Can it get any better? If aliens came down needing to know what funk was all about, in all its talented, embrace-anything-and-everything, screw with your head and get your butt down glory, then this is a prime candidate for what to give them. The man, his voice, his bass, the backing of a prime core band including his guitarist brother Catfish, Fred Wesley, and Maceo Parker leading the brass – beautiful, hilarious, and just plain great. This one-disc collection could easily be a two-disc or more if one wanted to include every last highlight from Collins' up-down-all-around career – his work with James Brown alone is beyond the bomb – but when it comes to solo work, this is as perfect a place to start as any. Drawing mostly on the albums done with the active help of George Clinton in the late '70s, Back in the Day is a model for what a good compilation should be. Sound is excellent throughout, while full details on who plays what and where, along with where everything came from in the first place, all appear in exhaustive detail. The liner notes, meanwhile, come from longtime funk road manager (Brown, Prince, plenty of others) Alan Leeds, explaining every step of Collins' wonderful story.

This compilation features some of the best solo material from the Parliament/Funkadelic crew during the late '70s and '80s under the direction of George Clinton. Ever the entrepreneur, Clinton had farmed his aggregate of loose booties to no less than five respective (major) labels. While technically Parliament was recording for Casablanca and Funkadelic was signed to Warner Bros., Clinton's short-lived Uncle Jam imprint was issued and distributed by Columbia/Epic. It is here that listeners find the 15 tracks – nine of which are making their debut in the digital domain – that comprise Six Degrees of P-Funk: The Best of George Clinton & His Funky Family (2003).

This truly is an all-star affair. Parliament and Funkadelic alumni like Bootsy Collins, Eddie Hazel, Walter "Junie" Morrison, and Garry Shider, among others, resurface from various stages in the Mothership's time upon earth to contribute to this stylistically sprawling and urbanely funky session; adding to the impressive roll call are high-profile soul and funk guest stars such as Sly "Sylvester Stewart" Stone, Bobby Womack, Fred Wesley, and Maceo Parker. And leading the charge is the master himself, George Clinton.

1978 funk classic remastered and expanded. Led by former P-Funk vocalist Glenn Goins, who unfortunately died shortly before the release, the remaining members would go on to support Roy Ayers and Cameo, and work with Bootsy Collins, Evelyn Champagne King and Slave.

A splinter group of a splinter group, the Sweat Band was folded out of the original Bootsy's Rubber Band. That group came out of the original Parliament/Funkadelic empire. Bassist Bootsy Collins played with them on the single "Freak To Freak," which he co-produced with George Clinton. the Sweat Band included saxophonist Maceo Parker, keybardist Joel Johnson, and drummer Carl Smalls, but they didn't last very long on Uncle Jam Records as a separate part of the Parliament/Funkadelic axis.