Quote:
Originally Posted by mr dave
it's got just as much of a place in this genre as half of the other acts listed so far. it may be far more on the pop side of the spectrum but there's still a solid funky groove at play. sounds like a simpler, more accessible P-Funk track which puts in that grey area of being too poppy to be funk but too musically complex to be disco.
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Yeah, but this is a "funk rock" thread, not a "funk" thread.
That Isley Brothers song was okay. It needed a little more energy but had a fine bass line. When I read the name "Isley Brothers" the first thing I think of is the story about when Les Claypool auditioned to fill Cliff Burton's vacancy in Metallica and suggested he and the band "jam on some Isley Brothers tunes."
I'm glad that didn't work out because we probably wouldn't have Primus!
Funk Metal is almost purely a product of California in the 1980s. Los Angeles had just finished with its first wave of punk and was amidst a new sound called hardcore. Many LA bands wanted more than abrasiveness in their music and began experimented with what would eventually lay the foundation for funk metal. Original LA funk pioneers include the Red Hot Chili Peppers (funk with punk), Fishbone (funk with ska), and Jane's Addiction (funk with alternative rock).
Not long after, the thrash metal scene exploded north in the Bay Area. Many funk metal musicians, such as Les Claypool and Robert Trujillo, first honed their chops in the thrash scene. Northern Californians Faith No More and Mr. Bungle emerged with a funk sound influenced by thrash. Claypool started Primus with a bunch of ex-thrashers. LA skate-punk-turned-thrash-metal band Suicidal Tendencies filled a vacancy with bassist Rob Trujillo, who brought funk along with him. ST frontman Mike Muir eventually started a side project with Trujillo called Infectious Grooves just so they could focus on more funk.
Some funk metal bands popped up in other areas of the country during the 1980s too.
Rolling Stone called New York's Living Colour "black-funk-metal pioneers." Elsewhere, King's X played progressive metal which included funk influences.
In the 1990s, many of the early funk metal bands found mainstream success. Faith No More's 'Epic' made an especially large impression. 311 formed in 1991 and by the middle of the decade their ska-funk hybrid was common on American mainstream radio. Rage Against the Machine played funky rap metal that along with Faith No More and Primus helped initiate a new era of metal called "nu metal". Because their heroes played funky, many nu metal bands incorporated melodic bass lines into their sound. KoRn played with the bass high in their mix, and you can especially hear funk metal in Incubus's first two albums.
I think the truest funk metal bands are Infectious Grooves, Faith No More, and Living Colour. All three bands have excellent metal pedigrees and have the purest combination of funk and metal.
Maybe some of the Brits can help me out; are there any influential European funk metal bands?