The Funk Box

Disc 1
1	Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine / James Brown 5:17
2	Express Yourself / Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band 3:53
3	Give It up or Turnit a Loose / James Brown 6:23
4	Rock Steady / Aretha Franklin 3:12
5	Slippin' Into Darkness / War 7:00
6	I Know You Got Soul / Bobby Byrd 4:43
7	Jungle Fever / Chakachas 4:24
8	It's Just Begun / The Jimmy Castor Bunch 3:43
9	Outa-Space / Billy Preston 4:10
10	Think (About It) / Lyn Collins 3:22
11	Goin' To See My Baby / The Fatback Band 3:18
12	Pass The Peas / The J.B.'s 3:29
13	"T" Plays It Cool / Marvin Gaye 4:28
14	The Message / Cymande 4:17
15	I Can Understand It / New Birth 6:24
16	I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Baby / Barry White 7:10
Disc 2
1	Future Shock / Curtis Mayfield 3:37
2	The Bottle / Brian Jackson 5:07
3	What Is Hip? / Tower of Power 5:06
4	The Payback / James Brown 7:40
5	For The Love Of Money / The O'Jays 7:19
6	Hollywood Swinging / Kool & the Gang 4:37
7	Tell Me Something Good / Rufus & Chaka Khan 4:39
8	Do It, Fluid / The Blackbyrds 5:27
9	Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) / B.T. Express 5:54
10	Just Kissed My Baby / The Meters 4:42
11	Skin Tight / The Ohio Players 7:56
12	I Get Lifted / George McCrae 2:48
13	Shakey Ground / The Temptations 4:04
14	School Boy Crush / The Average White Band 4:58
15	Erucu / Jermaine Jackson 3:30
Disc 3
1	Fight the Power, Pts. 1 & 2 / The Isley Brothers 5:21
2	The Jam / Graham Central Station 3:38
3	Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) / Parliament 5:48
4	Get the Funk Out Ma Face / The Brothers Johnson 5:59
5	Changin' / Brass Construction 8:14
6	Dazz / Brick 5:38
7	Superman Lover / Johnny "Guitar" Watson 5:44
8	The Pinnochio Theory / Bootsy's Rubber Band 6:10
9	Slide / Slave 6:50
10	The Hump / Patrick Rushen 6:08
11	Running Away / Roy Ayers 12" Mix 6:55
12	Brick House / The Commodores 12" Mix 6:12
13	Let's Have Some Fun / The Bar-Kays 6:02
Disc 4
1	You And I / Rick James 8:07
2	I Like Girls / Fatback 7:39
3	Let's Start The Dance / Bohannon 5:55
4	One Nation Under A Groove / Funkadelic 7:29
5	Bustin' Loose / Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers 7:43
6	I Just Want To Be / Cameo 12" Extended Mix 6:23
7	Glide / Pleasure 6:29
8	Behind The Groove / Teena Marie 6:04
9	More Bounce To The Ounce / Zapp 9:29
10	Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) / The Gap Band 5:31
11	Atomic Dog / George Clinton 4:45

Barnes & Noble

"Funk," as George Clinton so deftly put it, "is its own reward." Extending that logic, the four-disc, 55-song The Funk Box is truly an embarrassment of riches. Packed with many of the deepest, funkiest grooves of the music's golden years -- 1970 until 1983 -- the collection gets down and dirty with well-known hits such as James Brown's sweaty masterpiece "Get Up (I Feel Like Being) a Sex Machine," The Commodores' dance fave "Brick House," and the thump-and-grind of "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Determined to show that funk is a many-flavored feast -- one that moves from stripped-down syncopations to elaborate percussion jams to rock-inspired excursions -- this box digs up a variety of lesser known but equally groovin' jams, including Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers go-go classic "Bustin' Loose," the bluesy "Do It, Fluid" by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd's Blackbyrds, and the Chakachas' steamy "Jungle Fever." While funk fanatics may wonder why the Ohio Players are represented here by "Skin Tight" instead of their steamy "Fire," the soul patrol behind this affair still scores high marks on song selection and style. Even the box itself is decked out in velvet. Add a 47-page booklet filled with photos and song annotations to the mix, and The Funk Box is the ultimate introductory guide to this deeper, more danceable shade of soul. Eric Lowenhar

All Music Guide

At four discs and 55 tracks, Hip-O's Funk Box seems to want to be the last word on funk, and while it's a pretty good set, it ends up more representative than definitive of its chosen genre. Virtually all of funk's most important artists are featured, but not always by their most significant singles -- sometimes the collection gets it right, and sometimes it's disappointing (leaving out Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly," the Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces," War's "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends," and the Ohio Players' "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster" in favor of alternate selections). Still, the Funk Box does have a generous helping of full-length funk classics, including several rare 12" versions; moreover, it's been digitally remastered, and it features a 48-page booklet. It's just too bad the set doesn't completely hit the mark. Steve Huey