One Nation Under a Groove by Funkadelic

Along with James Brown and Sly Stone, George Clinton is one of the founding fathers of funk (which, let’s face it would make an excellent band name). During the late sixties and seventies he was the driving force behind two seminal bands, Parliament and Funkadelic, together known as the P-Funk collective.

For this album, Funkadelic play with genre much as a cat plays with a mouse. They combine funk, rock, prog, soul and even a bit of disco into a hugely influential album. You can definitely hear the genesis of Prince’s sound here where rock guitars, keyboards and sexy vocals are seamlessly melded in a funk-tastic whole. It’s a bit scatological in places (and when I say a bit, I mean a lot) which can get a bit tiresome, but I’ll give them a pass on that.

The highlights on this release are the title track and an amazing live medley, which showcases what a phenomenally talented group of musicians they were.

Who says a funk band can’t play rock?!