Product Review

Polygram's "Funk Essentials" series told the history band by band: a two-CD set by Parliament, single-CD sets by Kool & the Gang, Cameo, the Bar-Kays and Con Funk Shun, plus an extra CD of odds and ends. Rhino's five-volume In Yo' Face: The History of Funk, by contrast, tells the story chronologically, from James Brown's 1970 "Sex Machine" to Zapp's 1980 "More Ounce to the Bounce." The Polygram approach gives you a more in-depth look at such key acts as Parliament and Kool & the Gang, but the Rhino strategy allows a broader overview. Rhino allows for the broadest possible definition of funk, including such questionable acts as Natalie Cole, George Duke, George McCrae, and the Dramatics. On the other hand, the series showcases such founding fathers as James Brown, Sly Stone, and the Isley Brothers, plus a dozen assorted P-Funk tracks. --Geoffrey Himes