You say I'm so crazy coming home intoxicated...

There's many a man that are known more for themselves than for their music. Rick James didn't start out that way, but he sure ended up that way. His seminal music output pretty much ended after 1985, and since then Motown's been issuing CD after CD of his hits, going from the two-disc Anthology to this collection, part of the apparently 2943 part "millennium Collection" series of greatest hits. Most of those grind an artist down to 12 songs, this goes further coming in with only 10 tracks. However for a person just casually interested in James this has everything you've probably heard from him. And of course that usually means "Super Freak", which is basically now more an institution than a song at this point. A song that originally only hit #16 on the pop chart, not only is it ageless, it survived it's sample on MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" (the only other song I can think to survive this well is Chic's "Good Times" on Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"). Between that and "Give It To Me Baby", from the same original album, Street Songs, James provided the funk strong enough to console those mourning the death of disco. Between the two of them, the best bass lines since Bernard Edwards and paving the way for the likes of the Gap Band, Dazz Band, Midnight Star and the like. These two songs form the cornerstone of this set.

Also included are all James' other top-40 songs, including the discofied "You & I" (which actually charted higher than "Super Freak" did), "Cold Blooded" (a sparser rewrite of "Super Freak"), and the infectious "17". In fact, "17" is scary just for the reason that it's got to be the funkiest song about statutory rape I think I've ever heard, almost to the point of exoneration. Of course looking in hindsight, it should've sent major warning sirens on his later exploits.

Rounding out the collection is a mix of lesser hits, including "Dance Wit' Me" and "Big Time" from his disco period, which actually hold up the best, and songs like "Mary Jane" and "Bustin' Out" from the funkier side, which are OK jams but more in the homage-to-James Brown vein. "Mary Jane" is noteworthy on how blatant in drug referencing he could be while still getting played on the radio. "Ebony Eyes", his duet with Smokey Robinson, is interesting in the way of having such different vocalists collaborating, but as a song I'm still figuring if they're singing to someone else or each other.

If you're into the funk and the disco, you won't go wrong buying any of the bigger collections. For that matter, Street Songs is a consistently great album as well. But millennium Collection doesn't disappoint for giving a great car ride of tunes. And look for Vol 2. which has his best songs as a producer of acts like Teena Marie, Val Young, and the Mary Jane Girls.

Grade: B
Best Songs: Give It To Me Baby, Super Freak