George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic – Live At Montreux 2004 (DVD + CD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Concert: B-

 

 

There was a time not that long ago that George Clinton was being dismissed along with the rest of the Glam and Disco era as a has-been with nothing to offer and no chance of revival.  Part of this came out of the anti-Liberal wave of the early 1980s that was racist, sexist and musically illiterate.  The best example is the tale of a used record store that paid top dollar for vinyl albums, but refused to even spend a dollar for a Parliament Funkadelic record.  Oddly, some collectors were spending $20 – 50 dollars for them, but this store (which shall remain unnamed) could find no use for the near-mint and in mixed condition albums offered.  This shocked the man trying to sell them.  If he held on to them now, he would get his money.

 

Fast-forward to 2004 And Hip Hop is in full swing, some would say even peaked, but Funk was so vital in making Hip Hop possible that the influence may still be understated.  Parliament Funkadelic has a whole new following and George Clinton is finally getting his due.  Live At Montreux 2004 has been issued by Eagle Eye Media as both a DVD and CD, with the CD only holding 70+ minutes, while the DVD with bonus tracks runs over two hours.  The songs on the DVD include:

 

1)     Bop Gun

2)     Undisco Kidd

3)     Flashlight/Get Low

4)     Something Stank

5)     Hard As Steel

6)     Yank My Doodle

7)     Flashlight (reprise)

8)     Not Just Knee Deep

9)     Sentimental Journey

10)  Not Just Knee Deep (reprise)

11)  Up For The Downstroke

12)  Bounce 2 This

13)  Never Gonna Tell It

14)  Atomic Dog

15)  Whole Lotta Shakin

BONUS TRACKS:

16)  Bernie Worrell Keyboard Solo

17)  Lili Haydn Violin Solo

18)  Maggot Brain

19)  U.S. Custom Coast Guard Dope Dog

20)  Maggot Brain (reprise)

21)  Them Changes

 

 

The CD offers the above tracks in the same order, minus #2 and the bonus tracks.  Though not as alive as they may have been in the 1970s, the performances and the many guests on them still pull though enough Funk to work.  The first group was founded back in 1968, while Clinton’s Atomic Dog was a 1983 solo hit that was too funky to crossover.  That would not be the case now.  This concert delivers the hits in the spirit of the great history and legacy Clinton established.  As good as it is, Funk fans are primarily the audience for these discs sold separately.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 image is not bad, but lacks detail and has depth limits.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some Pro Logic surround, while a Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 mix are also included, but they just do not work that well.  The DTS shows limits, while the Dolby is not very loud.  This simply was not recorded to be multi-channel and these mixes arte not that good.  The PCM 16Bit/44.1kHz on the CD is equal to any of the DVD tracks, but Funk fans will have to judge for themselves.  Maybe they’ll like the muddy DTS for its base.  Besides the extra tracks, there are no other extras, though there is a colorful text foldout inside the DVD case.  The CD has a truncated version of this.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo