Consumer Guide Album

Sly & the Family Stone: Ain't but the One Way [Warner Bros., 1982]
I called Back on the Right Track his best since Fresh in 1979, and for what that's worth it was, and this may even be a little better--the aphoristic snap of the songwriting recalls better days, and the mix generates some heat. But where in 1979 it seemed theoretically possible that Sly was on some track or other, there's no way this'll pull him through--often sounds as if he's not even there. Which he wasn't when Stewart Levine finally converted the tracks he'd laid down in 1980 into 1983 product. What a waste. B