIFE, Sly's follow-up to his commercial breakthrough, DANCE TO THE MUSIC, was very much in the same vein as its predecessor. An innovative blend of rock and soul, with large helpings of horns, fuzz guitar, and bottom-heavy bass, it was to become the sonic template for just about every funk act of the '70s.
The band is brash and palpably bursting with confidence, which may explain why Sly pulled a postmodern Beatles move, quoting "Dance to the Music" at the tag of the opening "Dynamite." (On the other hand, maybe Sly just had a thing for the Beatles--there's an "Eleanor Rigby" quote in "Plastic Jim.") Interestingly, despite the album's popularity, LIFE yielded no hit singles, although almost everybody assumed that the title song, an FM radio favorite, had actually charted.

• Genre: Rock
• Format: Vinyl