If you have never heard of Stanley Clarke, the best way to describe him is that he is to the bass guitar what Jimi Hendrix was to the electric guitar. (and if you don't know who Jimi Hendrix is, please stop reading this review right now, and come back when you learn some rock n roll history). I first heard Stanley Clarke in high school, when my friends, who were far more music savvy than me, turned me on to groups like Cream, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Stanley Clarke. Stanley Clarke is a jazz rock fusion bass player who really makes the bass guitar come alive in its own right. He really made it come alive in ways that even my favorite bass player, John Entwistle of The Who, never did. Well, my LP records of Stanley Clarke are long gone, so I was happy to find this greatest hits collection of Stanley Clarke at Barnes & Nobles.
Stanley Clark's Greatest Hits is sort of a misnomer, he was never really a pop star, and he didn't have the sort of songs that got wide radio play, he was a musicians' musician. Those who appreciate artists for their talent on their instruments should like Stanley Clarke. I don't remember enough about my old Stanley Clarke vinyl to tell you if these songs were his best, I only had a few LPs by the man, and that vinyl is long since gone. However, to my ears, played back on stereo equipment I couldn't hope to afford as a teenager, this CD sounds pretty darn good! I really enjoyed listening to it, and it brought me back to my high school days hanging out with my friends, listening to all the "cool" music with our cheap stereos turned up high.
The songs The album contains 14 songs; School Days, Wild Dog, We Supply, Mothership Connection (Star Child), Journey to Love, Hello Jeff, I Wanna Play for You, Silly Putty, Hot Fun, Rock'n'Roll Jelly, Jamaican Boy, Lost in a Thought, Between Love & Magic and Life Suite.
School Days and Wild Dog are two instrumentals that start the album off. Just Clarke doing what he does best, jamming on the bass guitar.
We Supply and Mothership Connection (Star Child) also both heavy on the bass guitar are rooted solidy in the 70s and have that 70's funk sound. In fact the lyrics on We Supply are we supply your funky needs. Journey to Love is a dreamy trippy song, also solidly rooted in the 70's but fun to listen too. Hello Jeff is another psychedelic instrumental, featuring a lot of electronic effects. I Wanna Play for You was one of the hits I remember from Clarke, and its him showing off on the bass again.
Lost in Thought and Between Love and Magic were both new songs (not now of course, this album of greatest hits was released in 1997) included on this collection.
The Sound Well for music recorded in the 70s, this CD burned up my speakers and subwoofer with great powerful bass soloes. Horn sections came in with bravado and the drums and guitar sounded awesome. High school listening never sounded this good! The sound stage was impressive, I had a real sense of being there; I could shut my eyes and visualize with ease a set of Amps spread across my living room, with a full horn section to one side, a drummer to the rear, guitars and keyboards to the other side and Stanley Clarke standing in the center wailing away on his bass guitar with a collection of effects boxes at his feet. Since Clarke was more of a jazz player than rock'n' roll, the music is a jazz fusion sound with a full horn section, keyboards, and jazz guitar. (think Al DiMeola for example).
Summary I admit that some of the lyrics and the style may be a bit dated, but the actual music and the talented bass playing of Stanley Clarke is timeless. To put it simply, the guy rocks on the bass guitar! If you enjoy listening to guitar players or other musicians just to hear them play, and not so much for the songs themselves, you may really enjoy this album. If you tend to want to hear songs with catchy hooks and ones that made the TOP 40, Clarke may not appeal to you as much. Myself, I can appreciate both. Since the albums age does show a bit, it doesn't get a full five stars, but it is certainly very good, in fact, its bass-erific!
Test Equipment Back in the day, I listened to Clarke on a Bang & Olufsen turntable, a Yamaha 100 w/ch integrated amplifier and a pair of Advent Legacies. I listened to this CD on a Boothroyd Stuart Meridian 506.24 CD player with a Yamaha Receiver as a preamplifer, a Rotel RB 991 200 w/ch power amplifier, Polk Audio Monitor 70's and a Velodyne SPL 1000 Series II subwoofer (1000 watts RMS /2000 watts peak). I hooked up the Meridian with Monster cables via the analog outs (The Digital Audio Converters are superior on the Meridian to most recievers). My subwoofer crossover was set to 80 hz.
Recommended:
