Following three straight masterworks that balanced hard workouts with laid-back bedroom jams, ditched the balancing act, offering up straight, relentless hard . This is great for those who just want the sweaty workouts had proven himself well capable of delivering on his own as well as with - . In fact, if that's what you're looking for -- hard-hitting, unrelenting funk -- look no further, for is absolutely teeming with it. However, the lack of slower, softer material can quickly lead to weariness if you're not ready for a nonstop dance party. Endurance is required here, make no mistake. and are all standouts, reflecting the kookiness of from the year before. But without slower songs a la is just too much for anyone who's not a hardcore funkateer. Consequently, the album isn't as easily recommended as 's past few, and really is of primary interest to P-Funk aficionados. With so many excellent P-Funk albums released throughout the 1970s, it's easy to pass over this one, as it certainly features some first-rate hard but is relatively short on ideas, with an absence of new ones altogether. This shortage of new ideas would lead to the varied degrees of experimentation that would characterize 's subsequent albums, (1980) and, especially, (1982). Granted, those albums weren't as successful as -- just as it wasn't as successful as its predecessors -- but they're more interesting for their experimentation and their eccentricities. In comparison to their flights of fancy, as well as the balance songwriting of Bootsy's first three albums, seems unmemorable in retrospect. It's a wild, heart-racing listen while it's playing, yet afterward leaves little impression otherwise. ~ Jason Birchmeier