To a certain degree, you can say that Funkadelic's By Way of the Drum is a kin to Prince's The Black Album -- it's a completed album that was shelved, and it seemed like it would never see the light of day.
The story goes something like this: in the mid-'80s, Funkadelic completed the album for MCA Records, who then rejected the release, before (supposedly) misplacing the master tapes.
Almost two decades later, the tapes were found, and By Way of the Drum finally saw its belated release in 2007.
Those expecting another classic like Maggot Brain or Standing on the Verge of Getting It On will be disappointed, as the album reflects the clean-sounding robotic funk style that was commonplace in the '80s.
And as evidenced by such tunes as "Nose Bleed" and especially the title track, the album doesn't exactly spotlight the group's strongest songwriting hour (a pointless cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" helps pad the track listing).
By Way of the Drum will only be of interest for diehards interested in hearing this curious relic from the vaults.
The rest of us can stick with the aforementioned classics.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nose BleedGeorge Clinton, Dewayne Blackbyrd McKnight | Funkadelic | Play | 05:44 | 13 MB | 39 MB |
| 2 | Sunshine of Your LovePete Brown, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton | Funkadelic | Play | 05:26 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 3 | Freaks Bearing GiftsGeorge Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley | Funkadelic | Play | 06:01 | 13 MB | 39 MB |
| 4 | YadadadaWillie Collins, Tracey Lewis | Funkadelic | Play | 05:08 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | By Way of the DrumGeorge Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley | Funkadelic | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 6 | JugularDewayne Blackbyrd McKnight | Funkadelic | Play | 05:57 | 13 MB | 40 MB |
| 7 | Some Fresh DelicGeorge Clinton, Dewayne Blackbyrd McKnight | Funkadelic | Play | 05:25 | 12 MB | 35 MB |
| 8 | Primal InstinctDeborah Barsha, George Clinton, Diem Jones | Funkadelic | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 9 | By Way of the DrumGeorge Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley | Funkadelic | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 10 | By Way of the DrumGeorge Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley | Funkadelic | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 11 | By Way of the DrumGeorge Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley | Funkadelic | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 12 | By Way of the DrumGeorge Clinton, Garry Shider, David Spradley | Funkadelic | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 68 mins | 157 MB | |||||
| 68 mins | 472 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.J. Barratt | Tray Photo |
| 2 | Deborah Barsha | Composer |
| 3 | Mathieu Bitton | Art Direction, Design |
| 4 | Pete Brown | Composer |
| 5 | Jack Bruce | Composer |
| 6 | Eric Clapton | Composer |
| 7 | George Clinton | Audio Production, Composer |
| 8 | Willie Collins | Composer |
| 9 | Ellen Fitton | Digital Remastering |
| 10 | Funkadelic | Primary Artist |
| 11 | Ian Hooton | Photography |
| 12 | Michele Horie | Art Direction |
| 13 | Diem Jones | Composer |
| 14 | Pat Lawrence | Executive Producer |
| 15 | Alan Leeds | Compilation Producer, Liner Notes |
| 16 | Tracey Lewis | Composer |
| 17 | Jeff Lorber | Audio Production, Producer |
| 18 | Dewayne Blackbyrd McKnight | Composer |
| 19 | Ryan Null | Photo Coordination |
| 20 | Aaron Rapoport | Photography |
| 21 | Garry Shider | Composer, Writer |
| 22 | David Spradley | Composer, Writer |
| 23 | Harry Weinger | Compilation Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |