The Funk Metal Thread
Living Colour - "Time's Up" (1990)
Coming off the back of revisiting the 1988 debut album "Vivid" from this New York outfit recently, I thought I might give the same privilege to Living Colour's sophomore album too. I picked up a dubbed cassette copy from someone at school at the time of release & remember quite liking it, mainly due to Vernon Reid's fusion-inspired lead guitar work which seriously shreds. It's certainly a more serious record than "Vivid" was. It's also a much more metal one too. I've always struggled to see why people like to label "Vivid" as a metal release to be honest. To my ears it was more of a hard/funk rock album but "Time's Up" is one of the rare records that I actually feel is worthy of the funk metal tag as I find most of the others to receive that tag either don't include the funk element consistently enough or aren't really metal. The musicianship is astoundingly good from all parties but, while there's undoubtedly some strong material here, I don't think there are any genuine classics included. The calypso single "Solace of You" doesn't do anything for me & neither do any of the short interludes, all of which could have been comfortably omitted. Overall, I'd suggest that it's a better record than "Vivid" & I still quite like it but I wouldn't say that it's essential.
3.5/5
Lemme just say that I've heard several Primus albums and all of then, save their Wonka album, are very funky to me.
Yes, I agree but none of the Primus albums I’ve heard contain anything much in the way of metal.
Yes, I agree but none of the Primus albums I’ve heard contain anything much in the way of metal.
It feels pretty alt-metal to me. Not extreme but heavy enough.
Given that’s how you see them, is there any reason to separate Primus out from other alternative metal artists then? As a point of reference, there have only been eleven funk metal releases in the last fourteen years (at least ones that are significant enough to warrant us adding them to the Metal Academy database). There’s only been four this decade so far, two of which were from the same band.
Once I get back into music I'll check out some funk metal.
Mordred - "In This Life" (1991)
The late 80’s saw the metal world starting to experiment a little more than they had previously which was perhaps inevitable after the two most senior genres (i.e heavy metal & thrash metal) had already peaked. The incorporation of external influences was becoming quite common with artists repping everything from rap to classical to folk to surf rock. One of the more popular styles to dabble in was funk though with a number of acts reaching some level of commercial success sporting a funk-infused metal sound (Faith No More, Living Colour, Primus. etc.). None of those bands had taken things as far in terms of extremity as San Francisco’s Mordred did with the funk-driven thrash metal sound of their 1991 sophomore album “In This Life” though.
My earliest experiences with Mordred came through older school mates who supplied me with their 1989 debut full-length “Fool’s Game” which I quite liked. A dubbed copy of “In This Life” would enter my tape deck shortly afterwards & I found it’s stronger focus on the funk elements that had been hinted at on the debut to give it a slight edge. The production job is pretty weak with the guitars sounding noticeably thin but there’s enough creativity on offer to allow me to look past that obvious flaw. You see, this record really does achieve what it says on the tin in that it’s the perfect amalgamation of funk & thrash metal. It kinda sounds like a combination of the funk metal of Faith No More & Infectious Grooves & the Bay Area thrash of Death Angel & particularly Testament which is a prospect that certainly sounds interesting on paper, even if I do tend to like my thrash a little more on the pure side. There's some great musicianship on show on "In This Life" too. Front man Scott Holderby has an unusual voice for a thrash metal artist but I'm not sure he always nails it. He certainly tries to be as versatile as possible though.
The tracklisting is pretty consistent with only the flat funk metal excursion “Esse Quam Videri” not reaching an acceptable level of quality. There’s a really strong stretch during the middle of the record that includes a quality acoustic interlude (i.e. “A Beginning”) followed by the two album highlights (alternative US power metal number “Falling Away” & funk thrasher “Killing Time”) but there aren’t really any classics here & the production issues do kinda limit the potential for me to consider my higher ratings too. Still… Mordred are a bit of an enigma in the thrash scene & should be respected for their ambition & creativity in a thrash scene that’s dominated by copy-cats.
3.5/5
Infectious Grooves - "The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move... It's the Infectious Grooves" (1991)
Ben & I had a bit of fun with this funk metal super-band project that included past & future members of Suicidal Tendencies, Cyco Miko, No Mercy, Metallica, Jerry Cantrell, Ozzy Osbourne, Excel, Jane's Addiction & Porno For Pyros. In fact, I'd suggest that I enjoy it a touch more than anything Mike Muir had done with Suicidal Tendencies up to that point these days. It's probably the most pure funk metal record I can remember experiencing actually & the sketch comedy parts that are scattered across the tracklisting are pretty hilarious too. Think Faith No More, Mordred & Scatterbrain & you won't be far from the mark.
3.5/5
Here's my brand new Top Ten Funk Metal Releases of All Time list. As usual, I'm using the Metal Academy genre tags to judge qualification.
01. Faith No More - "The Real Thing" (1989)
02. Primus - "Frizzle Fry" (1990)
03. Faith No More - "Introduce Yourself" (1987)
04. Primus - "Sailing The Seas Of Cheese" (1991)
05. Scatterbrain - "Here Comes Trouble" (1990)
06. Living Colour - "Time's Up" (1990)
07. Mordred - "In This Life" (1991)
08. Infectious Grooves - "The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move... It's the Infectious Grooves" (1991)
09. Living Colour - "Vivid" (1988)
10. Ugly Kid Joe - "As Ugly As You Wanna Be" E.P. (1991)
This week's revisit to Mr. Bungle's self-titled debut album has seen me changing my Top Ten Funk Metal Releases of All Time list a little with Ugly Kid Joe's "As Ugly As You Wanna Be" E.P. being the unlucky release to drop out:
01. Faith No More - "The Real Thing" (1989)
02. Primus - "Frizzle Fry" (1990)
03. Mr. Bungle - "Mr. Bungle" (1991)
04. Faith No More - "Introduce Yourself" (1987)
05. Primus - "Sailing The Seas Of Cheese" (1991)
06. Scatterbrain - "Here Comes Trouble" (1990)
07. Living Colour - "Time's Up" (1990)
08. Mordred - "In This Life" (1991)
09. Infectious Grooves - "The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move... It's the Infectious Grooves" (1991)
10. Living Colour - "Vivid" (1988)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/265