★★★★★
Although now principally remembered for their party anthem I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance - known by its colloquial title Oops Upside Your Head - The Gap Band were a marvellous addition to the US 70s funk scene. Originating from Tulsa, the brothers Wilson - Charlie, Ronnie and Robert - were raised in the church and were made to learn music from an early age...
- www.bbc.co.uk
2013-04-23
★★★★★
Tsk-tsk--"Party Train," which leads off side two, repeats the formula of "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" and "Burn Rubber" and for that matter "Early in the Morning," which begin-middle-and-end side one. I mean--wotta formula: stratoliner funk that leaves their more than passable P-Funk rip in the dust. In fact, Party Train is what they should have called the only Gap Band anybody need own. And anybody includes you.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Like Cameo and Rick James before them, these old pros blew their sure shots on the breakthrough--this drops no bombs. But once again the follow-up album compensates for never getting up by never letting up--the uptempo stuff steadfastly maintains their hand-stamped party groove, and like Cameo (forget Rick James), they've figured out what to do with the slow ones. That Stevie Wonder move is a no-fail--just ask George Benson, or Eddie Murphy.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Although women may disagree, I don't think the cartoon sincerity of Bootsy and the Ohio Players will ever evolve into romantic credibility. So while I'm not saying these total entertainers sound like Huey, Louie & Dewey on the slow ones, I insist that they don't sound like the Temptations either--vocally, they're mere professionals singing merely professional love songs. Which isn't to deny that the funk tunes burn rubber and the funktoons drop the bomb.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
What a waste. If ever a band cried out for that corny old fast side/slow side split, it's the creators of "Burn Rubber," "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," "Early in the Morning," and, God spare you, "Season's No Reason To Change." Taken in a single rush, the uptempo classics (augmented by a few expert imitations, including "Party Trains"'s imitation Gap Band) would stand as twenty-five minutes of rock and roll so spectacular you'd never think to turn the damn thing over.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Bootsy's cousins and Leon Russell's proteges, the three brothers Wilson were as bland as the two Brothers Johnson until an accidental 1980 P-Funk rip we'll call "Oops Upside Your Head" transformed them into a great funk band for a handful of silly singles...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Ten booty-shaking disco funk hits for a bargain price! Includes "Steppin' (Out)", "Humpin'", "Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)", and the incredible P-Funk worship of "I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up And Dance (Oops)". There's a couple of smooth soul ballads as well, but for the most part this is dancefloor dynamite. A damn good excuse to have a party.
- www.aquariusrecords.org
2009-06-05
★★★★★
With their 1985 LP, The Gap Band VII, reaching a still-stellar number six R&B;, the band found themselves out of the very top of the charts for the first time in the better part of a decade. Still slick and sure of their intent, the Gap Band had reached a point where their material was beginning to become stagnant. But stagnant by their standards still equaled solid-gold hits by anyone else...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
As the Gap Band's star power rose, they continued to dominate the R&B; charts, even when their material didn't necessarily earn that honor. This is certainly the case with their 1984 LP, Gap Band VI, which patters across a set that is surely slick, and wonderfully sophisticated at times, but ultimately lacks the punch and fire listeners had come to expect from their earlier material. Even the guest vocals of fiery Brides of Funkenstein diva Dawn Silva couldn't add a spark...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
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