A Funk Odyssey
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| A Funk Odyssey | |||||
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| Studio album by Jamiroquai | |||||
| Released | September 3, 2001 (UK) September 11, 2001 (US) |
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| Recorded | 2001 | ||||
| Genre | Funk | ||||
| Length | 48:17 | ||||
| Label | Epic | ||||
| Producer | Rick Pope | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Jamiroquai chronology | |||||
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A Funk Odyssey was released by Jamiroquai in 2001.
Combining features of disco, funk and electronica, the release of the album represented the peak of commercial success for Jamiroquai, and in the ensuing world tour the group became a household name in many countries.
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[edit] Album information
A Funk Odyssey was the first Jamiroquai album to do away with the famous "Buffalo Man" image on the cover, though the pattern of lasers behind Jason Kay were set up along an outline of the Buffalo Man, who also appears in the booklet several times. The album, although deeply into a disco/funk vibe, is also very focused on an electronica sound, evident especially in "Twenty Zero One" and "Stop Don't Panic".
[edit] Critical reception among the fandom
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Though the album was a major commercial success, many old-school Jamiroquai fans have criticized the band's work for being more electronic and "poppier" than all other of their previous releases. However, another, smaller part of the band's fan base has praised the album for other reasons. The most common critics aimed at the album described it as a work that drifted dangerously far from the 'Jamiroquai sound'. Many fans consider the track "Stop Don't Panic" to be the worst Jamiroquai song ever to be written and performed, and the whole album is usually found near the bottom of fanmade "Top 6 list" polls [1].
The lack of a horn section on most songs was also cited as a very bad point of the album, aside from the record not having at least one instrumental, unlike the previous Jamiroquai albums, which bore at least one, if not two of the kind.
One song, "Do It Like We Used to Do", originally cut from the album's tracklist (and later placed as a B-side to some singles from the album), had received critical praise from most fans, being cited as the album's best song, having the old-school Jamiroquai sound, a horn section, and being most probably the fastest-paced Jamiroquai song to be recorded to this day.
An unedited test pressing of the album, however, had fared far better than the finished product in many fans' minds, due to being far more organic and less produced than the "finished" product.
[edit] Professional reviews
Q magazine (9/01, p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A certified thoroughbred. This time, there's a bankable chorus or barbed sentiment for every mirror-ball moment....demonstrating that no-one does sci-fi boogie quite as well as he does sci-fi boogie."
CMJ (9/17/01, p.12) - "Works as the perfect mixed tape to snap your fingers to on your way to another universe."
[edit] Track listing
- "Feel So Good" – 5:21
- "Little L" – 4:55
- "You Give Me Something" – 3:23
- "Corner of the Earth" – 5:40
- "Love Foolosophy" – 3:45
- "Stop Don't Panic" – 4:34
- "Black Crow" – 4:02
- "Main Vein" – 5:05
- "Twenty Zero One" – 5:15
- "Picture of My Life/So Good to Feel Real" (hidden track) – 6:17
- "Do It Like We Used To Do"
- "Do You Know Where You're Coming From?"
The song "Deeper Underground" from the movie "Godzilla" is a bonus track in the Japanese release. Some regions included "Do It Like We Used to Do", an outtake from the Funk Odyssey sessions.
[edit] A Funk Odyssey test pressing
- "Feel So Good – 6:24
- "Little L – 4:55
- "You Give Me Something" – 5:16
- "Interlude #1" – 0:35
- "Main Vein" – 4:51
- "Corner of the Earth" – 5:41
- "Twenty Zero One" – 8:29
- "Black Crow" – 4:08
- "Interlude #2" – 1:22
- "Do It Like We Used to Do" – 6:49
- "Stop Don't Panic" – 5:31
- "Interlude #3" – 0:20
- "Picture of My Life" – 3:46
- "So Good to Feel Real" – 2:09
Though many songs are the same length as they appeared on the final album configuration, a few were extended cuts. "Feel So Good" and "You Give Me Something" featured longer introductions with percussion, while "Twenty Zero One" expanded by over three minutes. Several of the mixes were different; "Little L" featured extra percussion while "Corner of the Earth" and "Picture of My Life" featured different variations of the vocals, either by phrasing or enunciation. "Do It Like We Used to Do" was featured in an edited form, and "So Good to Feel Real" was the only song left untouched.
The test pressing also featured three interludes. The first featured Jay in an electronically manipulated monologue asking why Jay would want to "shut down the funk assembly unit." The second interlude was a beatbox track which was later used in the single "Feels Just Like It Should". The third featured Strauss' "The Blue Danube" being faded in slowly at a low volume.
Interestingly, "Main Vein" featured no lead vocals and only the background singers. One interpretation is that this song was written about Denise van Outen, Jay's ex-girlfriend, but from her perspective. If correct, this would mean it would have featured a female vocalist and would showcase the same fight shown in "Little L" but from Denise's perspective. Many fans have speculated that the band's record label allowed the band only a small amount of creative freedom, due to these unedited tracks surfacing and giving a glimpse of how the album might have sounded.
A case of (possibly intentional) synchronicity occurs when the test pressing is played to Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. [2]
[edit] Outtakes / Live only tracks and samples
- Cannabliss;
- After being scrapped from the project (not being even half complete at the time), this track's album introduction was used as the introduction for "Corner of the Earth"
- (A) Funk Odyssey;
- It is unknown whether this track is an outtake, a live-only track, or both.
Shoot The Moon (Montreux jazz festival, 2003)
- Shoot the Moon.
- This song was an outtake from the album, also. It was played live at least twice, once at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003, and once at a concert in Turkey. A widely-circulated recording of the song being played at the festival exists, and can be found on Jamiroquai.RU for download. One interesting fact about the song is that it was intended to have a horn section. The band did not have a horn section at the time, so the electric guitar had to substitute the horns. A studio version was never recorded, but was planned to be.
- Interludes #1, #2 & #3. (See above)
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Australian ARIA Albums Chart | 1 |
| 2002 |
| Preceded by Bridget Jones's Diary (soundtrack) by Various artists |
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album September 10 - September 16, 2001 January 14 - February 3, 2002 February 11 - February 24, 2002 |
Succeeded by V by Live |
