The Right Moment

Released in 1970 during the stopgap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Greatest Hits inadvertently arrived at precisely the right moment, summarizing Sly & the Family Stone's joyous hit-making run on the pop and R&B charts. Technically, only four songs here reached the Top Ten, with only two others hitting the Top 40, but judging this solely on charts is misleading, since this is simply a peerless singles collection. This summarizes their first four albums perfectly (almost all of Stand! outside of the two jams and "Somebody's Watching You" is here), adding the non-LP singles "Hot Fun in the Summertime," "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," and "Everybody Is a Star," possibly the loveliest thing they ever recorded…

In many ways this is one of the most diverse albums that TBNP have come up with yet. There are still the Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree influences but the guys have also turned it up a little more so that the intensity and guitars have that little bit more edginess than usual. There may be some who think that this is going to be an ethereal and delicate album as suggested by the album artwork, and indeed there are some numbers that are in that vein, but this is again an album that brings the term 'rock' crunching back in at the right moment. Undoubtedly the biggest change is the in the confidence of all those involved, and this in itself allows the band to spread their wings without going too far. The band do not try to hide their influences, but they are the starting point and not the end product. They have matured and the result is yet again an extremely solid accessible album that all progheads will enjoy.