Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back

by

Sly & The Family Stone

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When I first heard the album it was not what I expected from Sly. It sounded a little wierd with the new Family Stone. When I heard "Heard Ya Missed Me Well, I'm Back" I was a little confused. I expected something a little different. "What Was I Thinkin' In My Head" is a funky upbeat song. "Nothin' Less Than Happiness" has a nice bluesy style to it with a nice smooth bass line and some harmonica. Sly and a woman are singing lead(if you hear her she reminds you of his sister, Rosemary). It's pretty nice even though it failed to chart. "Sexy Situation" is another funky upbeat song with funky violins. "Blessing In Disguise" has a nice melody and good vocals. Around the middle of the song it gets a little funky and towards the end. "Everything In You" has a very beautiful tune to it. I love it. If you really listen closely there is pizz(plucking) of the violins in between the arco(bowing). "Mother Is A Hippie" I kind of think that it's a little funny. Mother's a hippie? "Let's Be Togther" is one of my favorites, it starts out a little weird then it breaks out into this funky song.Stop Don't Stop Don't Stop Don't Stop Don't Stop is clever. I love the Gimme Gimme Gimme I Want I Want I Want. It sounds so sexy. Also the congas are really good along with the violins. "The Thing" is pretty good. I like the See You Later Aligator and After While Crocadile. What I really like about the song is the build-ups with the instruments. Like in the beginning it starts out with the percussion bass and organ, then guitar, violins and horns. Then later the same build-up happens but horns are in the beginning and then it runs out into an instrumental. "Family Again" is funky with a funky bass and organ. It's like a new sound. It makes me think that they are trying to repalce the original Family Stone, which is impossible. One thing I do like about the album is that the songs are heavy in violins to give it a fuller sound. The album is pretty good but I think personally Sly could've put a little more time into it. It was like it was a different Sly Stone.

Though billed as an album with the Family Stone, Sly's band on this album is almost completely different from previous albums, with trumpet player Cynthia Robinson the only returning player. Released in 1976, this album didn't apparently come at a great time in Sly's life, with bankruptcy, drug abuse and divorce recent occurences (soon to be combined with this album failing to make the Top 200. Guess not too many people were missing Sly at this point!). Strange then, that basically all the lyrics on this album are upbeat, offering advice on life's lessons. More then one song's main gist is that, while he may have done bad things in the past, that's all over now and everything's fine (hence the album's title). That doesn't make them bad lyrics really, but it makes one wonder who Stone was trying to convince more, the listener or himself. For fan's of Sly's funk tunes, the music is dissapointing: aside from the second track "What Was I Thinking" (which features a cool instrumental jam section) the album is devoid of funk, sticking mainly to easy-listening pop arrangements. Not bad, but its a big change from the funk odyssey that was his previous album "High On You," which I would recommend even at import CD prices. The main vocal hook from his old song "You Can Make It If You Try" is recycled on "Blessing In Disguise," which I think is the album's best song. Elsewhere, "Family Again" is a sequal to "Dance To The Music," released as a single no doubt to try to copy the former's success (it didn't). The bottom line here is that HEARD YA MISSED ME is a pleasent enough album that Sly completists should seek out, but it is atypical of Sly's best work, and should be approched with caution by the average listener. Although, as an expensive import, the average listener will never come near this album anyway, and that's not that great of a loss.