Fresh [RSD Essential Neon Orange LP], Sly & The Family Stone, Vinyl

50th Anniversary Edition. Fresh expands and brightens the slow grooves of There's a Riot Goin' On, turning them, for the most part, into friendly, welcoming rhythms. Fresh winds up more varied, musically and lyrically, which may not make it as unified, but it does result in more traditional funk that certainly is appealing in its own right. It finds Sly precisely balancing funk and pop, creating an album that wound up being his last masterwork and one of the great funk albums of its era. A documentary on Sly & The Family Stone, directed by Questlove, is tentatively scheduled for 2023.