I Got My Mind Made Up- the Best of Instant Funk

Album Review

I Got My Mind Made Up would've been the best Instant Funk compilation available if The Anthology — a widely available and more thorough two-disc set from the U.K.'s Suss'd — hadn't been released earlier in 2006. Though it's not as extensive and uses a few abbreviated edits where extended mixes would've been preferable, it remains a solid introduction to the group. With the exception of "It Ain't Reggae But It's Funky" (from their first album on TSOP), each one of the group's chart hits is included, from the number one R&B hit "I Got My Mind Made Up" through 1983's "Who Took Away the Funk." "I Got My Mind Made Up" was such a great success (rightfully so) that it has often prevented the group from being known for anything else. As it is made apparent here, Instant Funk was certainly worthy of being placed in the same context as Cameo and Slave, even if most of their albums were spottier. Disco and funk freaks should note the input of remix and production work from the heavyweight likes of Tom Moulton, Larry Levan, François Kevorkian, and Randy Muller. Fellow Philadelphian Bunny Sigler, who was with the group throughout their Salsoul years, also put in some of his finest production work here.