During their relatively brief career, Sly and the Family Stone managed to leave quite an impression on both musicians and casual listeners with their blend of mainly soul and funk with flourishes of rock and jazz. ‘High On You’ was the first album Stone released under just his own name, but by that point, even the Family Stone albums had essentially been solo projects of his for which he enlisted the help of other musicians whenever he deemed it necessary. ‘High On You’ is no different, with multiple Family Stone members appearing, but it does feel notably more focused than its predecessors.

In the period leading up to ‘High On You’, Stone increasingly embraced the vamp-turned-song formula, in which the rhythm section largely continues the same groove for a full song, while the vocals, guitars, keys and horns attempt to add some dynamics. While I loved that approach, ‘There’s A Riot Goin’ On’ and especially ‘Fresh’ are my favorite albums Stone ever contributed to, it felt like he nearly squeezed all the possibilities out of it. ‘Small Talk’ had some more concise songwriting, even excelling at those moments, but ‘High On You’ is easily the hookiest album Stone made since ‘Stand!’ and it’s all the better for it.

Most notably, the soul ballads ‘That’s Lovin’ You’ and ‘My World’ are prime examples of the fact that Stone was looking for more than just dark grooves on this record. Especially the strings on the former are a bit of Motown-like polish that would have felt out of place on the likes of ‘Fresh’, but because of the overall hooky songwriting on ‘High On You’, it makes a lot of sense. Fortunately, there is plenty of funky stuff on ‘High On You’ as well and that already starts with the monstrous bass line on opening track ‘I Get High On You’. That jubilant chorus almost gives it a gospel-like edge, which makes it the perfect moodsetter for the album.

‘High On You’ is not completely devoid of vamps. Especially the instrumental ‘Green Eyed Monster Girl’, which at times almost has a Booker T. & The M.G.’s-ish vibe, fits the category, but the likes of ‘Crossword Puzzle’ and ‘Who Do You Love?’ are practically vamps with a chorus. As a whole, ‘High On You’ just sounds a lot more dynamic, because there are tracks like the almost poppy soul of ‘Le Lo Li’, which would have fit the ‘Stand!’ album like a glove, to create more balance in the listening experience. The credits are unclear as to who played bass on which song, but the bass line on closing track ‘Greed’ is almost as cool as the ones on ‘I Get High On You’ and ‘Crossword Puzzle’.

Of course, ‘High On You’ is not Stone’s masterpiece, but I feel it sometimes gets a bit lost in the shuffle because it was not released under the Family Stone name and it does not contain a hit song the size of ‘Family Affair’ or ‘If You Want Me To Stay’. Anyone who thought ‘There’s A Riot Goin’ On’ was not song-oriented enough and wrote everything that was released after off as funk without discernible melodies will probably be surprised by the tight, hooky songwriting on ‘High On You’. This is Stone not forgetting his soul and pop origins and creating his last great album in the process.

Recommended tracks: ‘I Get High On You’, ‘Greed’, ‘Crossword Puzzle’