Skin I'm In in Bloomington, MN

For what would be their final album,
the Chairmen of the Board
teamed up with producer
Jeffrey Bowen
to create an album that was radically different from all of their previous output. Instead of the
Motown
-styled harmony
soul
that earned the group their
pop
-chart success,
Skin I'm In
was built on a
psychedelic
funk-rock
sound that was very close to the music
George Clinton
was exploring around the same time. A look at the album's credits reveals why the album sounds like this: the backup band includes several members of
Funkadelic
and
Parliament
, including
Bernie Worrell
Eddie Hazel
. The result is a surprisingly effective combination of
pop-soul
hooks and
funky
grit:
"Everybody Party All Night"
pits smooth harmonies against a staccato wah-wah guitar hook to create an energetic, rhythmic slice of
"Finders Keepers"
weaves punchy horn charts into its soulful keyboard-driven melody to create a funky toe-tapper of a tune. The album's centerpiece is an epic cover of
Sly Stewart
's
"Life and Death"
that blends the song's pulsating melody with flowery instrumental passages built of Mellotron and synthesizer. The album balances this
attack with lovely
ballads
on the album's second side, including a heartbreakingly soulful cover of
"Only Love Can Break a Heart."
In the end,
is so different from past efforts that it may alienate fans of
's early hits but it is definitely a worthwhile listen for fans of
funk
music, especially those who love
. ~ Donald A. Guarisco