Higher! [Box Set] - Sly & the Family Stone
Higher! [Box Set] Image
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 11 Critics What's this?

User Score
4.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • Summary: The four-disc box set for the funk, rock and soul band led by Sly Stone includes unreleased tracks, mono mixes, instrumentals, live recordings, and studio outtakes.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Mojo
    Sep 19, 2013
    100
    This box brims with supportive evidence [that they were "the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world."] [Oct 2013, p.103]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. All Music Guide
    Aug 29, 2013
    100
    It's that depth of detail, combined with the masterful sequencing, that makes Higher! such a superb box set: it tells a familiar story in a fresh fashion.
  3. Rolling Stone
    Aug 29, 2013
    90
    The richest overview yet of maybe the most visionary funk operation in pop history.
  4. The Independent (UK)
    Aug 29, 2013
    80
    Finally, maverick genius Sly Stone receives due respect in this four-disc retrospective, as the leader of rock's first multi-racial, multi-gender, multi-genre band.
  5. Record Collector
    Oct 14, 2013
    80
    If you want a more detailed account of each album, you’ll have to check our Reissue Of The Month review in RC 335. Limited, expanded editions of Sly & The Family Stone’s first seven long-players, from 1967’s A Whole New Thing to 1974’s Small Talk, were reissued in 2007 and are now out of print. This box set sort of plugs that gap.
  6. Magnet
    Sep 5, 2013
    80
    Higher!'s real value is in its depth: Stone needs four CDs to display his breadth, and this comp is full of funky fun. [No. 101, p.59]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Spin
    Sep 10, 2013
    70
    The quality of the set rises and falls with the quality of the band, from the formative fusion of soul, rock, and pop on their first three albums to the sudden, exhilarating sound of it all snapping into focus with 1969's Stand! and the gradual turn into 1971's claustrophobic, paranoid There's a Riot Goin' On and the nimble funk of 1973's underrated Fresh. From there, however, it all fell off just as quickly as it had risen, as Sly's genius dissipated in a downward spiral of drugs and delusion.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. analogbrat
    Aug 29, 2013
    10
    A peerless compilation that offers both newcomers and diehards gems to cherish and tells a fully-fleshed story of this unique and incredible band. Essential.… Expand

Current Music Releases

Full List »
96 Sound System [Box Set]
96 The Warner Bros. Years [Box Set]
92 Sunbather
91 Higher! [Box Set]
91 Master
89 Is Survived By
89 Loud City Song
89 Silver Bell
88 In Utero [20th Anniversary Edition]
88 Your Turn
88 The RCA Albums Collection
87 Southeastern
87 All Hail West Texas [Reissued]
87 Random Access Memories
87 The Blackest Beautiful
87 Annie Up
87 American Ride
87 Innocence is Kinky
87 ilp.
87 The Island Years [Box Set]
All Current Music »